How Can She Be Two Mothers

To get away from the repetitive news each night I switch over to Lifetime and watch an hour of Reba while preparing my husband a lovely dinner. Last night I saw and episode I've never seen before. Brock's mother was in town. I heard the voice, as I was slaving over the stove and turned in time to notice that she is also Doug from King of Queens mother. This would be the one and only Jenny O'Hara. I feel the need to mention this as this could be a trivia question. Not that I'd be able to remember this when the question was asked. Of course I'd sit there holding my head and repeating over and over again "Shit, I know this...why can't I think of it?" I figure if I post it that at least one of us will remember.

Me thinks me has created a monster. Two weeks ago some people were let go at work. One of the girls I hadn't worked with to much until a month ago. She's a nice person and excellent worker. The day after she was let she called me at home to share the tidbits of her release. She has now called me at least every other day. The calls are getting better as she's not as depressed anymore, but she is bitter. The call usually comes around the same time every day so I have to yell to my husband to check the called ID. I think he takes joy in answering and then handing the phone over to me. The grin on his face is a dead giveaway.

Speaking of weird dreams (stb) I tried to wake myself up out of one last night. It was just so ridiculous. My friend "Andy" called me to say he had one Packer ticket and did I want to go with him and his friends. We had to meet at the Concertina Bar which he gave me wrong directions to, as we were driving in my van together. We finally found the bar and when walking in saw that it wasn't exactly what we thought. We walked into an old lady strip club. We're talking Old- like in their 80's. Andy was hesitant to go in as his girlfriend "Dodie" would be upset if she found out he was in a strip club. Huh? So I wanted to get to the Packer game and could not get several of our friends -Don, Ryan, Peven and Timmy to leave. They were whistling, and cheering away. I was then in shock as one of them took all the Packer tickets and stuffed them in this old ladies funky bra. I woke up! Maybe this is a result of going to bed earlier than usual.

I'm Stuck In Little People Land!

How does two turn into four? I started out with having two kids for the weekend and it multiplied into four. Three, 10 year old girlie girls and one 9 year old boy. All was going well until there was a major disbute over what movie to watch last night. That ended with no movie. They didn't really grasp the whole extent of Grandma puts up with nothing. They came very close to loosing the tv completly when the arguing continued over what tv show to watch. Around 10pm I was beat from a day of the girlie girls. I made sure they were all settled and warm and headed off to bed. I didn't hear a peep until 6:45 when I heard my neice jabbering away. My trip down the hallway was short and sweet. "I don't want to hear another word until 9am". The only thing I heard was a very soft voice stating that her stomach hurt really bad and she thought it was from hunger. That brought on a chuckle as I know what they all ate yesterday.
Right now as I am posting this they are getting ready for Trick or Treat. This brings back memories. I'm sure that my brothers and I drove my parents crazy for hours before we were set to leave. My kids drove me nuts also. This must just be so exciting for them. Yes, these are the same kids that gave up after an hour last year. I was in utter disbelief . I know we would go for what seemed like hours, usually heading home for a candy dump and heading back out. They half way filled bags last year and called it quits.
So far I've done the parental duties of fixing hair, painting nails black with crappy, cheap polish and put in earrings. Two of the four are hacking like crazy so they've received the proper medicine dropped off by their parents. I just now have fixed a zipper and last night I sewed up broken wings. (I am the best grandma ever). Suck it up kids.
My daughters surgery went well. Last report from son-in-law was that she was able to sleep pretty good last night and seems to have discomfort only from the incision. Her leg problems seems to be better which was caused by the screws in her back being placed to deep. It will take time for the damage to the muscle to repair itself, but the outcome is looking good.
Duty calls for me to now fix and spray hair black. We have two dark fairies,one witch and a racing sausage. (the last one is the cutest costume.)

He's Not Fond Of The Number

Until the official team photos are released to me by his mother, this is the only solo photo I have from this season. Funny how I picked out the packet I wanted, ordered it and it just happened to get mixed in with hers. She had to take them home to sort through them and figure out who's were who's. I bet my 8x10 is hanging on "the other grandmothers" wall. It seems a little weird not to have a game to go to this weekend. He did comment that he may go back to basketball and then through in a soccer comment just to get my attention. "I love you Dylan, and I would go to whatever event you were in but you'd really be pushing it with the soccer" was my reply. Can't help it, it's just not my thing.
So I posted this picture because I felt the need to show him off a little. Other people post boob pictures, pet pictures and just fun pictures. You guys can all suffer through my grandson's picture.
I seem to have contacted someones cold. I'm trying to keep it under control. Haven't hit the bottle yet as a suggested cure. There is a chilled bottle of very fine tasting Black Zambuca in the fridge downstairs that may become just a little lower in level this weekend. I have to be at the top of my game as I have my daughter's girls this weekend. She's going in for a second back surgery tomorrow which will hopefully give her good results. The twins can be a little trying at times and really try to pull things over on people. Yeah, I'm not going for it. There was mention of going to see High School Musical (not going to happen). We may just opt for baking some pies. Future homemaking skills are much more important than a movie that will be out on video within a week.

