Me & The Chipmunks

My battle continues with the little bastards. I read up on how to get rid of them and ended up being suckered into purchasing a container of "Shake Away" which contains the scent of fox urine which is supposed to scare them away. I shook this stuff around and plugged up all the holes they have nicely dug in my front yard and around our pond. Within 5 minutes I spotted them again. I read the bottle once again and found that I may need to apply a second application within a week and once a month afterwards. Now I have these little gray crystals around my yard and still have chipmunks.
Yesterday I took the dog by the collar and showed her the two chipmunks that were playing nicely around the rocks on the pond. I think she may have enjoyed the site. I could just imagine her sighing and thinking to herself how wonderful nature is. They continued to play while I said " get them Sadie....chase them out...this is your job...this is why I take care of you". Nothing.... I then hear this laughter coming from the house and my husband walks out in stiches. "You need to get over these things ...they're not hurting anything". Oh no, I say...it's okay that when I'm digging around in this area that they just pop their little heads out to say hello.
Low and behold, she sprung into action this morning. I had made a trip to the store and left her outside. Upon my arrival home I find her in the fenced in sandbox area barking her head off. She had two of them cornered. She was pissed off and the teeth were out and everything. So, what do I do? I call out her name because I had this one ounce feeling of dread. I didn't want her to kill them. For the first time she listened and backed off. This is probably a good thing as I'm not quite sure that I would have been able to watch the kill. Plus I probably would have freaked that she'd now have some disease. So that saga will continue.
If anyone out there has a safe way to get rid of these things please let me know. Apparently my conscience does not want to kill them.

Enough of The Bad

This has been a long two weeks for us. Long hours at work, helping out my daughter and trying to keep up with normal things. On top of all that my husband's Uncle passed away last Monday. We spent Saturday & Sunday with him at the hospital and then Nursing Home. Monday morning we got the call that he wasn't responding and was being taken back to the hospital.
I always knew he was a special man to A's family and a lot of others. He was stricken with polio at age 7 and wasn't expected to survive past age 10. He never let this disease get the best of him and went on to College and to become an Engineer for Allis Chamblers I remember meeting him around age 15 and he was then using crutches. He drove this blue Checker with hand controls. My husband and his siblings were especially close to him as he lived downstairs from them. He would take them places and was more like their big brother.
This may seem all mushy to some of you but I thought hard for a few days before even writing about this. I have never seen a family show so much respect and love for one person. No one had a single bad thought about him and everyone spoke of how they were inspired by him.
Over the past ten years he become more crippled and was unable to use the crutches any longer so he purchased a scooter. He now had some freedom again. He was truly a man who loved life and dealt with what God handed him. We'll all miss him.
On a lighter note, we missed the first Church Festival of the season. "A" had to work Friday night and yesterday just got away from us. Let the yard work begin! We are also battling some chipmunks that are pissing me off. Yesterday I tried to flood them out but apparently the little bugger wasn't home when I did that because as the water is running into the home I look and see him on my front porch. I laughed as I imagined the little creep with his chipmunk voice saying "hey lady, I'm over here". I didn't want to resort to actually killing them so I think I'm off to the store today to purchase some repellent that has a fox scent and will drive them away. It's that or a trap. I thought the dog would take care of them but they've located in the front yard.
In a few weeks I'll be the crazy lady sitting on the porch with the BB gun and a string of dead chipmunks hanging on my porch. Then I'm also sure I'll be in jail.

A Saturday

I am becoming all to familiar with hospitals. My daughter is now home and doing well. She's moving a little slow but in good spirits. Today we went to visit my husband's Uncle. His Uncle has polio and wasn't expected to live past 10 years of age. He is now 83. His lungs are suffering the effects of polio, his body is tired but his mind is so sharp. He was being moved to a Nursing Home today and is afraid of the type of care he will receive there, so the hunt is on for a full time Nurse at his home. He is now on a respirator full time and will probably need this the rest of his life. I was trying to be brave for my husband as Unk (his nickname) has been like a father to him and I could tell he was upset. It was a struggle for Unk to talk, due to the mask and also his breathing problems but he made light of it. I've known him for 35 years and he's always been the practical joker. Even during our visit he made some pretty good cracks. Humor is a good medicine.

