Thursday, December 21, 2006

The (very)young blonde grandma and the pool hall.

So I didn't have to watch the babies today and have some extra time to do a little blogging. Although I love watching said babies they-wear-me-out! I'm getting old, this is why one should try not to have children after they turn 45. After they left on Tuesday I took a nap, and not just any kind of nap. The kind of nap where you wake yourself up snoring and then find you've drooled all over the couch, that kind of nap. Like I said OLD!!!
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Last time I blogged I decided to try out a new template, I thought I had saved all the settings from my old template, but no, they must be lost in template heaven, thus the boring layout. If I have any time over Christmas break I may play around. But that may not be possible because............
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We're getting a pool table for Christmas. I have visions of becoming a pool shark, going into pool halls looking like a (very)young grandma with no apparent skills and bilking millionaires out of their unhard earned cash. Well a (very)young grandma can dream right? I've ALWAYS wanted a pool table, the lucky kids I hung out with had pool tables. Said table could be in the worst pit of a basement in a very bad part of town and I would still think they were the richest of chums. Now ours can be the COOL place to hang out. We'll have pool cues hanging on the wall and holes in the wall where balls 'accidentaly' fly from the table and maybe someday those cool little stools to sit on. There won't be any nifty stained glass light fixture hanging over the table as our ceiling is too low (hmmmmm, I'm thinking there will probably be holes in the ceiling from pool cues raised in victory). So by tomorrow night we should have a pool hall in our basement, no millionaires in site but maybe I'll be able to talk my hunky hubby into.......something.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Duh Blonde

I've been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks. I feel loads better than I did last week but am still wanting to take naps and go to bed by 10:30 which is outrageously early for this old blonde.
Friday is my day to hit the stores and finish up the Christmas shopping. Had a friend 'hint' that she was going shopping on Friday too but fortunatly she was heading a different direction than I was so I was able to bow out gracefully. When I'm power Christmas shopping I like, no need, to go alone. I've studied ALL the adds, have my lists for each store I'll be going to and a map made out. I want to get it all done in that day so heaven help anyone who gets in my way. (I'm such a poet). A few years back I shopped with a broken toe and it took me three whole days to get it done. It's hard to powershop when you're hobbling along at a slow crawl. Fortunately it didn't snow that year till after I had gotten my shopping done. Would have been even harder with wearing an opened toe wooden shoe.
Speaking of snowing in December, I was wasn't I? It hasn't yet. In fact I drove through a thunderstorm and hail Monday night on the way home from work. In fact it's gonna be around 50 today. In fact it's supposed to get up to 58 on Friday, no coat while I shop. In fact I'll probably spend tooooooo much money. More room for shopping bags when there's not coat to lug around.
Whilst blog hopping, yes I know I should have been paying bills, I found some ladies blog and she had this on it.

Find the N.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMNMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM

Now I know this isn't the best use of my time but my tired sinus clogged mind really enjoyed a few seconds of just looking for a N.

Okay, time to get back to the bill paying.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Kick the blonde's butt

Okay, okay, okay already, I've been a REALLY bad blogger for the last couple of months. I could say that I have some really good excuses but I actually have some really good REASONS.
1: life, yes life. It has just gotten in the way of my blogging and total internet surfing world. HOW DARE IT!!!!!! Good News!!!! I'm here so life has slowed a little bit. I'm pounding, not knocking on wood as I'm thinking this (not usally the superstitious type but I do resort to this when LIFE can change quickly and unexpectedly).
2: family, what more do I need to say? They don't mean to cut into my internet life but they can't help it.
3: work, maybe that should have been 2. I had been filling in quite a bit but am almost back to where I want to be, a couple nights a week and maybe a weekend day here and there. I won't count working on Thanksgiving cause working holidays are just a part of it all.
I can't say that housework has gotten in the way too much cause it's suffered as much as anything else. I'm getting caught up on that too though. My office was the beneficiary of all the extra time on Friday. Today was my bedroom, closet and all. I couldn't believe all the junk I threw out. Bags full of clothes and shoes that I wouldn't pass on to anyone. I can see the closet floor for the first time in at least 6 months. I'm thinking that the bathrooms will be the next recipients of my loving and cleansing touch.


Here's a pic of Gabby and Papa spending time looking at pics on the computer. Something they like to do when she comes over. She's getting sooooo big and is sooooo busy. How did I ever get anything done when my boys were that age? Oh that's right those were the years when Marty would come home from work and say "what did you do all day?" It took quite a few killing looks before he wouldn't ask that anymore.


So here's to hoping that I won't be on hiatus quite so long for quite some time. But we know how life can be, it just gets in the way.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Some interesting historical facts.

I was checking out some dude from England's blog, why? It was listed on some chic from California's blog as an interesting place to look. Anyway, he had some interesting things:

It's not so bad these days after all! The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:


Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water..

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying . It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old..

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a .dead ringer..

