Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Please, No....

Sniffles which I hoped were due to the unbelievable winds we've had the past couple days are apparently rearing their head and proving what they are:  a cold or something.  I am freezing cold in a perfectly warm room and I want a nap so badly - but that will mean being in my bed likely freezing. Feverish?  Maybe.  Not sure.  But I am heading up to sleep for a bit.

Bless H.'s heart, he spent most of the night on the couch with Chloe-bear, tending her through the night.  I am reluctant to put her 'cone' on her when it's the most amateurish thing ever - the 'tie' is gauze strung through holes in the plastic.  Not only is it obviously uncomfortable (and I know all 'cones' are), it really seems risky to have a long, hanging bunch of gauze lurking about. Choking hazard, in my opinion.

We took Chloe to the vet this morning for a recheck 'cuz there is quite a bit of redness around her incision.  They said it's bruising - no fever.  She's been taking her meds like a champ and spending most of the time in her burrow sleeping away.

Jackson was loads of fun and while I didn't win anything significant to bring home, I did have a really fun long streak on a new machine.  Nice to play and enjoy it - with a group of really fun people also playing.  It was fun and I didn't get home until 9PM!  That's a late night for me!

J. has finished finalizing the trip reservations for the Rome trip which is in four short weeks!  Next, we plan Paris but need to wait a bit.

J. moved the rest of his 401K from his former employer into an IRA.  For three days, the funds were MIA - out of one account but not in the other account.  They finally arrived in the intended account via wire transfer.  Now, it apparently takes an act of congress to withdraw some.  We will figure that out in a few days.

Low key tonight.  Making pork loin, roasted potatoes, steamed veggies and fondue (appetizer) for dinner.  Opening up a nice bottle of wine.  Or two.  (Probably one if I'm not feeling great 'cuz I don't like to drink when I'm under the weather).

Nap time.  Head is muddled.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Plastic is a No

Chloe had surgery yesterday to remove a piece of plastic from her stomach.  While there were other options (attempting to remove via scopes down her throat or through her intestines), the vet told J. 'if it were my dog, I would do surgery to ensure the obstruction can be removed'.  Not likely she would be able to pass it on her own.  Poor baby.

Poor savings account balance.  Yee gads.  The water heater was a shock...and now this. Grateful we can say 'yes' to the $3,000 bill.  But still reeling a bit.

J. and H. are headed over the hills to Livermore - attempting to be in line early enough to get one of 14 slots a day for passport renewal.  Without a passport, the Rome trip in February will not be happening.  H. was less than thrilled at the prospect of waiting in line for (possibly) hours but realizes it's a must do if the trip is in his future.

I am heading up to Jackson later this morning with my car loaded up with items to donate to the Hospice thrift store up there.  Just another place to donate.  We did some work in the kitchen cupboards last night, donating 20+ coffee mugs and other assorted items.  We made room for our 'tall' mugs on the shelf easiest to reach which is nice for mornings.

We will pick up Chloe later this afternoon and the week of torture for her will commence.  She will be wearing a 'cone' to prevent her from messing with her incision and the stitches will be there for seven to ten days.

I may be glad to be going back to work in less than a week.

New Years will be low key.  I think J. and I will break out a bottle of our favorite wine and I plan to make some appetizers for the evening.  I'm sure the kids will be out and about -

That's all the news here.  Time to shower and get dressed so I can continue working in the garage and loading up the car.  This will be my last hurrah trip to Jackson for awhile.  It's been fun but it's time to get back to normal - once in a blue moon normal.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Disbelief and a Healthy Dose of Denial

Ninth day of the break in progress.  Can you believe it?  I can't.  Sixteen days seemed like forever and here it is the second Sunday and we're already down to just seven days left.  Dang it!  Time goes so quickly.

I have worked hard at doing stuff.  Making progress here and there as the days pass sublimely.  I avoid naps - I want naps but don't want to sleep the time away.  I'm getting used to staying up until 10 or 11 and sleeping in until 8 - perhaps I should consider this week going back to earlier to bed and earlier risings to help make the inevitable adjustment easier.  But I know I won't.

The boys are spending time out and about.  Last night, J. and B. went to see Unbroken - said it was good.  B. took his dad to the new Red Robin and bought him a drink.  They got home just before 11 as I was heading upstairs to bed.  H. went to an Ugly Sweater party.  I raided my closet and while he found a couple things he felt were 'appropriate' (ugly, in his mind), they were clearly 'girl' blouses with necklines that were too low.  In the end, he took a pair of my Snowflake Eyeore pajama bottoms and wore those.  Said he's improvise with a t-shirt that he'd draw something on.  Can't wait to see it. He's sleeping off the festivities.  It's 12:22PM and he's still in bed.  There's a partial bottle of some malt liquor beverage in the way back part of the fridge - Python or something like that...I just looked. King Cobra.  I knew it was a snake of some sort.  That counts, right?

J. and B. headed to San Leandro for a visit with J.'s brother.  I'm heading to vacuum the family room; tidy the kitchen and dining room; work on getting stuff together for Goodwill.  Trying to be productive while also enjoying the slower pace and lack of deadlines.  It's nice to be off for two weeks in a row.  I could sure get used to this.

I left my phone unplugged so long, it died.  Now it's not getting work emails - even though I've reconnected and logged on to the mail exchange server several times.  I glanced at it yesterday just long enough to realize there was an issue with the mail; see that it had 1% power left; and noticed a missed call from the hair salon - so I rushed to get dressed and out the door for my appointment. Put shoes on for the first time in days - Santa brought me a really comfy pair of slippers that are warm and very comfortable and I've been living in them since Christmas - my swollen, 'relaxed' feet rebelled and it felt strange to have shoes ensconcing my toes.  Hair cut is done and cute.

Chloe has been under the weather a bit the past couple of days - she barfed yesterday and didn't eat her food for a long time.  Today, she's eating but slowly - has to think about it.  We're keeping an eye on her and she's getting lots of extra cuddle time.

There's a Harry Potter weekend on and I've enjoyed watching all the movies!  Today's the last three! Even H. has been mildly interested and changes the channel in the family room to the same so he can watch, too.  The scene where Dumbledore dies still makes me cry - every time.

Back to productivity!

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merriement

Merry Christmas, 2014. I realized last night (as I awoke off and on pretty much all night) this is the 10th Christmas I've detailed/celebrated on this blog.

J. was up first and me not too much later.  I had said 8AM was my earliest so when I woke up just after 8, I was thinking I'd be the last one up - but the boys were still sleeping.  Merriment began in earnest just after 8:30, I think - though the morning is sort of a blur.

This year, we did 'things we love about you' instead of a scavenger hunt.  The boys had 5 envelopes each and a card inside with something we love about them written down.  They had to read them aloud before/while pulling the loot out of the envelope.  Not as much as in years past but they were both still pretty darn happy.  It was a fun morning.  Chloe had a ball unwrapping her gifts (with H.'s help) and then running around with new toys to play with.  She loves being with us on Christmas day and she loves new toys.

We had Queen and Chocolate croissants for breakfast.  Noonish, I heated up garlic bread to go with leftover soup....wait. Forgot to mention that I made Zuppa Toscano soup last night and it was SO, SO delicious!! Way better than Olive Garden.  So we planned leftover soup for lunch today.  As the bread was toasting, I made the cheese sauce for the au gratin veggies (dinner dish).  The boys thought an impromptu fondue sounded like a great idea - so I made more cheese sauce and they ate bread dipped in that.  They actually seemed to dip anything available in the sauce, including Chicken in a Biscuit crackers!  It was pretty yummy.  I skipped the soup and had fondue for lunch, too.  J. had soup.  And fondue.

The prime rib was in the oven at noon as well and the rub we made was delicious - it included fresh herbs from our Farm Fresh delivery and it smelled wonderful.  The meal was pretty darn wonderful, if I do say so myself.  My beef wellington/popovers turned out very well - the first time they turned out perfectly!  And the sides (green bean casserole, au gratin broccoli and cauliflower and mashed potatoes with a red wine au jus) were all really good, too.

Yesterday, I made my first ever homemade from scratch cream pies - and they turned out great, too.  All that's left on those is to meringue them - the reason I decided to make my own 'cuz I love cream pies but with meringue.  Hope I can finish them off as well as the cream part went.

We are still toying around with Europe trip plans.  The big trip we sketched out would be two full weeks.  It's not inexpensive.  I think my desire to fly Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy is something I'm going to have to give up.  At the moment, I think J. and H. will make a four night trip to Rome in February and then J. and I will spend 8 nights in Paris in March.  We can make both of those trips for less than 1/2 of what we were planning to spend on the big trip for all three of us.  As much as I'd love to all go together, we were adding extra days to wedge it all in - and that took us out of the 'pre-planned package deals' and into the 'planned, more expensive' deals.  The travel agency we use (the same one who did the Groupon trip we went on last year) really does have amazing deals - the 4 nights in Rome including hotels, airfare and ground transfers is under $3K for the two of them - that's pretty amazing!

It will work out better because H. is going to start looking for a job and/or go back to school soon.  I still want to give him that experience but with the two trips being so much less than the one we were planning, my frugal side takes over.  Two trips in the Spring and then maybe J. and I can escape to somewhere beachy for a few days in the summer.  I miss the beach.

The boys have all kinds of friend plans this week though not too much specific.  It's hard to believe we're already down to only ten full days of the break left - it goes so quickly.

Lots to do around here over the next few days - and I hope I get moving.  I didn't feel all that well today (headache, ear thing) so I'm hoping I'm not coming down with something.  The 10 sneezes earlier had to be caused by the rub I made for the prime rib, right?  Pepper.  It was the pepper.