On a lighter note, my husband is now the owner of a cell phone. He's been carrying it around with him and I made the comment to him today that unless it's a wrong number he's not going to get any calls. He hasn't given his phone number out to anyone. He's a pretty smart man but when it comes to computers and cell phones he's somewhat lost at first. Today we had a lesson on how to take a picture and store it. This may be the worst thing I could have done, as I can see some pictures coming. He hasn't figured out how to delete them yet so there is a pretty good mug shot I took of him during our lesson.

Our trip to the grocery store was once again more costly as I took him with me. It's the norm...more money and lingering in the store. I don't find it necessary to stop and look at everything. I know what I want and where it is. He has no clue on how much things cost , so paying $6.99 for a watermelon doesn't seem bad to him. I put it back and chose a smaller one. He does now seem to have the general understanding that I push the cart.

The boys are almost done with the camper repairs. Tigger was working side by side with A on it. It also required two trips to Menards. Personally I think that's a deviation from the chore. I'm pretty sure that had they now appeared there today that a search party would have been sent out.

Ouch

My daughter had back surgery (lumbar fusion) on Monday. We were at the hospital at 530 a.m. , her surgery was set for 7 a.m. They were pretty prompt with getting her ready and the surgery was on time. At 11 her doctor came out and said all went well and she'd be in her room within an hour. We were warned that because they did the surgery with her on her stomach that her face would be swollen. At 130 we were given her room number and made our way up. I've come to the conclusion that at no point is it funny to see your child #1- in pain and #2-high. She was pretty drugged up and I was told that she'd be dopey for awhile. I've got some stories to tell her when she's home and healing.
I remember what I liked about my hospital stay-nothing. First of all the hospital is short staffed so asking for anything will take at least 30 to 45 minutes. I must say they responded very fast when the finger pulse reader came off. The machine started beeping and they were in there stat (I'm picking up hospital lingo). I went up to see her Tuesday and she was walking around-slowly, but steady. Today she met me in the hallway. This girl is so ready to get out of there. There's a sign in her room stating checkout time is between 11-1230 and she says if her doctor is not there by 1105 she's leaving. I can't imagine where she gets her impatience from.
I've spent like zero time at home so far this week. There's some serious catching up to do around here. I have noticed that since boarder brother left there is not much mess. A is pretty good about picking up after himself. It must be the recent visit to his sister's house. It seems as if every time he goes there, he'll get on this neatness kick. I plan to spend some time this weekend in the jungle I call a yard. I have a date with about 4 hefty bags and a rake. Hopefully the weather will hold out.
Last night I was sitting here checking my email and suddenly felt something in my hair and a loud buzzing noise. My gut feeling was "June Bug", but why in my house. I went to knock it away and it was still buzzing. I got a little freaked at that point and started yelling. My gallant husband came to the rescue and knocked this huge bumblebee from my hair. How in the world this thing got in my house is beyond me. He's now swimming in Lake Michigan.

Things I've Learned

The camping outing this weekend proved to be fun. The weather was good, despite the fact that if you wandered to far from the campfire at night it was a bit chilly. The heater in our camper came in handy. There was not one drop of rain and beside a few pesty gnats there were no bugs and no pesty varmits. I did learn a few things this weekend :

Everyone claims to hate disco music, but no one got up to change the radio station
Trying to save a buck by buying inexpensive wine will allow you an early night and somewhere around 14 hours of sleep. (sorry Jo...it was out there)
Men should never wear "clam diggers"
No matter what you feed men they will have toxic gas.
The only way I can tell that my husband is drunk is that he talks non-stop.
State Park toilet paper isn't up to par.
You can't play Tigger and expect no damage to be done.
J wakes herself up every morning with some type of outburst.
No matter what type of hat you wear...you will get ribbed.
And the top thing I learned........
I have the best group of friends anyone could ask for.