And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The blonde and the bookstore

I LOVE bookstores. Case in point......took a few minutes to visit our local bookstore, didn't want or need to buy anything, just wanted to go in and smell the books. That's right, just smell the books. It relaxes me, brings a little bit of peace into my chaotic heart. I'm easy to entertain just let me loose in Barnes and Noble for a couple of hours I'll walk out with the kind of relaxed look that many have to smoke something illegal to get. I not only enjoy inhaling new book smell but also to touch them. Not too long ago I checked a book out at the library that had never been checked out before. I was the first one to read the words in that particular book, to stretch the spine correctly so the pages will never fall out, the first one to become immersed in the characters the author brang to life for me. Mine was the first date due back stamped on the little sheet adhered inside the cover. I mentioned to the librarian my excitement at being the 'first' and she said she gets the same feeling. Only one that loves to read can share that excitement. There is something magical about getting lost in the characters of a well written book. I love finding the newest book written by one of my favorite authors on the shelf when I walk into a book store, I know that I will have hours of enjoyment escaping into another world. So today I walked into The Book Clinic, touched a few books, inhaled the scent of said books, talked to my friend behind the counter and walked out the door feeling just a little better for that fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes well spent.
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We had our fourth annual Garden Railroad get together this past weekend. I'll write about that at another time. I'm still enjoying my bookstore high.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

One damp blonde

I'm typing this as I'm looking out the window of our local coffee shop. We live in a rural area where the only way we can have high speed internet access is by going via satellite internet. Usually not a problem unless it's raining or snowing, it's currently r-a-i-n-i-n-g cats and dogs, literally. I can hear the meows and rowfs as the rain hits the ground. It's supposed to rain all day and into the night, so that's why I made a trip into town and am enjoying the solitude of the coffee shop. Okay that's not the only reason, since it's raining all the guys are home from work today and I was starting to get a little testy, on the edge of screaming testy. I figured for the sake of my men I should go away for awhile and I feel much better.
I'm in major cleaning mode. This weekend is our annual train weekend. So I must clean the kitchen as other women will be using it, that means even cleaning the stove which isn't usually a prioity for me. That's another reason I'm testy, I don't enjoy major cleaning mode. I enjoy the results but not the process.
Reason number three for testyness......if I'm honest with myself (Iusually try to be)I'm feeling a little neglected. Yesterday was my birthday and I got - cards - now here's where I have to fight feeling like an ungrateful whiner but I admit it just didn't seem like enough. Between you and me I'll not tell my guys cause they're patting themselves on the back that they remembered the day and gave me - cards-I was even kind of expecting that the dishes would be done when I got home from work. I may stop at the store, buy an angel food cake (my favorite) stick some candles in it and sing to myself. Oh, the dishes were still in the sink when I woke up this morning, the magical dishwashing birthday fairy didn't even show up like I wished for as I went to bed.
Okay I will put away my pity party violin now, pack up the laptop and head home.
I purpose to enjoy my cleaning, knowing that after everyone is in bed tonight I'll be able to sit in the living room with a hot cup of tea, listening to my angel clock tick and feel GOOD cause my house is clean the night before company comes, not an hour before. I may just go to the library and get a nice little book to enjoy too. I feel better already.
By the way, it's good to blog again. Life has been wild! I look foward to cooler weather and the chance to get reaquainted with my friend the internet.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

I've lost them ALLLLL!!!

For some reason every once-in-while I loose all my bookmarks. Now at first glance that may seem like a bad thing, I'll admit it I usually think some very unladylike words when it happens (I would never say them out loud, of course). But after it happened this weekend and I gave up trying retreiving them I decided that maybe it was a good thing. I'm forced to find new places on the internet. I have to really think about where I want to travel through cyberspace. The bookmark category that was hardest to loose though were my favorite blogs. I enjoy visiting those people every day. Those both famous and obscure. But I was forced to face the fact that I didn't know who some of them were, what their names were, or where I found their blog. I've lost them, maybe forever.
Who was the woman that ended every blog with a PBQOTD(Princess Bride Quote of the Day)?
Who was the scrapping homeshcooling mom that also loved science fiction?
Who was the lady that altered anything and everything? I loved her!!!
I didn't add them to my list of people on my blog, will I ever find them again?
I did remember how to find the musings of my favorite bistro waiter.
But.................here's the famous but, I'm now broadening my horizons, I really enjoyed the new blog written by the bouncer in DC, and the waitress in NYC. I am inspired by the scrapper with biting wit and beautiful sketches.
So I'm trying to be philisoph......trying to think deeply (it's late and I'm too lazy to do spell check). Sometimes you have to loose something to gain something else. Right????? I also think I'll start backing up my favorite places to visit because no matter how I try to convince myself it's a good thing, I will miss those people and places and hope I find them again.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Errrrrrrrr!!!!