Damn Cowboys

It is the Cowboys curse! Dylan's team went undefeated the entire season, made it through the playoffs and lost to the Cowboys in their Championship game yesterday. The little guys put up a fight but it wasn't enough. They played the Cowboys early on in the season and shut them out so I don't know if there was a growth spurt or what over the next 7 weeks but they lost to them. Whatever the case both teams played well. One team played better.

We lost two employees at work this week. This is just the beginning. Our division doesn't have that many operators to begin with, but we have enough to run the lines we have. I'm sure what we're feeling right now is what a majority of companies are feeling. My wish is to make it to the end of the year at least. Not sure how well I'd take being let go before the Holidays. At any rate everything happens for a reason. Maybe there's another job out there calling my name. (not a library as they are cutting back also).

Not that I'm really big on the Hallmark holidays but I made an effort to get my husband a card and a little something for the date. Yesterday came and went without a little envelope for me. I'm sure he's waiting until tomorrow when he can get a card for 1/2 price. This is a little bothersome to me as in 24 years he's never missed getting a card for me. I made some good ribs yesterday. Had them in the oven cooking slowly for 6 hours. They came right off the bone. He made the comment that they were "quite tasty", ate them and retired to his chair for the evening. Granted the man has been working very hard on the porch. He woke up around 9:30, walked around, noticed I was still home and hit the sack again. Really exciting evening.

I start my getting up at the uncalled for hour of 3:30 am tomorrow. I keep trying to find the good in it by the fact that I will not be getting out of work at 3pm. Can't say I had any liking in the 5pm release hour. In our meeting the other day it was mentioned that those who were so flexible as to volunteer for the late shift may be called upon again in the future to do so. I may duck down at the next meeting. I'm a little tired of switching hours. There's usually a newspaper or magazine laying on the table I could easily pick up and hide my face behind.

It is twelve more days until I will turn on the heat. This could go longer if there is no need for it. What's a few more sweaters and a double layer of sweatpants? I'm noticing as the porch gets further along the house gets a little warmer. With brick, new windows and very sturdy storm doors on the porch we may be able to get another month without the heat. Ben has a goal to help my husband complete this project within the next few weeks. He claims he's eating his Thanksgiving dinner out there.

I Saw It First

It is 17 days until Halloween. The other day I put a few decorations on my front window and got out the Halloween candle and put it in the living room. It's pretty much the extent of my decorating. I do like the holiday and get a kick out of how far people have gone in decorating for Halloween. I tend to like the traditional scarecrow propped up in the yard and thing the witch flying into the tree is a little funny. The pumpkins on the porch are also an added touch.

On my way home from work today I did have a little bit of a shock. Now I know the stores have already decorated for Christmas and they have displays and decorations out for the home. On 43rd & Grange there is a town house all decked out for Christmas already. I took a second look thinking that just maybe it was last years stuff never taken down. No.. this looked fresh, and the lights were plugged in. At first I thought WTF..it's way to early. Then as I thought more about it I wondered if maybe the house was done up as someone wasn't going to be around at Christmas. Maybe they had parents who flew south or west for the winter. Maybe they had someone who was heading out to defend our country or coming home for a leave. There could be several reasons. In the past I would normally freak and rant about how it's to early. This time I tried to reason. Then I thought "What the heck" it's their house and they must have a reason for it. I'm sure ours won't go up until the traditional 10 days before Christmas. He usually intends to get things up before the snow flies but something always prevents this carefully thought out process. I must mention that my friend seems to have Santa already set up in his living room as we saw by his recent photos on his blog.

The good thing about today. I am half way through my work week. Tired as hell, but 1/2 way there.

I Smell Poop!

So maybe today just isn't my day. A famous quote from Ben Sr. "Don't let life get the best of you". I try to live by the words of Dad as I have the utmost respect for my father. At my age I guess one would have chosen a different path, but he always managed to see the brighter side of things rather than brood. Therefore , I see myself heeding his advice for years to come.

I was told by my husband not to mention this again but I feel the need to say, we should be camping this weekend. We opted out as there is work around the homestead to be done. There are things that have to be done before the blustery days of winter settle upon us. Ben Jr. wants to eat Thanksgiving Dinner on the new porch so we must get hopping on that. It's also a good day to get the yard cleaned up. I got a semi-early start as I wanted to get out before the bees started getting busy. This worked out until around noon. Husband came home for lunch and ate his McDonald's on the deck which drew every bee, wasp, hornet and their cousin for miles. After he returned to work I left the area for a bit to let them clear. Apparently they are not liking the fact that I am taking their food source away by pulling out any plant life left in the garden.