Let's just hope for a continuation of good weather for the remainder of the trips.

This should be the start of a long week. My daugher is having lumbar fusion tomorrow and should be in the hospital for 3-5 days depending on how it goes. She's a little nervous, which is to be expected. We were going through some of her papers tonight and discovered that my hip surgery has now come in handy for two other people. It seems I have all the necessary accessories for helping at home. Got the walker, cane, sock puller and toilet riser. My brother made use of them and now she is going to need them also. When she's done these items will return to the attic for the next victim. I'll be helping out with her girls and I'm sure visiting her quite often. I may have to pass some will on to her as she sometimes tends to be a tad bit on the whimpy side. She had some back problems to begin with and then was in a car accident a few months ago that just made everything worse. Hopefully this will all go well and she'll be able to begin a less painful life.

Here's to the end of a great weekend and a hopeful start to a good week.

It's Over (for now)

I have completed my week on 3rd shift. I am tired. I am trying to figure out how I'm going to stay awake and have a few around the campfire tonight. Maybe I will get to the point where I get a second wind. I have been looking for a second wind all week. I'm not tired at work until around 5am. By 7 I'm ready to leave but can't seem to get out of there until 730 every morning. On the way home today I figured out what I hate the most...the drive home. When I worked the shift 6 years ago I lived 7 minutes from work. Staying awake on a 7 minute drive wasn't bad. Staying awake on a 24 minute ride sucks. This morning I was wondering if it was possible to take a minute long power nap at a stop light. Scary.

So it's off to camping in a few hours. When I was still coherent I made a list. This should prevent me from forgetting anything. The weather promises to be nice but I'm wondering where the wind suddenly came from. Should be fun...good friends, 1st trip of the year, some beer , my comfy chair and a hat. The useless June Bugs are out and about. I got hit in the head while standing outside having a smoke at work last night. The little buggers serve no purpose what-so-ever.

One More Night

Not the sappy song...My assignment to 3rd shift. I shouldn't get to excited as I know I'll be doing it again in a few weeks. But I'm excited because it's over for now. I'm not quite sure how I worked 3rd for 14 years a while back. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
If I had to pick between 2nd and 3rd my choice would be 3rd. Too much goes on to be stuck at work every night. In my single, younger years it was perfect. Not now.

I did manage to go to both Dylan's baseball games this week. He's out of the Cub Scout league and into Little League. He's in the 8-10 year old category and is one of the smallest one's on the team. I swear half the kids are a couple inches shorter then me .I was sitting there with my son the other night and he remarked how baseball can sometimes get a little boring. I don't see it that way. When you're watching a group of kids play from the first game on, you can see how they mold into a team. There's some peer pressure there. You can hear them rooting for their team mates from their little dugout and offering suggestions on batting stance and running bases. They cheer for each other and do their little high-five thing. As a parent, Grandparent, relative or just friend you feel nervous for them when it's looks as if a difficult play is coming their way. You feel proud when it's done and a little sad for them when they make a mistake. You are supportive and let them know that even if the game was lost, they made some good plays. I watched my son play for 3 years and was a little sad when he opted out of baseball as it just wasn't his sport. After I got all done giving him my views he remarked "I wasn't talking about Dylan's games...I was talking about going to games at the stadium. It's obvious he carries more of his father's genes then mine.

I baked my camping friends a mass of cookies last night. Boarder brother no longer lives here so I know the cookies are safe. I started packing and gave it up for when I'm a little bit more awake. I hate forgetting things.

I'm thinking I'm not going to get a lot of sleep today. One house across the street is currently having a patio/driveway poured and the cement truck is right in front of my house. The house next to it is having their basement mud-jacked and the bobcat is pretty noisey. I might just be the crazy lady that yells out the window.

Almost Half Way

Famous quote from R last night...Now I remember what I like about working 3rd shift...silence.
He looked as tired as I felt. This is definatly not for me. 20 years ago when I was a young spring chicken and first started 3rd shift it didn't phase me. It worked for me. Not now. I'm old and need some structure in my life. I don't even take naps during the day, let alone try to get 5-6 hours of sleep. Thankfully it's not summer yet and people around here don't mow their lawns until after work.