I'm going to meringue.  Wish me luck.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Pies and Wrapping and Sirens, Oh My

The house is filled with the sounds of merriment.  Sirens blaring as B. plays Grand Theft Auto 5.  He is polite enough that he came in the study and said 'I'll close the doors for you, Mom'.  It doesn't help much to din the noise but it's the thought that counts.

We had H.'s followup appointment yesterday and the news is good.  At least we think it's good.  I have to say that there is a growing lack of confidence on our part though we know our oncologist is awesome.  It's just the scans come and go and it never seems like they are doing any comparisons to prior scans.  At least we never see the two scans (old vs. new) side by side.  It's all on discs and computer and they hand us the disc as we leave - but we're not radiologists so it's all foreign to us.  I can see the (still there) swelling that is mentioned.  It is in the tissue in his neck which is where the area is that was radiated the most.  Though his windpipe is moved back pretty much to where it belongs - still a teeny bit off of center but compared to where it was in April, it's a great improvement.

H.'s hemoglobin levels have increased each lab (they are three months apart) and the doctor asked him if he's been smoking.  He has.  He denies it.  But blood work doesn't lie.  I went to Jackson for the afternoon after the appointment which gave me time to get my reaction semi-tamped down.  Oh, I still reamed him - but I also tried hard to just talk it through with him.  How the doctor is assuming the change from lab set to the next is because he is smoking.  But what if it's caused by other things (it can be sign of still existing or new cancer(s); lung or heart issues).  The doctor will assume the explanation is smoking - 'cuz H. is smoking some these days, apparently.  So it's all messing with his blood labs at a time when the doctor noticing slight changes in things is imperatively important.

He says he gets it - but he's young.  I'm old and crotchety and tired of constantly worrying about things that he needs to take responsibility for on his own.  We won't be around on this earth forever and the 'cancer factor' is a part of his life forever - and he has to 'get that' and embrace it and do things differently to ensure his body's signals that things aren't right will be noticed and acted on.

Jackson was a nice day and the slots were looser.  I lost but didn't lose all I had to lose - and I played on free play for quite awhile.  I have enough left to go back for a day next week which I will enjoy.  It's my down time.  I enjoy it.  It's a Christmas gift to myself.

Today, I'm going to attempt to bake cream pies.  I've never made homemade cream pies and I've been doing a lot of reading and words like 'turned into soup' don't do much to help my confidence.  I know I could 'cheat' and use pudding mixes to make the custard - but I want to do them from scratch.  I like to learn new things and I think I can do it.  Fingers crossed.  (I have pudding mixes here as a last resort - and extra pie crusts, too - so if it all turns out badly, I can whip up reasonable facsimiles pretty easily.  I just hope I won't need my backup plan).

We have a ton of wrapping and other stuff to keep us busy as the day progresses.  Trying to get closets culled a bit - B. spent a few minutes grabbing stuff out of his room to donate. We have a variety of charity pickups happening over the next couple weeks and we're trying to take advantage of the easiness of having them come to us to pick things up.

I still have one gift that's not here yet and I sure hope it will arrive today.  Fingers crossed.  It's for B. and I want it under the tree tonight.

The boys are ambivalent about going to church this evening - as is their mother.  I'm aiming to just be home.  I feel tired down to my bones - I could sleep all day, I think.  I just want to veg and chillax with my family until it's time to get stuff under the tree and head up to bed.

I'm not sure tomorrow's 'take' will be as robust as the boys are used to but oh well.  Our budget was impacted by a new water heater and other things and it is what it is.  I shopped carefully and I'm sure it will still be fun.

Merry Christmas Eve Day to all - and to all, a good nap!

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Day One

No, I won't be doing a count of days.  It's just a point of reference.

I awoke at 5AM and purposefully tossed the covers off.  Waited for the chill to set in so I could snuggle back in them and relish falling back to sleep.  Then had weird dreams until 8:45.  Very Freudian.  I won't tell you much about them except to say they involved being invited to a ball (and I got my dress at Sears), going into a building with dozens of stories, where everything looked exactly the same and there were dozens of doors - and I had no idea which 'bank' I was supposed to go into. None of the doors were numbered so I couldn't find the room I was invited into.  And then a guy was there with a miniature horse in a skinny crate...I felt so bad for the horse.  See? Told you they were weird.

I heard B. talking to his dad before I saw him - and then the huge hug came - which felt awesome. Though maybe not as 'hard' a hug as usual, 'cuz we saw each other seven weeks ago?  Still, it was great.  He looks well...and happy...and incredibly physically fit.

The day passed with errands - J. and I made trips to Costco and Winco to stock up for the week. Bought a standing rib roast from Costco for Christmas dinner - one expensive piece of meat! But it will be delicious.  B. went for a six mile run while we were out running our errands.  I texted him to ask if he wanted me to make fudge and he replied 'sure, if you want and I'll have one or two pieces'.  So I didn't get supplies to make fudge 'cuz I don't want to buy things that are hard for him to resist.  No eggnog (yet).

I made spaghetti for dinner.  Cooked six pounds of ground beef and made a huge pot of sauce.  We froze half.  Had two packages of meat to freeze for later dishes (tacos, sloppy joe's).  Leftovers for tomorrow night.  Menus are planned for the week so that's good.

I've decided to make banana and chocolate cream pies with meringue topping (instead of whipped cream) for Christmas dessert.  Hope I can pull it off.

H. is taking a friend to SFO tomorrow at 5:30AM.  The friend is moving out of state to live with his grandmother. Poor H. - another friend moving.

Tomorrow, we have no plans but hanging out here.  I have plenty of Christmas stuff to do.  Traffic today was horrible so I'm glad I don't have any reason to go out.  Maybe to Starbucks to get drinks 'cuz I've got quite a few free drinks on my card and I don't want to let them go to waste.

I missed seeing it ('cuz I went to bed before B. arrived home) but apparently Chloe was so wildly excited to see him, she went nuts.  Wish we'd filmed it for YouTube.  Next time!

J. has church in the morning so I'll spend the morning tidying up the office.

Oh, B. isn't a big fan of the new floors.  He says they look nice but they aren't cushy and warm.  He's right about that.  They are cold and hard on cold winter mornings.  But they are also much, much easier to keep reasonably clean.  Way less frustrating than carpeting.

Lights out time around here.  Made it until after 10.  Definitely holiday schedule.


Friday, December 19, 2014

Um, Something's Missing

Shortly after publishing my last post, I dutifully headed to the shower.  I turned it on to let it warm up. The downstairs shower is closest to the water heater - only steps away - and it usually heats up quickly. I also usually will turn on the hot faucet in the sink to run simultaneously - and when it feels hot, I know the shower is also ready.

This morning, after letting both run for a few minutes, it became pretty clear that the little bit of warmish water that had exited the sink and shower was the last of any warmish water we had.  There was no hot water.

We had a new one installed earlier this week - and then the work failed the city inspector - so the plumber guy had to come out again.  He did yesterday, made the change needed (which is a code violation and he should have installed it up to code without being asked to come back.  I'd be really upset about this except the city inspector pointed out that this particular code violation exists throughout our garage. Any type of anything that enters the ceiling should have a protection ring installed that won't let fire go up through a hole in the drywall into the upstairs rooms.  None of the various things installed in the ceiling of our garage have this - and haven't since we moved in 14 years ago).  Stupid builder cutting corners.  Though it makes you wonder how the garage passed the inspections as the house was being built?  Anyway - the water heater now has the correct part - and I've added 'fix all those issues in the garage' to the long list of things the house needs to be done.  

When the plumber guy came out to finish the job he didn't finish the first time, he made the repair - and then left the water heater unlit.  J. didn't notice yesterday 'cuz he didn't do many things that required him to run hot water.

I was the lucky one who discovered it - as I'm trying to get to work.  So like a pioneer, I heated water (in an electric kettle vs. a pot on the stove.  It's modern day pioneer style, I guess) and washed my hair in the kitchen sink.  Then I heated another pot of water and filled up the sink in the downstairs bathroom and used soap, water and a washcloth to get myself clean.  Not as 'awakening' as a shower, but it got the job done.

Even up at 4, I was still at work just before 8 - with gifts in hand.  A fun morning of passing out surprises to people; treating them to Starbucks; getting a few little things wrapped up.  We had a brunch birthday party for the people in our office who celebrate birthdays over the break.  A quick trip to a school site with a friend for lunch and then the afternoon flew by.  Before I knew it, we were heading to the offsite party - and it was also fun.

J. is en-route to Oakland to pick up B. but I am fading fast and will have to enjoy my first hug from him in the morning.  No way I can make it until 11PMish - two more hours.  My eyes are at half mast and I am so ready for bed.

Tomorrow, we go out in search of prime rib for Christmas dinner and procure other food items to get us through the first week of the break.

Looking forward to a couple weeks of down time!

And Finally!

At last, the last day before Winter Break has officially arrived!  I was up at 4:30 and headed downstairs for a somewhat leisurely morning.  Did most of the gift prep last night but have to put labels and bows on things.  I also promised (insisted, really) my team that I would be treating them to Starbucks this morning so will head in as early as I can and then head back out with their orders.  We have a fun day planned - lots of little events scattered throughout the day - and yes, wedging in plenty of work.

I feel a little cold hitting me this morning - stuffy head, headache off and on the past few days, sore throat off and on, too.  I pray it doesn't hit me hard 'cuz that's often what happens - plow through and keep on keeping on until I have some down time and then Ba Bam! - full force.  Here's hoping not this time.  I drank OJ this morning in the hopes that some Vitamin C will assist.

Funny story re: us.  Aging isn't for sissies.

I paid our property tax bill on December 1st.  I purposefully waited until the 1st 'cuz I want our money to stay in our account as long as possible - but the bill was paid.  It's a bright blue envelope that sticks out and J. vividly remembered taking it to the mailbox.  We were both sure of it.  But the 10th (due date) comes and goes and the county website still showed it as unpaid.  On the 11th, it flipped to 'past due' and added a 10% penalty - which is a not insignificant amount to add to an already pretty darn significant amount.  I was worried - check hadn't cleared; couldn't imagine what happened.