Okay, no cute little 'blonde' title came to mind today, hence the 'errrrrr'. I would have put 'durrrrrrrr' cause that is a frame of mind I'm in a lot, but I've had to purge it from my vocabulary as one of the girls I waitress with has the last name of -Durr-it didn't go over too well with her when I would say it in a moment of frustration. We have many of those moments in our job.
Today I'm supposed to be cleaning, today I'm supposed to be scrapping, today I did do some office work but what I've spent a good chunk of time doing is blog hopping. Checking out blogs written by those like me in the food service industry, Wait staff. It has been an uplifting experience. I've found that those of us who serve food share much in common. It doesn't seem to matter what type of restraunt you work in, people are pretty much the same all over the world. There's the good, the bad, the ugly and the demanding.
The customers I have the hardest time with are those who act like the meal is fine but when asked by the host or hostess as they are going out the door how everything was they find much to complain about. During the time I spent at their table after serving the food nothing was mentioned about the overcooked steak or the catfish that was underdone. There are times when you know someone will try to get their meal comp'd on the way out. They just weren't happy no matter what, yet they ate and drank everything put before them. We usually warn the host so then they can be ready with a smile and comment card, wishing them a good night as they are ushered out the door.
Then there is the mother, father and four children that look like they're ready to kill each other when they're seated, but by the time they are half way through their meal they have been transformed into a loving family unit. They just needed a little food. (except for the teenage daughter, she can't outwardly show that she's happy you know).
Or the group of twenty five that comes in asking if we have some room for them, no they don't have a reservation. As we scramble to shuffle some tables around one of them stops me and tells how much they appreciate what we're doing as they've just buried the matriarch of their family. They had the service at a funeral home and didn't have anywhere to have a family meal when someone suggested our restraunt. We as a staff have an attitude change then.
And when I say 'ugly' I'm really refering to those ugly in spirit. You really can't judge a book by it's cover or a customer by the jewels they are wearing or the standing they have in the community.
So I am constantly challenged. Being a servant isn't one of my spiritual strong points. So what have I been doing for a part time job the last nine years? Yes, God does have a sense of humor and really does know what we need the most.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

blogging blonde

I've been having some fun this evening. I have time to blog hop. Haven't had time to do that for quite awhile it's usually something I do in the winter, when I can't get outside (I hate the cold). Found one cool site. It's a scrapping dare challenge . I may have to do it. Just in case I don't get around to doing this past weeks dare was WHY DO YOU SCRAP? Okay, so I'm thinking 'of course it's to save the memories and photos for the generations that follow'. sounds so deep doesn't it? But, when I decided to be honest with myself I realized I scrap for ME!!!!! Yup it's only for me. Even if my family would never open an album in the future I'd still scrap. It's a total creative and grounding outlet for me. I also LOVE to shop at scrapping stores so I figure that it would be a good idea to put allllll that paper I compulsively buy to good use. It also gives me a good excuse to have a little room all to myself, how could I justify having a whole room for yarn or cross stitching? Now I always make sure to let the guys fell like they're welcome in 'my' room. They can come in when they want. Okay, okay I'm being honest with myself here, I like being able to kick them out whenever I want. I don't like them laying on the spare bed or sitting on my chairs or touching all my 'stuff' (Wil seems to like to test drive all my tools everytime he comes in here). If they come in and I'm crashed on said spare bed that means 'leave momma alone, to be in here you should be dying'. I love that they are all self sufficient now so I don't have to feel bad about hiding away in my happy place. Now if I could just find some curtains or material to make curtains for the windows it would be perfect, oh well it gives me something to shop for besides paper.
TTFN

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Blonde ambition

I've been spending the last couple of days getting caught up in the office. That may seem like a lot of time to dedicate to that project....but it's not really dedicated time. Yesterday the Gabmiester was here (there's only so much you can do when an active one year old is around)then when she left I popped over to a friends house to help her clean a little as she's in the midst of closing on the sale of her house and her accelerated biological chemistry course, after that it was hop in the shower and off to work. Today I should be able to spend the whole morning on the computer and clearing off my desk.
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News flash, we're gonna be grandparents again. Tom and Jamie are expecting a little bundle of joy. Jamie goes to the Dr today so we should have a due date soon. They have received mixed reactions so far. Our parents are still dealing with the fact that they're living together, this will be a big pill for them to swallow and accept. I'm hoping that they can get to that point very quickly. A new life is always a reason to celebrate.
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One of the perks of having DirecTV is that we get a ton of XM radio stations. It's such good radio to work by, no commercials, stations that feature certain genres (love the 70s and jazz ones)and if everyone is gone I can crank the tv up in the livingroom which has stereo so sounds great.
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Aggie our 83 year old cook at the steak house has had to take a leave, with the heat we've been having working in the kitchen has been making her sick, like, 'it looks like I'm gonna keel over' sick. She's AMAZING!!! Can still cook circles around the youngsters and makes everything look and taste great too. I'm hoping that she'll be able to come back in the fall when it cools down. She's dropped down to 2 nights a week.
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Another hot one today. In the mid 90's with a good amount of humidity. We have a chance of showers so I'm holding out watering plants till a little later. Hoping ole mother nature does the work for me. We've been blessed with some good rain in the last couple of weeks so here's to a little more.
TTFN

Monday, July 17, 2006

The blonde is cleaning

Saturday it was the closet in the dining room. Today it was the living and dining rooms, yup I'm finally in spring cleaning mode. Okay I've never believed in spring cleaning I figure if I'm in the mood to clean I just better do it then, the cleaning mood doesn't visit that often. I also made lunch and did some prep for supper this afternoon, there is definately something wrong. I don't usually do domestic this much, hmmmmmm, I better stop so the guys don't expect it all the time. But I always feel so much better when the house is clean and orderly...it just isn't that way very much.