On a lighter note, my husband who I've seen for a total of 5 hours in the past 12 days is coming home tonight. Probably around the time I leave for work. I've had some good conversations with Sadie this week. I think she actually listens to me. It could be an act though. She's probably waiting for him to get home so she's off the hook. She may be missing out on some valuable sleep by pretending to pay attention to me. We did manage to get a game of catch in this morning. Acutally I throw the ball and she eventually brings it back.

I must promote the valuable lessons today on Gambino's blog. I now have the "Conjunction" song stuck in my head. It took me years to get that song out.

My goal before I go to work tonight is to watch the Soprano's . I've heard nothing but good regarding Sunday's episode. It may pump me up a little before work.

5-1=4

Day one on 3rd shift is over. It didn't take me long to figure out why I hate 3rd. Add the hours and problems together and it doubles my hatred. We had some type of glitch in our computer that prevented us from collecting data. It was something the company that's setting up our line did on Friday and never tested it. So I had a bunch of people standing around while the maintenance guy, my boss (bless his soul for showing up) and I tried our best to figure out what was wrong.

My biggest mistake was sitting down around 4am to work on some procedures and type them. I was all good until then. The maintenance guy joined my at the desk (not on it- at it) to help my fill out some dumb forms we have to do for every step of running. His boredom set in so he began to construct paper birds. Looking around at my co-workers I saw a lot of yawning and bloodshot eyes. The show should get better as the week progresses. There are two women that actually want the shift. One came in all perky last night. She was almost lynched.

I am now waiting for my dog to do her duty so I can try to get some sleep. My grandson's first baseball game of the season is tonight and I must try to attend. You guys all know I'm his biggest fan.

Home

After a slight delay in my flight I finally arrived home at 1:45 a.m. Saturday. It was a great trip and a good visit with Mom & Dad and once again I hated to leave. It's sad when you see your parents standing in their driveway waving as you pull away.

The crappy part about coming home is I walked in the door at 2am and my husband left for a four day Chicago work trip at 7am. Didn't have much time. The good part about coming home is that boarder brother has vacated!. The room isn't all that bad. Hubbie ripped the carpet out and is working on the hardwood floor which should be good with a sanding. Mean while everything is piled up in the other spare room. This is it...I promise myself that besides my parents or one of my kids we will have no other boarders. I'm purchasing an Aero bed for when the grand kids stay over or the most uncomfortable sofa sleeper I can find.

Tonight I start a week on 3rd shift. Should be a blast. I'm not sure what to expect as there are also a few new people starting. Hopefully it won't be a complete disaster. I'll be training the girl who will be running the 3rd shift in the future. God Bless her soul if she's a fast learner. By the end of the week I'm sure my sleep pattern will be completely screwed up. We're having our first camping trip Friday so with no sleep I'm sure I'll be the first puddle.

I have to say a quick work for everyone to keep our friend B in their prayers this week. He's having brain surgery on Tuesday. He wouldn't let us shave his head last night in preparation. He figured the hospital staff was better at it. Good luck to you B! We'll all be thinking of you.

Almost Over

This is my last full day in Arizona and the depression is starting to set in. Nothing is better then being on vacation, but nothing is worse then knowing you have to go back to reality. The weather here has been great (except for the 15 minute ha-boob). I felt like the lady on the old orange juice commercials, sitting outside drinking my oj and staring at the palm trees. I pondered taking one home but it won't happen.
You'll all be happy to know that while I was gone, boarder brother has moved. I've been told the room isn't to bad but will take some work. My husband seems to be surviving well without me. I think I woke him from his after-work nap everyday so far.
Mom and Dad are doing great here, except I just can't figure out why they're always in such a hurry. Everything is rush around. I got the finger gesture from my dad when I commented that for a man who doesn't have to ever be anywhere he sure is in a hurry all the time. The way he drives, he should be a Chicago cab driver.
Today, as in every other day will be pool day. Ahhhhh. Sad thing is it's the last day.