Earlier this week, my husband started to take things out to the mailbox and I noticed one of the envelopes didn't have stamps on it.  He insisted he would have known that and wouldn't have put it in the outgoing mail box without postage - but I wondered.  'Cuz neither of us are getting any younger and the list of weird things that happen around here keeps growing.

I didn't exactly blame him for the tax snafu - but I sure wondered.  Had he inadvertently dropped the envelope and it ended up going down the storm drain in one of the massive deluges we've had recently? Sure, pretty (very) unlikely - but could that be what happened?  The scenarios played out in my head - usually in the wee hours of the morning.

J. called the county office and humans actually answered!  And the guy said they had processed all the payments except any 'problem issues' - and suggested we wait a bit and see.  If I stopped payment on the check and reissued a new check, I'd be forced to pay the penalty - and that wouldn't be refunded in the event the payment was located.  So we waited a bit.

And sure enough, a letter arrived this week - with our payment coupon and the check attached.  The numeric amount was correct - but the written amount on the check was off by four hundred dollars - so they sent it all back to us.  We were in the 'problem' bin - and now we're not.  Check reissued and resent and while it hasn't cleared yet, it will soon.

That's what I get for writing a very large check in the wee hours of the morning when my brain is still waking up!

It's a good reminder to be patient with each other; kind to each other; assume the best.  I  know those are obvious things but as we get older and things start to happen that defy logic and reason, it's a good reminder.  Two really bright people muddling through the things that life hands us....one day at a time. Stuff happens, after all - and had we ended up never knowing what happened and paid the penalty and moved on, so what?  It's all fixable.  Always pretty darn fixable.

OK - it's really time to get moving now.  Must finish up Christmas gift prep and get showered and dressed.  I'm wearing jeans today and imagine most of the teachers and staff will be, too.  It's just that kind of day - the day I've been counting down to for weeks!

SIXTEEN CONSECUTIVE NO ALARM DAYS are about to commence!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Pengle

I play games on Facebook...and I know some of you will be like 'what a total waste of time'.  Or 'people who spend time playing games are just lame'.  Or 'she complains how busy/swamped she is but she wastes time playing games?'.  

I have given up games that felt like they were sucking the life out of me.  I looked forward so much to the first Farmville 'new' farm - and it was fun for awhile.  There are now 20 or so 'farms' and there was no way I was going to invest my time on that game anymore.  Around the fourth one - all with separate 'missions' and goals - I was done.  I tried to just 'farm' for awhile - but even that was overwhelming.  It stopped being mindless and fun and started feeling a lot like work.  

I play because they help me decompress a bit after days that are very full.  I play because I think some of them help me think and plan and keep 'sharp'.  Time management games are not easy and I like them.

Pengle is a match three game that I've played for awhile.  I tried Candy Crush for awhile - but it's impossible.  Or feels that way.  Pengle is tough and I play some levels over and over.  And then, something will happen and you'll do something that gives you a boost or something that helps and ta-da!  A level you've been stuck on for a week or more is suddenly done - things just come together and everything works and you've completed the goal and are able to move on. 

Tonight, that feels like a life lesson.  I need to remind myself.  Sometimes, you stay stuck for a long time.  You try different things and they don't work.  You try new things and they don't work either. But if you just keep playing and trying, things will work out.  They really will.  Pengle helps me with that. Gives me a win now and then even if I've been stuck for a long time.  

Two more days and those days feel like an eternity.  I've come to the conclusion that the issue is having our holiday party on Friday evening.  It feels so 'hard' to work the long week and then leave work and essentially go to work for another couple of hours.  All I will want to do is just go home.  B. arrives Friday night and J. will leave to get him around the time I'm getting home.  I want to wait up for them to be back but geez, it's going to be really late.  It will be fine if I go to bed 'cuz I will see him Saturday morning - and the first hug is the best thing ever regardless of when it happens.  

I have made huge, massive progress on culling out my office.  It feels so good to let go of so much stuff that's just been piling up.  It feels great to have a little time to breathe.  To take the time to do this massive reorganization and cleaning is something I've only been able to dream about - or think 'I'll come in and do it on a weekend'.  But I've put many hours in on the project this week and clearly, one weekend wouldn't have been nearly enough.  It's wonderful to feel like I can do my job and still have a life.  I get to work between 7:30 and 8 and leave by 5.  Some nights, I'm out by 4:30ish.  It's nice to have a life.  

H.'s scan went well and he survived a no-carb day.  Now we wait until Tuesday to hear how it looked. As always, waiting is hard.  I feel on pins and needles about it - and I'm glad the phone hasn't rung with any 'please rush into the office ASAP'.  

Survivor finale also has us on pins and needles this evening.  

Should have named the post Pins and Needles - 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Two days down and three to go!  Been pretty busy and the days are moving pretty quickly, so it's officially on the downhill side towards the break.  The entire district feels like pins and needles...everyone just waiting...and waiting.  It's getting closer.

I was supposed to head to Brentwood this evening for dinner with a friend.  The day here was weather free - sunny and bright blue skies with some streaky, white clouds which only provided contrast to the deep blue of the sky.  Not a drop of rain in site.  At 4PM, I headed out to the restrooms before heading on my drive there and saw the huge, HUGE black clouds coming in from the west.  The next storm front was coming and it was as big as the forecasts had said it would be.  I quickly texted my friend (who had already been warned that if it started to rain, all bets were off 'cuz I'm not a fan of making this drive at night even without the pouring rain) and we rescheduled for lunch on Monday.  Margaritas at noon!  We're both on vacation from our 'school' jobs so it's totally do-able.

And it is POURING right now.  Really, really coming down hard.  Which is awesome!  We need it. It was the right call to not do dinner 'cuz driving home in this would be awful.

I'm adding rain boots to my shopping list this weekend.  I've never had any.  Do you buy them to fit over your shoes?  Or do you wear them and carry your regular shoes in a bag and change when you're not sloshing through puddles?  It's so wet that my regular flats (sturdy and comfy) feel risky 'cuz one wrong step into a puddle of any size and I may end up soaked.

Another dinner with other friends is scheduled for tomorrow.  Then getting through a couple meetings on Thursday.  Friday will be wrapping things up; setting out of office messages; and our work Christmas party.  I'm not particularly excited about having to go somewhere at the end of the longest week ever - I just want to go home - but oh well. I co-host with my boss and it's usually pretty fun. Once I get there...it will be fine.

I did manage to do some wrapping last night.  Small steps make me feel so accomplished...and then make me want to spend the next day at home piddling - and of course, I can't.

H. had his PET scan this morning.  He survived all day yesterday with only protein.  No carbs or sugar of any kind.  He drank unsweetened iced tea and water all day, too.  The scan was done and we didn't get any frantic call from the doctor, so that's good.  Now we wait one more week to find out how the scan looked.

The last episode of The Newsroom aired on Sunday.  So sad the show is over.  It was great television and we will sure miss it -


Sunday, December 14, 2014

Tweety-Like

My sweet husband went upstairs to get a sweatshirt for me to wear.  It's freezing cold...after a week of crazy weather, it feels like we will never be warm again.  Lots of rain, some wind.  It was the storm of the century though it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Lots of schools in the Bay Area closed but here in the Central Valley, we stayed open.  Unfortunately, parents decided to keep their kids home anyway (WHY?!) so now we research options to hopefully not lose a ton of money as a result of them deciding to take 'rain days'.  Totally unnecessary rain days.

The sweatshirt he chose is the bright yellow hoodie - so I put the hood up and pulled the cord and am sitting here like Tweety Bird (or maybe Big Bird minus the height) trying to stay warm.  Maybe we should splurge on some heat.  :-)

It's the weekend before the last week of school and then THE BREAK - which I put in all caps 'cuz that's how it feels this year.  So, so ready for a break.

I spent the week productively and filled my recycle bin three times with stuff that I'm culling out.  It's a long overdue massive cleaning out of files, etc. - and it feels so good to have the time to do that! And it's also so helpful to know that things that remain are things that need to be there.  Construction results in just so much stuff that accumulates - so it's great to have it organized and reduced a bit.

The upcoming week includes several night events - holiday gatherings and dinner with friends before the break.  It will go quickly.

B. will be home this coming Friday - can't wait to have him home for two weeks!

Errands to run, things to wrap, etc. will fill the weekend.  Looks like possibly more rain and that's fine. The errands can keep if needed and it will be a fun day/weekend of cocooning at home.  I ordered a variety of Keurig pods including some decaf herbal teas (for evening consumption), hot chocolate and hot cider!

Happy Sunday!  We're watching Hunt for Red October on casted Netflix (on J.'s computer but playing on the TV).  Slow, easy morning.  Heading out for errands soon.  J. will go with 'cuz shopping is easier with two.  Probably another stop at Starbucks - have two free drinks on my card and a coupon for another free drink.  Two extra stars for purchasing a treat today, too - so perhaps a Snowman cookie.

I am promising myself I will get to wrapping once we're home from errands.

It's so darn cold....I hate the thought of getting showered and dressed 'cuz I dread the freezing shivers that happen no matter how toasty warm the bathroom gets.

Sadly, we cancelled our pending Luna Encantada trip officially by requesting a refund of the 50% we left on deposit.  It was sad to do that - because it acknowledges we don't have plans to go there anytime soon.  Not this summer, at least.  But it's the thing to do.  The owner of the condo we rent was kind enough to refund the full amount - I think we cancelled with enough notice in the Spring that she had no problem renting the unit during the weeks we would have been there.  Still, I was expecting her to withhold one night as a cancellation fee so it was nice to see she didn't.