I had all this extra cleaning time today cause little Gabby is sick today with a fever so Jamie didn't go to school. Her Momma is worried cause she doesn't want her to end up in the hospital again so she' watching her very closely. I'm hoping and praying that doesn't happen too.

It's another hot one today so I'm gonna grill some steaks for supper, keep the heat outside. I found them in the freezer today, BONUS, didn't know we had any. So I'm getting ready to grab some hard lemonade the matches a good book and a spot in the shade. Yeah baby!!!

One HOT blondie

No I'm not talking about how hot I am (my cell phone screen says 'hot momma', my kids don't get it), I'm talking about how HOT we all are here. As in 'I'm melting, I'm melting'. Yup, it's July in the midwest and we're ALL hot. Our poor Angel dog just lays around and pants all day, Marty just runs around without his shirt & sweating, lucky dog. I kept waiting for it to cool down enough to go for a walk tonight, or I should say last night as it's officially Monday now, but it didn't get below 90 till after it was dark. I may have to break down and walk in the morning. It's against my personal beliefs to do any type of physical exercise (or talking for that matter) till after 8 am but it's supposed to be 80 at 8 so I may have to get up at 7, URGH!!!!!! Is trying to stay in some kind of shape worth it??????????? I'll report in later to let you know if I did it. I ALWAYS have good intentions when I go to bed.

I spent time scrapping today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Had plans to travel that fell through so I had some bonus time at home. Got to scrap and watch Nascar. My Jeffy didn't do too well but finished the race in the top 20. My idea of a perfect afternoon......playing with paper and watching cars go around a track fast! Staying cool was another bonus. Also got to watch Marty's trains go round and round for awhile with him. A great time was had by all.

TTFN

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The BLONDE is still kickin

Contrary to popular belief I am still of this world. Man what a wild spring & summer so far. I usually spend June kicking back a little a regrouping. Catch up on cleaning. Finish some projects around the house. Do some scrappin. Not this time around.
We had a couple of waitresses (3 to be exact)quit to work at different restraunts and then it's vaction season (mine included more on that later) so I've been putting in some major extra hours at the steak house. The one bright side of the situation....new flooring from my back porch through the kitchen and into the bathroom. I LOVE my new floor. Who knew that those little adhesive backed 12x12 tiles could bring to me such bliss? Now the little Gabster can crawl to her hearts content and not feel like she has to eat the pieces of old tiles that were constantly becoming unattached. She's quite the little vacume cleaner you know, just like her daddy Tom was.
Anywhoo, this is the first week in awhile that I'll be on my regular steak house schedule, only two nights at work, woohoo.
I'm getting caught up on office work today. ANd I've been spending time in my studio! Yes, creating, touching paper, smelling the ink, feeling the fibers. And I'm blogging, I've missed it even if no one reads it I've missed it.
Next installment......vacationing with the parents, an excercise in terror and fun.
TTFN

Monday, May 01, 2006

Of parents......

I love my parents dearly but....... They're pack rats and organizing isn't their forte'. I was there for a visist a couple of weeks ago and decided that I didn't want to share the sleeping space in the living room with two of my boys and my dear brother. Down I went into the basement to see if there would be room for me to open the cot up and hunker down. What did I find? Not much room and waaaay too many spiders. So in true bossy eldest mode I asked my mom if she would like some help this summer CLEANING out the basement? She did respond negatively so I figured that was a yes. I'm trying to enlist the aid of my baby sis! We'll need to make sure dad is busy though, he has a really hard time getting rid of ANYTHING. One time I was out helping clean their camper. Found a bag of shirts that at one time or another a whole family of mice must have had a reunion in. Decided that maybe it would be a good time to toss them. I didn't get them in the trash fast enough, dad walked by and peeked in the bag. He lifted up a truly holey shirt and said, I kid you not, "what are you throwing these perfectly good shirts out for"? I must have given him 'the' look. You know the one, cause he took a second look at the shirt and realized what it looked like. At one time he said he didn't like it when my sis and I came to help mom clean, we toss too many good things. My Mom has to live with the man so she's had to make some concessions, but I haven't lived there for over 20 years and Mel hasn't lived there for ten years so it's easier for us to come in and say, "there are mice living in the couch, it's time to toss it out the front door". Mom just won't do it. He is a true child of the Great Depression and the II World War.

Of parents......