I made a haul from the backyard to the curb using my rummage sale purchased wagon. On the way back I notice a little trail of pooh on the driveway. I just figured I dragged the wagon through some pooh. On my second trip I noticed some foliage sticking to the bottom of my shoe and went to scrape it off on the edge of the deck. Whoa Nellie....stinky. I fear I had stepped in a nice pile of Sadie's pooh. Now the shit was embedded in the sole of my shoe. I seem to recall laughing at someone who suffered this misfortune a few weeks ago. Garden hoses come in handy in these situations. Guess I should have surveyed the back yard a little more carefully prior to getting to work. Checked the wagon wheels...they are spotless.

You Want Cheese With That?

I think my depression over the Brewers loss has come to an end. I had an appointment on Sunday and thought for sure she'd have the radio or a TV on. She asked me a few times what time the game was on but then noon came and went. Another customer walked in around 1:30 but claimed to not be listening to the game. She "forgot" it was on. By the time I got into my car and tuned in the radio I was a little taken back. 5-0. Got on the phone with Gambino to see if this was true. She happened to mention that the Packers were also loosing, but then threw in that "On a lighter note, The King and I is on." I can't complain, they gave us a good season.

My workplace often has luncheons that production employees are usually not allowed to go to. One of the nicer guys will sometimes go and bring back some tidbits for us. Today was a different story, as we were allowed to go. This was a "Get Moving" theme. Earlier this year they had a similar program with employees against management to see which group could log more steps in a given time. The employees won as several management personnel dropped out. I think this luncheon was to kick it off again. We were given one hour so the first 1/2 hour was spent in line for food. The second portion was spent eating and listening to two men from Comedy Sports put on a little show. We all got up and left after our allotted time was up. I warned my fellow co-workers about getting up in the middle of a skit. "Mark my words, you will be made fun of". Sure enough, as our little group of people headed for the door there were cracks made. I wish we could have stuck around for the rest of the show, but production called. Plus, none of us got to hear the newest "Get Moving" challenge. Although we all appreciated the chance to go, we found it odd that you would have a "Get Fit, Get Moving" theme and serve several pasta dishes and chicken breasts smothered with a thick mushroom gravy and for dessert cream puffs and chocolate eclairs. That's going to take more than a few laps around the parking lot to work off.

I have been volunteered by my son to work the concession stand on Sunday for the game prior to Dylan's game. If any of my friends want to get a real laugh, stop on down at 10:30 Sunday morning for some delicious pretzels with cheese or nachos. I was under the impression I just had to hand out candy, soda and coffee. Didn't know I had to actually heat up pretzels and cheese. This ought to be good.

TGIF ??

First of all let me start by saying I am very thankful that I now have Friday's off. I'm a little tired during the course of the 10 hour day, four days a week but very much look forward to the three day weekend. Today marks the third Friday off. The first one was spent preparing for and going camping. Last week Friday was spent on a day trip to Lake Geneva and then preparing for a family birthday party. Today was spent on appointments that had to be re-scheduled when we went to 10 hour days, and catching up on some chores and shopping.

For some reason that extra day off each week seems to be filled to the brim. I was up at 6:30 and think the only time I sat down all day was driving to appointments. I even had to stand at the Doctors Office. They have not yet invented the sit-down boob squash?? It's now 8:40 and I sure that if I went to bed I'd have no problem falling asleep.

I thought about catching a little cat nap this afternoon but when I got home I found a large cement mixer churning away in my driveway. I knew there was talk of laying some cement today but "Mr. Communication" just let's me know when to give him money. As I walked up the driveway to investigate I caught site of Dirty Ben. He looked as if he could really give Pig Pen a run for his money. Then I saw Rick. He wasn't quite as dirty and looked to be doing a good job on the mixing. As I glanced toward the work area I was glad that my husband at least had clean underwear on and that they weren't inside out. I don't know what it is with Mr. Droopy Drawers but he just shouldn't squat or be on his knees. I though for sure he was going to stand up and loose the pants completely. Yes I do know what the problem is....He has no ass. He didn't like the comment I made about buying him a body suit. Like I said, at least all you could see was underwear.

The guys called it quits around 6 (because they ran out of cement mix). The plan is for this to start all over again at 8am tomorrow morning. This was being discussed as they all sat down to eat some pizza. When the two younger ones got up after dinner the old bones must have been creaking. The macho men tried not to wince in pain in front of me but I caught it. I suggested taking a day off and was looked at as if I was some kind of freak. We'll see how well they're moving tomorrow. I do, however give them a lot of credit for the task they undertook. Real, genuine men.
In the words of Rick "That's what friends are for".