It makes me a little blue to acknowledge no beach in the near future but we will go again.  Just have to give ourselves a little time.  If we make the trip to Europe in March, that's a huge trip and should suffice for a couple years, at least - while we build up our savings again.

Once you get the travel bug, it sure is hard to get rid of it.

The movie is winding down.  I'd better get moving.

Monday, December 08, 2014

Monday, Monday

La la.  La la la la la....

I am sorry that song will now be in your head all day.  Or all night.

While it started off slowly, it picked up the pace (as did I) and we made it through a day of getting a lot of pending little things taken care of.  My assistant noticed the pace shortly after 10AM when her box kept filling up every hour or two with little things for her to do, too.  Felt good to see wood and to plow through things.

One of my strengths is that as I do one thing, it quickly leads me to think of others that need doing and one thing follows another and before I know it, what seemed to be a blase day turned into jam packed. Which is great 'cuz I'd rather be plenty busy than just hanging out.  And I accomplished a variety of things that needed doing; cleaned off a bunch of stuff that is done and over and strategized for 'what's next' after the little things are done and I still have all next week to fill before the break.

Thought the dishwasher was broken this morning but we think it was just a pan blocking the jets.

The wine last night felt like it would lead to stellar sleep but it didn't.  Something about wine winds me up, I guess?  'cuz the night was fitfully non-sleep filled.  Maybe it was my brain.

I had weird dreams that upset me - and then I dreamed about being upset.  Long night.

Tonight, I invented a new dish - a cream sauce and real pancetta (the pie place in Stockton has delicious diced pancetta which is really hard to find) made with the leftover wine and leftover heavy cream tossed with whole wheat spaghetti.  LOL - all that cream with whole wheat pasta.  I know.  Pointless.  But delicious.

So we're enjoying another bottle of wine this evening.  Practice makes perfect.  Only problem I see with this plan is the wine is about $12 a bottle - times 30 days in a month.  That's a healthy amount to budget for wine.  And we don't.  Maybe someday?  But now, no.  Feeding the 21 year old bottomless pit who lives with up eats up the wine budget.

J. will speak to the travel agent tomorrow and point out that moving our air reservations a couple days earlier saves $1800 in airfare....just letting him know that our dates are pretty flexible.  And it looks like we're going to add a day to ensure that J. and H. have enough time in Rome to enjoy the experience - vs. just racing from place to place to get it all in.  I want to be sure we allow time for H. to rest - he won't sleep on the plane (he says he won't, anyway) and I don't want him to start the trip exhausted.

It's only money.  We can't take it with us and we've saved most of our lives - so in 2015, we're cashing in some assets and not scrimping on this two week plus journey with our youngest son.

Nine days to go!  Let's do this thing!  I have so many things to do tomorrow, the day will fly by. Though board meeting days are long.  Always long.


Sunday, December 07, 2014

Olivia-Like

Grappling with the two weeks looming in front of the two week break...two weeks feels like forever. Hoping the weeks go quickly?  'cuz it's torture to think of the ten work days stretched out in front of me.

I'm feeling very Olivia Pope-like as J. and I enjoy the first bottle of our case order of V. Sattui Gamay Rouge.  Seriously one of the best wines ever and I can see this becoming a regular thing.  Enjoying the slight 'lightness' feeling induced by wine as we ease into Sunday evening.  I guess I should go make dinner before I'm too woozy to cook.  We're having Teriyaki Chicken sandwiches - a take on the Red Robin Teriyaki Chicken Burger that I adore.

Side note:  Red Robin is open here in town now!  We haven't ventured there yet 'cuz like all new Tracy restaurants, the wait is ridicules.  But we will get there!

J. and I have been working with the travel agent who handled the Europe Groupon trip we took last year and are looking at taking another trip in March again.  This time, taking H. with us.  I gave him a heads up that we were thinking of it to be sure he was interested in going and he was very enthusiastic in his reaction.  Now, we just have to work on understanding what the travel agent has set up.  It's a bit more expensive than we thought - but we are asking him to book us in Premium Economy on either Virgin Atlantic or British Airways.  Not much more than we would pay with upgrading to the more legroom seats.  That part is going to be a surprise to H. .

The plan is for H. & J. to go to Rome for a few nights and I will stay in London for a few days. We all fly into London from SFO then J. and H. head to Rome.  I stay in London for a few days alone (I can't tell you how excited I am about that!!  Shopping!! Or at least window shopping!)  Then we meet in Paris for seven nights and we end with a few more nights in London together.

We will see if it all works out.  Still a lot of logistics to finalize and then have to figure out how to pay for it.  No worries there - just have to decide what account to dip into.  And we won't finalize arrangements on the trip until we see the oncologist on December 23rd.  H. seems fine - but he is running 'hot' a lot lately - sleeping with the fan on high in his shorts with no covers - and it's winter here and our thermostat is set for low 60's in the night.  I worry about that.  We will see.

My husband just made me still happier by asking 'would you like to go to Disneyland Paris while we're there'?  Um...YES!!  I am in turn agreeing that IF we do Disneyland Paris in 2015, we will forgo our every five year trip to Disneyland California - though we go there on the '5's' to celebrate that parks every five year anniversary.  But yes, to be in Disneyland Paris for a day or two, I will skip driving down to the Southern California and spending money to be there.  We will call it 'done' in exchange for one or two days in the Paris park instead!

And (while I wish he would surprise me), I also stated that I want to go to Tiffany's Paris on our 25th anniversary where I would like to select a Sterling Silver bauble.  Silver is the 25th anniversary 'gift' and I'm sure I can find something lovely that's well within our budget.  I'm just the kind of girl that likes to say what she wants to avoid any disappointments.  Maybe he would have done it anyway?  But now we will!!  I've coveted something from Tiffany's for a quarter of a century - and now, I will get something.  And maybe he will, too!  Lots of fun things in that store for both of us!  Silver keeps the cost to within our budget - even flying all the way to Europe to make that dream come true.

He will make me the happiest person on earth with this trip - 25 years from the day that was the happiest of my life.

Wow...this wine is really good.  I'm ready to go to bed.  It's not even 6PM yet -

Friday, December 05, 2014

Pondering

Is it merely coincidental that my current favorite nail polish is Margarita?

Thursday, December 04, 2014

The High Cost of Gambling



H. lost a bet with a friend and this is the result.

The deal is he has to retain the flaming red hair for 24 hours - but it sounds like he's going to let it grow out a week or so and then buzz cut it off.

He's being a good sport about it - it was blonde before the red was applied.  Goofball.  Don't make stupid bets with your friends.

It could have been worse 'cuz for a day or two, H. was the person shopping around for the products required to create this look - until I said 'make your friend's girlfriend - the one who was going to cut your hair and apparently has some hair styling training - obtain the correct products for the job.  Not pay for the products - H. did that - but at least know what to buy.  A two step 'bleach then dye' isn't something a 21 year old guy should be shopping at Target for, right?

I got up close to a full hour earlier this morning and here it is 6:30 and I'm still not showered....the time just passes with my morning routine - easing into a busy day.

Got to get going 'cuz it's already Thursday (this week has flown by) and I still have a massive amount of board prep to accomplish by noon tomorrow.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Rainy Sunday

Steady rain most of the day and we're not complaining a bit!  So happy to see steady water dropping from the sky.  Chloe is less than thrilled and kudos to my hubby who got an umbrella out to take her outside.  She's sheltered so she won't just sit around whining to go out and then not go out when she realizes it's pretty darn wet.

It's been a nice, productive yet 'feeling lazy' day - tackled the study and realized that a lot of the 'stuff' in the room related to Christmas - so set out to wrap (done!) and get things ready to ship (also done!). Two big things off the list of things to do - and while there's still plenty of wrapping to do, it's nice to have the out-of-state items ready to ship on December 1st - thus ensuring their timely arrival.

My friend and I cancelled brunch yesterday due to weather - driving from her house in San Ramon and mine here to meet 1/2 way lost it's allure when the storm was clearly settling in.  We have rescheduled for early January - realizing that trying for a weekend between now and New Years is a likely recipe for failure.

I got a hair cut yesterday and love my new stylist.  She's sweet and spunky. Got an idea from her and another stylist to use a boar bristle brush for my hair and brush it liberally every day.  I realized that when I went back to short hair, I stopped using a 'sturdy' brush and started using combs or just plastic bristle.  So back to a real brush which may stimulate my scalp and help with the hair loss.  I know already that it's adding 'lift' and body that wasn't there before and the part line (I don't really wear a part but you know what I mean - those part lines that appear anyway) looks a little less wide.  Maybe my imagination, but I'll take it.

H. came downstairs hours ago (late morning, I think) for a Tums and some water.  He went back to bed and we haven't heard from him since.  J.'s checked on him and he's just tired.  It's almost 4PM.

I worry.  I will always worry.

We made the spinach dip we never got around to making on Thursday.  I'll take some of it for lunch tomorrow.

Tomorrow also starts our annual Secret Santa and I shopped for that a bit yesterday.  Was considering not going to Target after the hair cut but then miraculously, a parking space opened up right in the front of the store and it was too good to pass up.  Bought a few little things for home (new scrub brushes for H. to use on the floor that have easier 'grips' for him) and also got a few little things for the Santa effort. This year, we have three weeks between the start and the reveal and considering we're supposed to not spend more than $15, it's hard to figure out what to do over that period of time.

It's also hard 'cuz I don't know my person well - and it's hard to feel interested in surprising someone you barely know.

This week will be very, very busy.  Audit to finalize and board items to get ready.  The week will fly by which is good 'cuz like the students, I already feel it will be a long three weeks until Winter Break. Can't wait for B. to be home.