I love my parents dearly but....... They're pack rats and organizing isn't their forte'. I was there for a visist a couple of weeks ago and decided that I didn't want to share the sleeping space in the living room with two of my boys and my dear brother. Down I went into the basement to see if there would be room for me to open the cot up and hunker down. What did I find? Not much room and waaaay too many spiders. So in true bossy eldest mode I asked my mom if she would like some help this summer CLEANING out the basement? She did not respond negatively so I figured that was a yes. I'm trying to enlist the aid of my baby sis! We'll need to make sure dad is busy though, he has a really hard time getting rid of ANYTHING. One time I was out helping clean their camper. Found a bag of shirts that at one time or another a whole family of mice must have had a reunion in. Decided that maybe it would be a good time to toss them. I didn't get them in the trash fast enough, dad walked by and peeked in the bag. He lifted up a truly holey shirt and said, I kid you not, "what are you throwing these perfectly good shirts out for"? I must have given him 'the' look. You know the one, cause he took a second look at the shirt and realized what it looked like. At one time he said he didn't like it when my sis and I came to help mom clean, we toss too many good things. My Mom has to live with the man so she's had to make some concessions, but I haven't lived there for over 20 years and Mel hasn't lived there for ten years so it's easier for us to come in and say, "there are mice living in the couch, it's time to toss it out the front door". Mom just won't do it. He is a true child of the Great Depression and the II World War.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Dr Jekyl & Baby Hyde

Dear little Gabby was having a rough day today. I can understand. Eight months old and getting in 4 teeth at once plus having a runny nose has to take a toll. It was almost funny watching her. She'd be totally smilin happy one minute then I'm throwin a screaming fit the next. Wait that sounds like me during those 'special' days of the month. Being she's a DCB (darn cute baby) she can get away with it. The men in my house tend to live in fear during that magical time.

If you've ever been in the food 'service' industry, i.e. you've waited tables, you have to check out this web site waitrant this guy does a great job of expressing what it's like to serve people for a living. It's even worth checking out if you're a customer and what it's like to be the one wearing the apron. I've learned from him and got some good laughs.

Well the glamour of my domestic life is calling me. The laundry basket looks like it puked all over the bath/laundry room floor. The stove is stacked with pans that must have jumped out of the cabinet on their own cause I sure didn't get them out and use them. The dining room table has a GOOD layer of dust on it, although to tell the truth that happens two hours after I dust a by product of living in the country. The carpets need to have a visit with Mr. Rainbow-only the best vacum for my rugs. I did mention that Dr. Jekyl and Baby Hyde was here today right? How did I ever get anything done when I had four of the little rug rats under foot all those years ago? It's 10:30 pm, think I'll just make a nice little list and do it all tomorrow I hear my wonderful pillow top mattress calling me.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Everythings coming up green!

It's like overnight the earth changed colors. It's a true, bright kelly green. I LOVE IT!!!!! Spring is here so that means summer is just aroung the corner.....my favorite season by the way.
I got to spend lots of time in my studio this past weekend. Finished up some projects and started a couple of more. A good time was had by ME. I love my studio a great place to create and crash and since it was rainy and dreay all day yesterday it was a great place to escape the huge cloud of testosterone that was floating around the first floor where all the guys were watching guy tv all day.
Green is my color of the day.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

It's a stormy day

The first batch of bad weather of the season. We're watching the weather channel and looks like we could get hit hard.
Almost a month since I blogged. March just roared past me. Can't believe it's almost over. Have had company over a couple of weekends, office work, baby sitting the Gabster (who is just tooooooooooo cute)and slinging the steaks. Did I forget to mention those mundane household chores too? I've been sneaking in some time to work on some projects in my studio. Was gonna try for the SWS design team but after the way my month went I just decided it's not my time to try for something like that, not that I'd get it, but God works in mysterious ways you know.
Last night I was reminded again why I like to wait tables. The money is a big thing, but I had a couple of tables that started out kinda grumpy and down then after getting a good meal and good service (of course) they had an attitude turn around. I sometimes forget that my job is more than just a job, it's a ministry too.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Patience is a virtue, really!

I've decided to try to work with beeswax. As in using it to assemble and glue. Here's where the patience thing comes in. I don't have it. Whenever I try to learn something new I never want to wait as long as it takes to do it. As in waiting for something to dry before going to the next step or waiting for the wax to actually melt enough so it's the right consistancy. So, tomorrow I will try again and hopefully have the patience it takes to WAIT!!!!!! The one nice thing about working with the beeswas is that to remove something you don't like all you have to do is melt and scrap it off. Sweet!!!

Monday, February 27, 2006

FINALLY!!!!