Friday, November 28, 2014

Post Turkey Madness

Yesterday was full of food and exhaustion.  Not related to each other.  Thanks to J. for huge pitching in to get food to the table 'cuz I had no oomph.  Tired to my core yesterday and the two 'test' bowls of stuffing I ate around noon didn't do much to help lift my sleepiness.  I awoke just before 8 with a start -in the middle of a strange dream that I now can't remember to save my soul but felt haunted by most of yesterday.  I dislike dreams like that.

Did a little cyber shopping including ordering a case of wine from V. Sattui.  My favorite - Gamay Rouge!  I thought we still had plenty of wine around but turns out we have been using it little by little. And hubby has been letting H. take bottles of our cheaper varieties to the occasional party.  Which is fine.  Can't wait for that wine to arrive - I think I've reached the point in my life and career where a glass of wine a night might be required.  Maybe two.

Five to seven (more) years feels like a prison sentence lately.

I'm wearing a bright yellow hooded sweatshirt that I bought for being a Minion at Halloween.  J. calls me his "Tweety".  It's warm and that's what matters.  And I paid for it and might as well get some use out of it.  Though I feel a bit like someone who picks up trash along the freeway.

Our Thanksgiving was fun and H. got a kick out of the butter turkey also adorning our table.  He posted 'Guess one turkey wasn't festive enough' with a picture of the molded butter.  It was fun and I can't wait to see what mold they have for Christmas.  J. and I used the leftover fresh whipped cream in our coffee this morning and it was delicious!  And the pies we got at The Fruit Bowl (pumpkin and boysenberry) are also delicious.  It was a nice meal.

H. busily scrubbed a pretty good section  of tile in the family room - using Clorox Cleanup and a scrub brush.  Pretty desperate to earn some money but hey!  I'm willing to pay for tile floors that look like new. Here's hoping he keeps the momentum up.

I went into the office for a few hours today 'cuz it was easier than trying to arrange things here to work at home.  Got the auditors the info they needed to finalize our report and finalized my big report.  Will start sketching out the board presentation and other backup this weekend in preparation for a busy week.

I had dinner with a friend on Monday evening and will have breakfast with another friend tomorrow. Fun to catch up.  Also a haircut tomorrow - which was actually scheduled for 10:30 AM this morning but I rescheduled when the thought of going anywhere near the mall on Black Friday hit me with a 'heck no!' late yesterday.

It's time for holiday madness to ensue.  Encouraging my husband to strike while the iron is hot and enlist H.'s help (for compensation, of course - just a little extra) in getting things down from the rafters and start putting up decorations.

It will be like Thanksgiving.  I will envision the 'perfect' holiday - plenty of time and energy and magicalness.  Me, in the kitchen happily chopping, stirring, simmering....glass of wine nearby.  Only what will probably happen is it will be frantic, busy, crazy and...still magical.  It always is.

Three weeks of work before the break.  Should have ordered two cases of wine, perhaps.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Queens

I hoped to bake the Queen of Croissants for work this morning - we're having a quick staff meeting to draw names for our annual Secret Santa gift exchange.  Unfortunately, even with the proof box keeping things at a relative constant warm temp, most of them did not rise well.  I think we can still bake a few for my office but the other buildings may be out of luck.  We used the temp we used when the house was much warmer and the cold winter air now requires a higher setting.  Duh.  Should have thought of that.

Yesterday, I bolted out of bed upon realizing that it was 6:45 (!!!!) - a full two hours past my alarm. Hubby was brewing my coffee and was relieved to see me downstairs 'cuz he wasn't sure if he should wake me up or not.  I rushed to get to my 8:30 meeting (which was actually at 8:45 - we would all know that if we'd received an agenda in advance but that doesn't happen anymore, apparently).  Sure made the day go uber fast.

Still plowing through the huge report and hoping to be more 'done' than not by end of day tomorrow.  I was planning to be off all week but am now probably going in on Tuesday - it will be quiet and I will get a lot done.  Then it's sliding into holiday mode with pie baking on Wednesday's agenda.

My cousin and I are two ships passing in the night and I feel sort of sad at times that we don't 'see' each other on FB much.  The damn time change makes her morning time be 3AM my time and no, I just can't do it.  Her evenings are more hectic than mine - so I hesitate to chat in the evenings.....I miss her.

Hopefully, we can catch up next week when we're off work -

We've had a bit of rain the past couple days - such welcome weather that we can't complain.  It's cold (for here) and we are all wearing our coats in our office - even with the heat on.  Portables on slabs do not retain heat and we are entering the period of constant cold that we face every year.  I doubt I will work in this district when we finally have a real building - but it would sure be lovely to not have my feet freezing from November through January.  It's hard to concentrate when your feet are like blocks of ice.

That's it - I've got to get moving.  Hair to dry and style; lunch to pack.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Patience

Trips to Jackson teach me so much.

No, really - they do.

A cow struts herself down a small path in a hill.  "I'm cool.  It's all cool.  I'm just ambling down thepath down this hill to....uh... another hill.  Yeah, another hill.  Or wherever.  It's all good.  Yeah, I'm alone.  I have no idea where all the others like me went but oh well.  Their loss.  Yeah, I'm cool". Seriously, you can see it in her strut. She's the epitome of 'fine within herself'.  And I laughed out loud in the seconds I picked up on all that - 'cuz that's one confident cow.

A guy in a white van full of people - at least 8 maybe 10 people - is tailgating me.  He doesn't adjust well to the constant up and down in speed that occurs on a two lane highway with slight slopes up and down.  His van also appears to struggle a bit uphill - so it gets behind (which is actually to a much safer distance from the car in front of it) - and then catches up again (somewhat dangerously so, I think) on the downhill slopes.  Finally, he passes me, the car in front of me and the car in front of that car.  And he ends up stuck behind the two cars just ahead of all of us - and stays stuck for the remainder of the trip up the hill.  I find perverse satisfaction in noting 'yeah, all that hurrying really put you ahead of the rest of us, huh?'.  I smile again at the joy of karma.

Patience, people.  Patience.  It was a beautiful day with bright blue skies.  Partly cloudy but not stormy. Love the drive up there - town by town.  Gauging how far I am based on the places I pass.  I think of when B. was little and we made him a map of landmarks so he would know how far along we were on the trip to J.'s parents.  Always helped him pass the time and fret less about how long it was taking to get there.  He's always in such a hurry -

I played my free play and some of the extra I brought with me to play.  We collect our leftover weekly allowance at the end of every week and when I'm in the mode of going up weekly for the various things they are enticing me with to go back up, I use the extra money for my gambling.  It's working.  And today, I'm proud to report that while I didn't win anything significant, I won enough to play a bit - and I did not drain every penny in my wallet - so I feel really good about that.

I'm going up next weekend, too - for two nights (free).  Tons of player events that weekend and I just feel like a get away would be great.

I had to make a potty stop on the drive home and always stop at places on the right side of the road so I won't have to go across traffic to go back the way I'm headed.  Today, the only place around was a small farm store - and I indulged in a delicious pannini, brought home a peach pie and found real pancetta for Pasta Carbonara.

It was an expensive restroom stop.  The sign in the bathroom proclaimed 'Restrooms are for our customers'.  Pretty common.  And then added 'a customer is defined as a person who purchases good and services from the business they are visiting'.  I can take a hint.

The getaway will be great incentive to work like a maniac this week and get the big report pretty much done.  It's well in process...but I'm at the point I always get to - it's in process but still so, so much to do.

Not looking forward to Monday but here she comes.


Saturday, November 15, 2014

Lazy Saturday (Not)

I've made lists of things to get done today and am determined to do so.  After a short week that felt interminably tortuous, I was productive last evening as well.  Worked on organizing my desk; got caught up on managing our finances.  Set up a Christmas budget tracking device; made lists of gifts already purchased and ideas for other things. Made to-do lists as well - which helps me gather my thoughts and focus.

The budget is different this year - usually, I just shop and when the bills arrive, I move money from savings to cover items that are 'Christmas'.  I'm sure you can see the failure in this system - shopping and then covering the expenses vs. planning what to purchase.  So I've reserved an amount in our savings account for Christmas and as the purchases are made, I shift money over to cover the bill and see what's left.  I like this purposeful approach because I am selecting gifts very carefully and thoughtfully vs. just shopping.  The under the tree effect will be much lighter this year but I have something new I'm going to try and we'll see how it goes.  Ultimately, the boys would just prefer money and I don't mind providing that.  With a few carefully selected items to unwrap, a money gift will be their main item this year.

It will be a much lesser amount than years past.  Welcome to '50% of my parents are retired', boys.

Jim is at a church worship leader training for the morning.  I'm working on my lists and will get dressed shortly.  I brought work home that I plan to do here vs. going to the office.  I need to gas up the car, get to the post office, get to the bank and a couple other quick errands.

Last night, a friend Facebook messaged me - I had messaged her some time ago and she never responded.  I felt awkward that she didn't respond - and then noticed a week or so ago that her daughter was no longer in my Facebook friends.  She'd gone 'dark' - removed her profile - or defriended me. I felt bad about that but oh well.

Her daughter was in rehab with H. way back when - and last night, she told me that her daughter relapsed (seriously) and is in a residential program again.  Day 39 sober which is awesome.  She was hanging out with some really bad guys who pulled guns on her parents when they went to look for her. And the worst part is:  she has s two year old daughter who is now being cared for by her dad and the grandparents get to see her every other weekend.

These parents are good people and have done their best to help their daughter make better choices.  She keeps failing at the daily effort required to make those improved choices and I can't imagine how hard it is on her parents.  When they visited us after H. got home from the hospital, the girl said 'if I didn't have A. (her daughter), I would probably be dead'.  And I felt certain that parenthood would be the thing that helped her finally stay sober - but it wasn't.

I was pretty sure when my friend didn't acknowledge my message weeks back that something wasn't right - and that is true.  Her parents are doing everything they can for her - but ultimately, it's all her decision.