I'm finally able to post. Blogger was having some technical problems so haven't been able to post for 3 days. The week before that was just plain busyness.
So this last weekend I got to crop Friday night and all day Saturday. It was fun. It was productive. It was a time of eating too much. It was not enough sleep.
Gabby came for awhile too:
I think she may have to grow some more to really appreciate it. Although a couple of the younger girls that were there cropping were awfully helpful at times. Thanks Mallory and Kendall.
I learned something new. How to transfer photos to muslin. Took me about three hours to really get the process down. I kept wanting to hurry it along and that's one of those things you just can't do. I had bought a Somerset Workshop book and that was the first 'workshop' I did. Can't wait to try some of their other ones. I think that book will be well worth the investment.
So in two weeks we'll be back to our regular crops, the second Saturday and for "only" 9 hours, is that really enough time to get anything done?
This coming weekend is the men's barbershop chours' show. We are singing a few songs too. It's a tribute to Bob Hope so will be set up like a USO. I'm looking forward to it. I volunteer to put the stage makeup on the men. That's always very fun, it's great to able to kid them about that when they come into the restraunt to eat. So I'll have a busy week. But a good one I'm sure.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Surf safer

On the right panel of my blog you'll notice a new little box that says better, safer, faster with the back of a little fox. If you click on that little box it will take you to the website for Mozilla Firefox where you can safely and easily switch from using Internet Explorer as your browser to Firefox. It's totally free AND really is safer. Since switching to Firefox I've had a lot less problems with viruses, worms, trojans, data miners and all those other nasty things that the wonderful people on the internet can throw in your way. More people tend to target IE as a source to pass along all those icky things that can totally ruin your computer. Sometimes you'll run into a program that will only run with IE (example, if I want to print up my rewards certificate from Best Buy I have to use it) but that hardly ever happens. So this was my public service announcement for the day.
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Well we survived Valentine's day, got candy for the boys, an adorable outfit for Gabby and a card for Marty. I usually make him one but was just too lazy this year, we're not big on exchanging gifts on this holiday. Usually cause we're in the we're gonna have to pay taxes in a couple of months let's eat mode. I caught a couple of minutes of Regis and Kelly this am and agree with Kelly that Valentine's Day is more for those that aren't married. If you're married isn't every day supposed to be Valentine's Day? OOOPS!!!! I almost choked as I was laughing.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Am I brave enough?

One of the scrapping sites I frequent is having an open call for a couple new design team members. My first thought is 'oh cool, I'd like to try that out'. My second thought is 'wow, am I good enought to even try that'? Now I don't have great expectations of actually getting on the team but I am a little amazed at how much just the serious thought of submitting has intimidated me. I'm thinking that this may end up being a creative and personal turning point. A personal challenge to face those fraidy cat demons that poke up their ugly heads every once in awhile. And just the thought of writing an essay on why I think I would be a good choice for the team makes me break out in a sweat. (Don't tell the boys, they hate when I assign them essays. I always ask them why they're making a big deal of it when essays are a piece of cake). How do I promote myself while retaining some sembelance (I know I spelled that wrong) of humility? This is almost as bad as when I had to work on my personal testimony for a bible study I did years ago - although I can still tell you what a difference God has made in my life in under 3 minutes - Marty never could make it under three minutes.
So I'm thinkin that maybe I need the challenge of just submitting, letting go, take a step off the edge (like Indiana Jones did while trying to find the grail), give myself a good creative shot in the butt...........and who knows just maybe...................................

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Another weekend gone by

It's Sunday night, almost Monday morning and I'm not ready for another week to start. I worked the lunch shift today so it kinda threw my whole day off. I'm sure I'll be confused all week cause i was at work on Sunday.
Had a small hair color mishap last night. The color my hair turned out isn't what the picture on the box looks like. this is the first time that's ever happened. I'm more of a light brown now instead of a blonde. Marty doesn't like it. I could probably get used to it, but did I mention that Marty doesn't like it? Oh and by the way Marty doesn't...........you get the picture. So I took some of my hard earned tip money and bought a blonde box hoping that my hair will look like the picture. I think I'll do that tomorrow cause Marty............

Monday, February 06, 2006

I've been working on my b-l-o-g, all the live long day.

So today I've got financial boxes, records, receipts, checkbooks, lists, pens, pencils, my calculator & assorted beverages spread out on the dining room table. I'm compiling, gathering, calculating and other ing things stuff and finally settling down so we can get to the CPA and have our taxes done. I'm the bookkeeper for our business so it's not just a matter of gathering all our W-2's and filling in the blanks with turbo tax (although that is a recuring dream of mine, fast, simple and getting money back from the government).
Having said all that I've been taking breaks throughout the day. I call them breaks but they could really be called avenues of escape. I diligently work for awhile then the newest issue of Scrapbook Answers catches my eye. I drag myself back to the pile of bills that need my attention then decided that I need to check my e'mail. Did I forget to mention that the laptop is also on the dining room table? Then it's supper time, it won't make itself you know. Fortunately we have a nice island to eat around.
Back to the table top of doom. Then I remember that I haven't checked out my favorite blogs today. After which I decide that I'm tired of how mine looks and I must spend some time on it RIGHT NOW. I know, I know my priorities are all wrong. Shouldn't all that business stuff take precedence? R-i-g-h-t......the mile high table will still be here tomorrow, I really don't need to know yet how much we'll owe ole Uncle Sam right away do I? Now if I can just explain to Marty how compliling all that information is just taking longer that I thought it would. The business did grow this year. Hmmmmm.................................