These parents are wonderful people and we've always danced a gentle dance with them.  H. is a rehab success story, really - while their daughter has continually struggled to make good choices.  It's always hard to know what to say to support and encourage them - but I try.  It's so hard to know they are going through the rehab process again - and that their daughter is using very serious things that could kill her. Seriously - kill her.  And she can't stop.

One of my errands today is to get a card for the daughter - just a note of 'hang in there' and 'we're thinking of you' for them to take to her next time they visit.  She is the sweetest girl - really, really sweet - and I just hope this time she figures it all out.  She is likely going to lose custody of her daughter but that's a consequence of her actions - and here's hoping that doesn't open up a 'screw it, what the hell' reaction that will lead her back to more bad behaviors.

This makes me so proud of H. - that for the most part, he's stuck with it.  He drinks with his friends and I'm sure he's smoked things now and then that I'd rather he not smoke.  But even with those things, I feel pretty certain that he's nowhere near in the bad place he was 4 years ago.  He seems to have gotten that being stoned all the time isn't any way to live a life.

Though somethings I think 'dude, having cancer should really motivate you to get your shit together'...but then I chastise myself and remind myself that he's young and they feel invincible at that age.

I'm re-watching this week's Scandal and last night, after I'd watched it for the first time, J. walked in to see me with my mouth gaping open and just 'OMG' coming out of my mouth.  Stunning.

And he casually informed me that this years season of Newsroom is it's last and only six episodes. CRAP.  I just hate that it's over so quickly - three quick seasons and then BOOM - done.

Alright - non-lazy Saturday commencing!  I'm off!


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Raining

It's raining, which I'm sure was forecasted somewhere but caught me completely by surprise.  It's a good motivator for Chloe who got her businesses done in record time.

I slept in accidentally 'cuz it was just so warm and toasty under the covers, I couldn't bring myself to throw them back and move.  Though that method might be my new one 'cuz it works.  Just fling all the covers off in one swoop and jump out of bed.  Like jumping into the swimming pool only a little less gaspy.

The twelve hour day yesterday was productive and busy - a full stack of things awaiting my return.  I plowed through one thing after another all day and noticed the day seemed to be creeping by.  I'd feel like hours had passed and yet it would be only barely one hour.  A Wednesday that felt like a Monday was hard to take.  Disorienting, even.  But I made it through.

I just ordered a perfect gift for my boys for Christmas that I saw posted by a friend on Facebook.  It's silly, really, but will make a nice stocking stuffer.

Tonight, J. and I will (hopefully) finish putting the study closet back together.  It's a work in progress. Not much work happened on it yesterday but oh well.  It will get done.

As will cleaning my desk 'cuz it's a wreck.

I caught up on my DVR of shows we missed last week including last week's scandal and now I can't wait for tonight's episode.

An observations:  a 'plus size' model who is a size 10 is in the news and I just have to throw this out there: since when is size 10 considered plus size?  Seriously?  I was a size 10 when I had my kids and no one who knew me then would have considered me even remotely plus size.  So what does that make me now?  Is there a Plus Plus (and possibly add another) Plus size that I don't know about?  Really? The young lady is beautiful but we are all warped if we call her figure a Plus size model.  It's totally wrong and I'm not just saying that 'cuz of my size - I'm saying it 'cuz there are zillions of young girls out there who were perfectly beautiful size 10's or 12's who now think they are huge and need to do something about it.

A friend at work was down a bit this past week 'cuz she's decided that her legs are 'huge'.  This woman works out every single day for hours.  She eats strictly Paleo - not an ounce of sugar or carbs ever cross her lips.  She's my age - but she's trying to look like she's in her 20's - and it's not possible.  Only she insists it is.

When it gets really bad, we entice her with dark chocolate 'cuz a girl's got to have a treat now and then.

Off to the trenches.  I am placing myself in secure lock-down mode for most of the day 'cuz my big report is looming and I still have major things to take care of in order to be where I need to be by December.  Our December board meeting is early (the 9th) so I have to get moving!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Veteran's Day

Thank you to all the men and women who serve or have served in our country's military - including and especially Specialst B.T.M. at Ft. Bliss.

Now to update on the trip.  What a whirlwind weekend.  Non-stop action from morning until night and while there were plenty of times I sort of wished for a little 'me' time, I wouldn't have missed any of the things we did or people we saw or places we visited.  It was exactly what it was supposed to be - a mini-family reunion full of memories and fun.  My aunt's party was loads of fun - well attended. Amazing to see so many people over 90 in attendance and what amazing people they are.  They held nothing back, including commenting on H.'s earrings ('does your employer let you wear those to work?').  I didn't hear his reply - probably 'not working right now so....'.  They are the gauges and I hate them but oh well.  My aunt has led an amazing life and her friends were all just like her - full of life and energy and light - it was so much fun to be there and I'm so glad we didn't miss it.

I gained five pounds which is to be expected when you eat out daily and most especially when the meals include splurges like appetizers, alcoholic drinks and desserts.  Yummy food everywhere we went and we all indulged a bit.

We visited with folks day and night and then packed up to head to the airport yesterday morning.  B. was departing on a different airline so I realized at the car rental return terminal that we would need to say our goodbyes there.  I was already really psyched up for doing that - but thought we would be riding the bus together with him getting off before us or vice versa depending on terminal location.  But no, the buses were actually for each terminal.  Enjoyed a great bear hug and got choked up watching him hug his brother and dad - excited to be saying 'see you in a month' (which really helped keep emotions in check but still...).  When we had moved over to where our bus would pick us up, I had to resist the overwhelming urge to run back over to the Terminal 4 bus to give/get one more terrific hug.  I didn't do that, though - he would have been mortified.  And I remind myself that goodbyes aren't just hard for me/us, they are hard for him too.  My emotions create/add to his and it's equally as hard on him to say goodbye as it is me/us.  So better to just relish that we will see him in a month for two weeks at Christmas and that will be lovely.

Today has been laundry and massive grocery shopping.  I spent $45 more than I planned but pretty much got everything we need for Thanksgiving as well - except the pies.  We've got frozen blueberries so I'm considering baking a blueberry pie and a pumpkin pie myself - using store bought crust, though, 'cuz I've never been successful at making homemade crusts.  If I'm going to risk disaster by making pies ('cuz it's easy for them not to turn out as great as store bought and/or frozen), I'd better stick to just the filling for now.

Tomorrow is back to work and a long day - board meeting.  That's going to be a hard day to get through first day back...but I'm sure I will.

I am working little by little on putting back the study closet - it's just a huge mess 'cuz J. didn't supervise the removal process all that well.  Things are just willy nilly all over the garage and I keep looking at it with a 'huh, where did all this stuff go?' reaction over and over and over.  But it's got to be done.  Mornings are getting colder and I want my car in the garage to avoid frost.  No patience for defrosting in the morning.

Phoenix, you were as lovely as I remember - really, you are stellar when it's not 100+ outside.  We definitely plan to visit again soon - our hotel was lovely, conveniently located and easy to navigate. Plenty of trails for hiking, golf course. etc. .  There are a lot more freeways now than when I lived there and the loops and routes make it pretty easy to navigate.  You can get across the entire valley in way less time than in years past and while traffic is still traffic, it seemed 'easy', all things considered.  All the little 'towns' that used to be 'in the middle of nowhere' are now linked together - Phoenix is just a huge expansion of city after city.  It's amazing, really, how much it's all grown.  We went to dinner with my younger sister one night and met her at a place I used to visit - only there was nothing there but houses.  Now, it's a full blown extension of downtown Scottsdale and I could have explored there for days.

It's just before 4PM but we didn't really eat lunch and I'm starving - so heading in to whip up tacos!  We planned menus and made lists of things we have on hand 'cuz we stick to our budget so much better with just a little extra planning.

H. is out and about catching up with friends.  I really have to close by thanking my two sons who were wonderful sports about the trip.  They were dragged (though they were willing and sweet) from one place to another, meeting people over and over - family member after family member.  Doing their best to figure out who was related to who and how.  It wasn't a weekend full of things for them to do that they chose to do.  Nowhere for them to go - no car to drive.  Just accompany us everywhere we went which they did pleasantly and with good humor all weekend long.  They were really great troopers and I'm so glad we were all able to go.

And as always, thanks to my sweet husband - 'cuz he trekked along with everything, too without a single complaint.

Friday, November 07, 2014

Shopping

Christmas ads are already everywhere.  They start before Halloween and now that November is upon us, they ramp up exponentially.  No escaping it.  Christmas is coming!

I just finished getting gifts for family via Internet shopping and can cross that off my list...and I'm ecstatic about the selection I made 'cuz it's something that we all enjoy and will be fun to try.

I love how the Internet shows us things we would otherwise never see and in seeing, gives us so many ideas of ways to 'be the change'.  The opportunity to do good is all around us - we just have to find ways to do it and put those thoughts into action.

I'll share what the gifts were after the holidays 'cuz it's an amazing thing - can't wait to try it.

I am in my hometown which has morphed and changed so much - not only since I lived here 35+ years ago but even in just the last six to fourteen years since my last two visits.  Freeways everywhere which must be a good thing though they are always backed up.  Still, I marvel at what it would be like if the stop and go freeways didn't exist here 'cuz the population growth is phenomenal.

We had a wonderful dinner out with my oldest sister and her husband last night.  Decent night's sleep though always a challenge to balance masking J.'s snoring from my own.  It's a careful balance.

H. is in his own room and was exhausted - getting up at seven AM to get to the airport yesterday vs. his usual sleep until noon approach had him more than willing to return to the hotel post dinner and get some sleep.

The hotel is lovely - the only disappointment is no refrigerators in the rooms so the leftovers we brought from dinner will need to be consumed pronto.

Today, I'm getting showered shortly and then out to the cemetery to visit my parents' crypt.  I think that's what I'm supposed to call it - they are in a mausoleum vs. a grave.  Then possibly trekking way east to visit our old neighborhood - revisiting the home on Earll Drive which has been completely renovated.  And the home on Campbell Avenue which still looks the same, at least from the outside.

Then to the party headquarters (my aunt's house) to work on prepping food for tomorrow's festivities. B. flies in this evening with a 7:30PM arrival so we'll have to get him - or have someone get him given there are many arrivals today.  It's also a huge NASCAR event in town this weekend (of all weekends to travel here) and it's going to be wild at the airport today, for sure.

We upgraded our car to a Dodge Challenger - V8.  H. continues to have his mother wrapped around his little finger and when the Avis guy gave us a discount and then found an even better discount after I'd declined his first offer, we did it.  We all regret it now, of course, 'cuz it's a two door and is completely impractical for a family of four.  But it does move when required - so there's that.

Tonight is dinner plans with my other sister.  Tomorrow, the 'big event' and then whatever the evening holds.  Sunday is full of events also and I can't wait for Sunday!

We heading home Monday.  We're going to have to try to come out for a weekend once in awhile 'cuz it's a lovely place and I have so many people to see and visit.  Once every six to eight years isn't enough.  It really isn't.

Jim is out walking the trails around the hotel and he just texted that he's at the turn back point in his walk - so I'd better get my turn in the shower and get ready for the day.  Busy-ness ensuing shortly.

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Kitchen Sink

We started our preparation for our trip to Phoenix by inventing "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" salad for dinner.  Leftover bits of salami, pepperoni, chicken breasts we marinated in the leftover pesto from dinner the night before, various cheeses, romaine lettuce fresh from the farm (thanks to coworker who brings fresh produce most weeks and shares) and homemade Caesar dressing.  It was yummy!

This morning, we followed with EBtKS smoothies - the last yogurt, two bananas that would not survive the next four days, all the cut watermelon left in the fridge blended with the last almond milk. SCORE!  We did it!  Lived off the land this week AND cleaned out the fridge!

One less thing for someone to do if.....why does my mind always go there when we're flying anywhere?  Why?

Now it's time to shower, quickly pack - we are only taking two suitcases for three people and while that sounds completely do-able, I have a feeling it's going to be a free-for-all of 'my stuff' vs. 'your stuff'. We'll manage.  I've sketched out the leanest of wardrobes for the trip and while I'd like to take multiple outfit changes, I won't.  Jeans on most days with a nicer outfit for the actual party.  Nothing fancy - just cute pants that I love and don't wear too often 'cuz they are a little 'fancy-ish'.

Travel always results in many 'arghs' and 'grrrs'.....just the little things that you fret about as you pack your life away for a few days of fun.  The neighbors have graciously agreed to watch our front porch for packages 'cuz we ordered some things not considering the timing of our departure.  They are very nice and I will bring them something Arizona-ish as a thank you.  So help me think of what that should be?  Heat in a bottle?  Rocks?

I got work wrapped up in record time - and while there is always much to do and I'm leaving much undone for now, it will keep.  I'm still connected and available and the place will survive without me.

Chloe reluctantly went to the puppy spa - J. said she hid behind his leg.  It makes me worry that she's not OK but when we see pictures of her, she's absolutely fine - she just prefers to be home like we do.

Time to get showered and dressed.  Long drive to SFO ahead.  At least we're not traveling overseas.  No packing for long stretches of amusing ourselves; no need to pack snacks.  Just get there and get to the hotel and then enjoy one event after another after another.

Phoenix, here we come.  

Saturday, November 01, 2014

Finally, Moisture!

Yesterday was the first truly 'big' rain we've had in ages.  Of course, it occurred when I was driving home from Sacramento.  It was quite a trip.  Several really bad accidents including one where a semi cab went through the freeway rails and fell 60 feet.  The driver did not survive.  Traffic backed up in both directions forever.  I got off the freeway and meandered.

I took a strange route through Stockton that had me seeing the most amazing older homes - cruising through parts of the town I've never been in.  I stopped for a nice leisurely lunch...wasn't planning to go back to the office and no need to rush.  Enjoyed Chinese food and a pot of hot tea and brought home takeout for dinner.

Found myself by an oddly placed AM/PM market so bought MegaMillions (it's HUGE right now) and Powerball - 'cuz the fortune cookies I got with my lunch all had to do with finance!  And while I was opening the one that said 'your financial future is secure', the Titanic theme was playing and Celine Dion was singing at the top of her lungs.  What a sign!  Right?  I texted J. and told him and he said 'are you going to go east on Highway 4 instead of heading home?  (going to Jackson instead).  But no.  If it's meant to be, it will be.  But I did buy Lotto and Scratchers and the ladies at the store were saying 'you must feel really lucky' - and I did.

I didn't win Mega last night but no one did so yeah!  And I am going to Jackson soon so we'll see about the Titanic.

I haven't scratched the Lottery tix yet so there's still hope.  I thrive on hope.  Hope springs eternal.

Today, I got a hair cut with the new stylist recommended by my previous stylist.  Her name is Elyse and she's as sweet as she can be and she gave me a great hair cut!  She's been in touch with my former stylist and assures me she's fine - I'm so relieved.  You know me - I hate not knowing the story and while I still don't know much of the story, I know she's OK and that's enough for me. Splurged on some new hair thickening shampoo (40% off all products today) and the styling spray I like.

Then I drove to Lodi to lunch with a longtime friend - 30 years this year!  We always just pick up where we left off and we had a great time catching up -

The shelves are back in the study closet so I'll spend part of tomorrow putting things back.  The mornings are cold and I really want my car back in the garage ASAP.

We're watching football - Oregon vs. Cal.  (or vice versa.  I never know which goes first).  Really, J. is watching - I'm just in the room.

The Giants won the world series in an incredibly stressful Game 7.  I had plans to go out to dinner with a group of my CBO friends.  It takes us forever to find a night when we can all go - but we did it and booked the 'date' about a month ago.  That morning, I thought "I really would rather watch the game"...but I didn't want to be the one that cancelled.  But around 8AM, a group text came through with a pleading 'hey, I love y'all but it's the World Series and I don't want to miss the game'.  So we all got our secret wish and watched them take the title.  H. and his friends went in to San Fran yesterday to witness the celebration but the rain put a damper on things so they visited a friend who lives in the city and watched Halloween themed movies all night.  He arrived home early this morning.

We're getting excited for the trip to Phoenix next weekend - it's going to be a whirlwind, jam-packed few days.  B. had to change his ticket to arrive on Friday evening 'cuz his new unit won't let him leave Thursday night - so that's kind of a bummer but oh well. H. will have that hotel room to himself the first night.

And we found out that the Miss Arizona pageant also has activities at the venue where the birthday party is being held - so this should be interesting.  My two sons and a bunch of beautiful girls.  Oh, and other young male cousins.  It's going to be interesting.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Pins & Needles

Facebook is apparently down!  What do I do with myself?  I wonder if it's tied in any way to their stock crashing after the market closed on news of their forecasted increased expenses for next year?  Are they trying to illustrate how integral the site is to people all over the world?

I always have plenty to do so there, Facebook!  A blog post instead!

I've been home a couple days with stomach issues.  I will spare you the details.  Things are improving and I hope to be at work tomorrow.  I actually must be at work tomorrow 'cuz I'm off a couple days next week and have a lot to do - now two days behind on things.

We've been on pins and needles awaiting news from B. - he finally texted J. to confirm that he made it into the unit he had to try out for this week.  We are so happy for him and so, so proud of him.  He shared a little with J. who shared a little with me and I'm so proud that he was his true self in the interview - instead of answering in the expected way, he stuck to his core self - and answered in a way that makes a parent proud.  Whatever else life is, you have to know who you are and stick to that - and he's doing that in a spectacular way.  We are so thrilled for him - and he's over the moon excited, too. Can't wait to see him next weekend and celebrate with him in person.

I bumped up against the Ninja blender blades as I was tidying up the kitchen yesterday and it sliced my finger!  It's still bleeding a day later and hurts like the dickens.  It's just an irritating cut in a bad place. That thing is uber sharp and makes me a bit afraid of it.  It's got to be cleaned but we are definitely going to just let it soak in the blender pitcher and/or run it through the dishwasher.  I might have to buy us safety gloves to put it in and take it out of the dishwasher. 

J. has been working on a variety of projects - he repainted the study closet (looks fantastic!) so we can work on putting things away this weekend.  (I miss having my car in the garage and as the mornings get colder, the frost on my window makes me crazy).  He's also been working on labeling and identifying slides for the party we're attending next weekend - and also just to have the slides on a computer instead of in boxes and bags.  Reliving a lot of memories in the process.  I used to look pretty good in a bikini.  

J. and I have decided to give each other the perfect Christmas gift:  updating the navigation systems on our cars with the latest maps.  It's probably a statement of where we are in life - we have no idea what to give each other for gifts these days - so updating software is the best we can do!  I've gotten lost a couple times in towns where the growth isn't in my map set from six years ago - so it will be nice to know where I'm going.  And J., bless his heart, has never updated his nav and his car is a decade old. It's time.  

Linguine and clams for dinner!  Yum!  (It will either kill me or cure me).  


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Ninja!

Breakfast:  Handful of baby spinach; half a cucumber; half an avocado; handful of frozen pineapple chunks; one peeled Kiwi fruit; heaping tablespoon of hemp protein powder; almond milk; ice and a splash of orange juice for sweetness.

We bought a Nutra Ninja blending system - 'cuz juicing was working (my joints feel so much better!) but you lose a lot of the fiber in the juice process.  I started to feel guilty about the 'leavings' - even though we compost them.  But all that wasted fiber....