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Hop, skip & a jump

A quickie today (hop, skip & jump, all quick things right?). I've had better weeks, made a few mistakes that can be corrected but will cost. Still am not feelin up to snuff, or sniff depending on how your nose is working. I did start on a CUTE little photo album that will fit inside an altered altoids tin. I'm using some of the new Daisy D's paper and I L-O-V-E how it's turning out. Just have to add a few embellishments, copy & print pictures then finish putting it all together. I should have it done this weekend and will post some pics.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

I've had better weekends

I had the wonderful cold/flu that's been making the rounds this weekend. Didn't feel like doing ANYTHING, laid in bed sleeping and watching TV. What a drag. No fun at all. EWWWWW. Had the sniffling, sneezing, coughing, achy head, fever type stuff. I was a walking (okay, laying down) Nyquil commercial. Finally felt like taking a shower today, a very good thing let me tell you. The boys were hoping I'd still be sick enough not to do school tomorrow. r-i-g-h-t . I have to be dying not to do school (have been close a couple of times, ha). You will notice that I've been using the word HAD quite often here. At this point I'm using the power of positive thinking to ensure that I'm ready to crawl farther than the kitchen and bathroom tomorrow. I did feel well enough to gather Ben & Tom's W-2's toghether but thought it might be better to actually do their taxes when I didn't have a fever of 102. The IRS might not be forgiving of a misplaced decimal point made during a fever induced haze. Then sat in my studio and thought about what I wanted to do to a couple of layouts to get them finished up. Again the fever induced haze stopped me from doing anything. Well I'm off to take my nightly doze of Nyquil, just the thought of drinking it down makes me shiver I've always hated the stuff but it does the job. TTFN

Monday, January 23, 2006

A teary eyed night

I was instant messaging my friend Margaret in China and got misty eyed missing her. Then as I was checking out my favorite blogs I read Rosemary's birthday letter to her mom that is no longer with her. I'm sniffing and wiping at this point. On comes a commercial for the one chopper show (where the dad always yells at everyone as they are re-doing bikes) and the next show is about this guy who sold his bike to help when his mom had cancer and the yelling dad and sons are custom building a bike for him. Tears dropping at this point. But what really made me cry was the come hither look Marty gave me as he stepped out of the bathroom in his sweats. Okay I was laughing so hard I was crying. The sweats were pulled up to his chest, very nerdy, not sexy. But a good laugh.
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I've been surfing tonight. Checking out all these crotcheting sites. looking for the perfect pattern (that's easy) for the perfect tote. Think I found one I like now I just need to get the yarn. I keep giving away my projects before I get a picture of them. I've done a bunch of scarves and some caps too, really I have. There's just not visual proof.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

The restraunt blues

Those who work in any capacity in the restraunt business know that during January & February we sing the blues. As in "everybody got their holiday credit card bills and can't afford regular food let alone prime USDA choice cut steak' blues. Oh mamma were we slow the last two nights. Both nights we had 7 tables all night. Both nights the same measley tips, lets just say that I won't be buyin nothin fancified for meals this week. Makes me really appreciate that $28/hour I made New Years Eve even more. But we were talking about how great our job really is. When we're busy we run our tails off and usually don't have time for a break till we close (I work the evening shift). But when we're slow, like tonight as long as we have our chores done, make sure what customers we have are taken care of and do a little extra then we can take it easy. I had bought a paper before work so we did the Sudoku puzzle (my newest addiction) and some cross words.
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I'm gearin up to go crop on Saturday. I'm actually planning ahead (the moon must be in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars ( a little 60's flashback, I was 9). I've been printing up some pictures and gathering supplies. I usually wait till about 20 minutes before I have to go and I'm just throwing everything in my bags. Something is definetely up, next thing I know I'll have whole layouts pre-planned, each placed in their own page protectors with all the embellishments chosen too. No, that would mean the world was coming to an end, then where would we all be? Hmmmmmm, is it time for a deep philisophical discussion? Nah!!!! that would just hurt too much.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Everybody sing

I sing barbershop harmony with a great group of ladies. Every Tuesday night from 5:15 to 7:00 30 or so women get together and we sing, sing, sing. It's hard to stay down when you sing. We come from all walks of life. A judge, couple of the girls own a bookstore a few more work there, a few work at banks, got some nurses, teachers, stay at home moms, clerks, retired ladies, one photographer, one girl in radio, some who work in offices and at least one waitress :) Our fearless leader is Bruce who works with the post office. He has a gift, he can be in a room full of women and still stay in control (well most of the time). We all love to sing. Tonight we started working on a couple of new songs. I'm ALWAYS amazed at how horrible we can sound the first time through a song. But by the time we're ready to sing in front of a crowd we're like angels. We all pay (dues) for the joy of singing and to tell the truth we're pretty darn good. We've had some ladies that sing in competitions tell us we could do quite well doing that, but that's not for us at this point. We like to sing in the spring during the men's show. Sing in the summer at local churches and sing in November at our own show. Some have very wonderful voices and sing solos or in a quartet, others really need the group in order to be brave enough to sing (although their voices are just as wonderful). I never considered singing as a hobby until two years ago when the director of the men's group described it that way. It's something I totally enjoy, I'm not to bad at and I can share with others, yup that's a hobby.
There are many times I am reminded of my choir director in high school. He was a very tempermental artistic type (he broke many batons after getting frustrated and beating on the podium). But he gave me a good basis for this hobby that I'm enjoying so much at this point in my life.
So sing, sing, sing it can't hurt and will usually help.