So we're trying the Nutra Ninja - this is the first morning I've done it 'cuz it's so loud, I can't do it until J. comes downstairs.  Patience as it winds down it's countdown - starting and stopping itself periodically to let the contents of the pitcher settle then whirring up again.  It really does a pretty great job of pulverizing everything in it's path  -and the smoothie is smooth and good.

It could use a little more sweetness but I try not to add too much fruit to keep the sugar down.

It's veggies for breakfast!  In a travel mug!

Tomorrow, I will add a small splash of honey - that should help.

Yesterday was a productive day and looking forward to another one - no meetings and I'm successfully cleaning my office up a bit.

J. is campaigning tonight (only two weeks until the election!) and I will enjoy a quiet evening in a clean house - cleaning crew arrives today to see the new floors for the first time.

I've provided lists of things for H. to do and offered incentives for him to work on them - cleaning every baseboard in the house and moving furniture and cleaning floors and baseboards behind things as well.  Construction dust is everywhere...Phase II is likely never happening 'cuz I don't want to do this again.  (Should have thought of that - could have scraped together enough money to just finish the house).


Sunday, October 19, 2014

Swiffer

The inventor of Swiffer pads has my undying gratitude.  Once I gave up on using Windex and towels to dust and started using Swiffers, things went much more quickly.  And good thing, too, 'cuz we've been at it most of the afternoon and still have so much to do.

We have culled out two full boxes of carefully wrapped crystal and glassware.  As we put things back in the china hutch, we let things go that we seldom use and/or will never use.  It's nice to have things we really love displayed lovingly on the shelves instead of mixed among a bunch of seldom used pieces.  Still more to do but we're getting there.

The construction dust is unbelievably thick and I'm so glad Swiffers are picking it up quickly and easily.  We've dry mopped the dining room floor again and are working on getting up some glue smears before H. and J. move the table back in.  Then the sideboard.  Hoping to have a clear living room floor before the cleaning crew arrives Tuesday.

I took H. to WalMart with me yesterday - he needed pants and some socks.  He also hit me up for a PS3 game but I was OK with buying it - anything to keep him busy is something I'm in favor of.  He also found a blanket for his bed - what would have been a quick trip for some additional Swiffer stuff turned into a shopping spree!  Oh well - it was nice to have him out and about with me - and to his credit, he kept insisting 'no' to my frequent 'do you want to try this?' as we took at trip through the frozen food section attempting to find things he might want to eat.

He found a gym that was less than $20 a month (with initiation) - but $199 if you paid for a full year in advance - so we paid for him.  He is allowed to bring a guest every time he goes so he can take B. with him when he's home over Christmas.  $200 a year is far less than the $1260 we were paying for the old gym.  No swimming pools, etc. at the new gym but plenty of cardio machines and weight training which is what the boys do most, anyway.

J. went to the nearby grocery (as opposed to across town to Winco) to get a few things for dinner and for our morning smoothies.  We bought a Ninja blender and while it sounds like a jet taking off, it works well and provides way more fiber than just juicing.  Though the texture is interesting and a little hard to get used to - but I will.  Still plan to juice as well but will try to do a healthy veggie-based smoothie most mornings.

This week, J. will track down the paint for the wood trim in the house and hire a painter to work on painting the stair risers and touching up other wood trim throughout the house.  I think we could do it ourselves but the trim work on the stairs is going to be tricky.  I want to use an easy to clean, durable paint since the scuff marks on the white risers is really hard to handle - already.  I'm glad they're white 'cuz at least the scuff marks show - but it's going to be a real PITA to keep them clean.

A busy work week ahead.  Big report looming and I'm out of the office for a few days for our trip to Phoenix - so I've got to get going - I'm aiming for earlier arrivals and later departures vs. any weekends. I'm really trying hard to avoid weekends and haven't worked one since June!

Yes, that feels pretty awesome!

Friday, October 17, 2014

Adoption

Our local paper posted a "Pet of the Week" about a little dachshund puppy available for adoption. It is so rare to find a dachshund up for adoption - she is 4 months old and was dropped off at a shelter suffering from parvo.  The shelter vet saved her life and she's healthy and ready to go to a new home. And I want her.  I really do.

J. said '$8,000 in brand new floors and now you want another puppy?'

I started to fill out the application - that's the first step.  And keep in mind that I'm sure there will be many people putting in to adopt her and with the application process (including a home visit), we may not get her.

But during the filling out the application part, I came to my senses.  All the things about puppies - potty training; obedience training; where do we leave her/them when we're not home...all those things that are hard with one dog would be doubly hard with two.  And a young dog may live 14-16 years more and we don't want to have to board and worry about a pet when we travel - which we hope to do a lot more of in the not too distant future.  So getting another family pet now?  Doesn't make sense.

Jim is right. So no Emmy.  No.

Chloe knows our routines....right down to putting herself in her kennel whenever we brush our teeth - 'cuz that's the last thing we do before we're heading out the door.  She even does it on weekends when we're not going anywhere...she patters over to her kennel as soon as the toothbrushes are in the mouth.

There is no stealth mode with these floors....the constant pattering of her nails against the floors takes some getting used to - but it's OK.

Speaking of Chloe, this was her shortly after arriving home yesterday:


There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed after you've been away from home!

Looking forward to a great weekend of putting the house back together and culling out more for donation before the end of the year. And looking forward to sleeping in - indulging myself in going back to sleep over and over in the morning - other than a hair appointment at 10:15, I've got nowhere to go.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Floors!

With little to no furniture around, the new floors feel a lot like our own private bowling alley!  I am Swiffering my little heart out to get up the massive amount of construction dust from the floors. Then they need a really good cleaning - which can only be done with the laminate flooring cleaner and mop. We bought a kit so we're all set but we are already identifying other products that might help.  I want a lot of the microfiber mop heads we can use to do dust mopping daily and then just toss them in the washer to clean them.

Had a meeting at the county office of ed first thing this morning.  Then met with the finance department at the county to review some assumptions for our district attendance rates.  Lunch in Brentwood with a good friend - and took the back roads that wound through the delta including going over three bridges.  I survived, sweaty palms and all.  Draw bridges in particular sort of freak me out but it was OK.

Then I stopped at the doctor's office to get my Hepatitis A shot (to complete the immunization process started when we went to Europe) and a flu shot - so here I sit with a left arm so sore, I can barely move.  And actually not feeling all that well - but that's likely more related needing sleep vs. any cause for alarm.

My sweet hubby has supervised two to three workmen in a super noisy, dirty environment for the last three days and then today, helped our gardener replant all the front beds.  He looked so tired when I got home - poor guy.  He's a trooper.

I got a call from my styling salon that my stylist has left her job and moved back home to Wisconsin. 'Family stuff'.  The person phoning said she made a recommendation for a new stylist so I have an appointment with her on Saturday.  I sure hope my former stylist is OK - she was living with her boyfriend and I sort of wonder if that relationship ended - so she went back home.  She moved out here for him...so that seems the most likely.

25 years ago tonight, my husband asked me to be his wife.  I said yes.  I gave him an early gift on his birthday - a sign that says 'You are my happily ever after' - with our names and our anniversary date. We put it over the door here in the study so we see it all the time.  It's a perfect reminder that we both said yes and we say yes to our commitment every day.

I love him.  He is my rock.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Monday

Monday

My desk is a shambles; the house is a wreck
Anyone who speaks to me, I’m giving them heck
I’m tired and cranky and in a bad mood
And nothing you say will lighten my ‘tude
So please don’t try; it’s really OK
Tomorrow will be another (better) day
For now, I need sustenance, amusement and rest
Thank you for your patience; y'all are the best!

Author:  Majah

That was an ode to yesterday but today is the new (better, hopefully) day referenced above so let's get to it!

The floors look lovely but oh my, the dust!  And the house echos so much with no carpet to buffer sounds.  So glad we took Chloe to the puppy spa 'cuz there's no way she could be here whilst all the demo and construction is going on.  Just replacing the floors is approaching putting me over the edge so my plan to someday knock out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room and make one huge 'great room' with a true walk-in pantry is something I can't conceive of.  That level of chaos isn't something I'm anxious to jump into - yet.

But redoing the floors sure opens up the mind to all the amazing possibilities about this house - which we adore and which we would be quite happy living in until the take us out in boxes.  So we'll see.  I do covet a walk in pantry.

Board meeting day so it's a very long day ahead.  J. plans to canvas - getting in as much as he can before the election.  That will be post running a bunch of errands whilst hanging around the homestead to supervise the work.  Today, the stairs and study will start and those two areas are the trickiest - many angles and cuts to be made.  It's going to be so pretty, though - can't wait.  We are already scheming to think of doing Phase II of the floors - upstairs landing up to each bedroom door and the family room, kitchen (maybe) and the hallway between the garage and the family room.  We both agree that we want carpet in the bedrooms - though I love the idea of laminate with rugs for coziness in the winter - but we're a long way from Phase II being a reality so we'll worry about that some other time.

The stock market is doing a huge correction and even though I don't worry, I'm worried.  Yikes.  It's been due to correct for some time and we're buying low(er) now so that's not a bad thing.  Still, it's scary to watch the number that is our future decline day after day.  And especially on the (relatively speaking) eve of our first official retirement withdrawal.  Glad we can postpone that for a bit longer 'cuz we don't want to sell low - at least not this low. 

OK - 2nd cup of coffee to brew then hop in the shower and get going.  Seems I'm ready to go in early usually on the days when I have to stay late - why is that?  But time to get back to a routine of getting there 7ish - sets the tone for the day for my team.  Let's them know we're getting down to it today - just like everyday.  Only Majah in the house early means a busy day awaits.  

Let it begin!

March

I'm starting to think maybe I will just do a monthly post and call it what it is - whatever month we're in.  Here we are winding dow...