Monday, January 09, 2006

I LOVE BLOGS

Yes I love blogs. I'm not ashamed to admit that I like peeking into other peoples lives. Seeing what they like to eat. How they spent their weekend. Looking at their scrap spaces. Reading about their joys and sorrows. I've been encouraged, challenged and I sometimes LAUGH OUT LOUD, drives my family nuts they NEVER see the humor. So here's to whoever thought up this idea. I first heard of it watching the now defunct show 'The Screen Savers' on that used to be 'Tech TV' the channel that has been taken over by a bunch of teeny boppers (can you tell I'm not happy with said teeny boppers?).
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Mold update: Got home from the Christmas party last night with enough alcohol in my body to be able to face the mold (which isn't actually that much alcohol, but I'm a light weight when it comes to drinking). I tossed and sanitized. I love glad ware, I can now toss leftovers and their scary containers too. Another great invention, Press & Seal. If you've never tried it you need to. A woman must have been on the team that came up with this one. After our Christmas dinner at my sister-in-laws while we were putting food away Linda mentioned that she picked up a butt load of Press and Seal really cheap at a store closing. My eyes must have lit up cause she pulled one out and 'presented' it to me saying she was willing to sacrifice one for my happiness. I love my sister-in-law. Having said that my fridge is now clean.
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I think I've been rambling enough, hopping down the blog bunny trail can be very tiring.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Of scrapping and mold

Well I resisted the call of the mold in the inner recesses of the fridge yesterday and instead cleaned out our hot tub which we are getting ready to sell. Love it but never use it, it takes up lots of room and we could use some extra moola right now. I decided that draining it out on a 50 degree day is much better than waiting till it's -10 out. Yes I actually thought ahead a little. I figured the fridge could wait another day, or two, or three. All right I'm putting it off. One of those jobs that will only take 15 minutes but I just hate to do.
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Deb did come over last night and we did scrap and we did have fun and we did eat chocolate. She finished off a bunch of pages and started a couple more. I finally found my scrapping mojo and got a couple of pages done and am ready to do some more today. She's the first person that has come to play in my new studio. I found I'm really happy with the set up. I may move a couple of things but we could actually have room for at least one more person or more if I could figure out a way to have a table set up over the spare bed. Hmmmm I'll just have to talk to the carpenter husband of mine.
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We have our work Christmas party tonight. It's pretty casual so should be relaxing. And we'll get some good eats.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

It's 11:17 am, on a Saturday morning. I'm praying that no one comes to the door, that I don't have to make a trip into town, I just want to cocoon in the house today. Maybe I'll venture outside - it is supposed to get up into the 50's and it is January in Nebraska so it would probably be a weather related sin not to enjoy it somehow. My friend Deb might come over to scrap tonight. She's the type of friend you don't have to clean your house for, the good kind, the accepting kind. Although I do NEED to clean the house. Wil thinks that since I cleaned it last week I shouldn't have to clean it this week. I kinda like that philosophy but I know he just doesn't want to have to help. On my list of MUST do's today is cleaning the fridge. There are some interesting smells wafting out whenever the door is opened. I'm sure something in there is aged to perfection, science experiment of mold type perfection. Maybe I should break out the bottle of Asti that's been in the back for a couple of years (a gift from friends that didn't realize we really don't like sparkling wine). I may need the fortification to tackle the job though.

I was a happy camper last night. The SciFi channel had all new episodes of it's SciFi Friday line-up. Poor Marty, here I was all comfy on the couch, with my snacks, yarn, crochet hook & remote control. He comes in, sits on the other couch and is all ready to visit. I gave him a 'look' which he didn't seem to understand. I then have to resort to 'shushing' him. That worked for a few minutes. He waits patiently for a commercial, we had an intelligent deep two minute conversation and the show comes back on. He kept talking. I then had to spell it out. "I've waited 3 months to see if the Gallactica and the Pegusus are going to destroy each other instead of their mutual enemies the Cylons I can't talk right now oh love of my life". Alright maybe that's what I should have said. I may have actually said something to the effect that the show's on, shut up. He got off the couch in a huff and said he was going to bed. I may be in the dog house. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings. I'm not always Mrs. sensativity. We'll see when he gets home today. should I send him flowers?????????? HA, HA.

I must be off, I hear the mold in the fridge calling to me.

I like this Mark Twain quote:
Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.