Under Control

Knock on wood, I think we are rid of our visitors. We are holding at 7 and haven't seen one or evidence of one since the 25th. I guess instead of coal, I got a family of Mickey's for Christmas.
There are enough traps around this joint to catch quite a few and either they all wised up or we got them all.

The other night when we first found them I mentioned that we should have a cat. I've had cat's before and they seem to take care of any mice or creepy things around the basement or house. My husband always claimed he was allergic to them. We go to K & J's and they can crawl all over him and he has not affects. He does have an issue with his Aunts cats, however they are long hairs. I browsed the Humane Society site and mentioned it to him and from the lack of an answer I got I figured it was water under the bridge. Saturday morning he woke me up to ask what time they opened. At that point I was then the negative one. I mentioned a place near the bar we go to that adopts out cats. At 2pm he was ready to go there. Nice place, and the cat's seem to be well cared for. We found one right away and threw the idea of two around. We decided it might be a good idea. Finding the second one was a chore. One made me itch and sneeze immediately and another one was just weird looking. I felt a little bad taking it back to it's cage we had it in a room with us for 15 minutes and the thing just hovered in a corner. The first one was very lively and friendly. Third times a charm as we found one (Carmine. The name will change) that was a little timid at first but then came around. So we made our choices and had to fill out some lengthy paperwork and are waiting to be accepted. We also mentioned that we needed a few days to think it over ourselves. Yesterday I made a negative comment and Mr. Tough Guys face looked a little sad. I may have him sign something stating that he wants them more than I do that I can pull out the first time they claw something. I'm more worried about Sadie feeling a little put out but I'm told that dogs don't have those feelings. Not quite convinced of that. What I am convinced of is that the boys will be getting fixed and de-clawed ASAP.

Eeeeekkkkkkk!

Things were a little amiss at this household today. I had shoveling in mind when I got home and found that we must have ticked off a snowplow driver enough that he would direct the entire blocks worth of snow into our driveway approach. I'm not kidding when I say it was up to my knees. I parked on the street and made my way up the driveway and into the house. Did the usual, checked the mail, checked my email, let the dog out and then ventured downstairs to retrieve the polish sausage from the fridge. As I rounded the bar I saw something out of the corner of my eye. At first glance I wondered why my husband would play such a cruel joke on me. I got the polish and turned when I realized that what I saw moved. This was no fake mouse! The little creature jumped off the bar onto the floor. I heard the little plop and then it started running in circles. My natural instinct was to scream and try to get away from it. I had no weapon except the box of polish sausage which I was not about to try to explain to my family tomorrow. It took off under the fridge. I took off up the stairs and slammed the basement door. WTF! How did we get a mouse in the house.

I made a quick phone call to my husband at work to pick up some traps. He seemed a little irritated when I said it was on the bar. "You know, the same place you were eating crackers and herring last night" was my explanation. I then made a hasty retreat outside to tackle the snow. I kept telling myself I was being silly, the stupid thing is only about 4 inches big. I kept shoveling until he got home an hour later. Like a scared ding bat I followed him into the house. He had brought home sticky paper instead of a trap. He neatly laid them down in a few places in the basement and then with broom in hand I got the rest of the things I needed. I kept looking at the laundry basket under the magic chute wondering in the little bastard crawled in there. I whacked the basket a few times and then moved it to the top of the washer. I looked for droppings in the area and found none. Hopefully this thing just got in.

My husbands feelings were not the same. He thinks they came in when we brought in some boxes from the garage. If this is true it's been shacking up down there for a month. Hopefully not in the motherly way at the time. He checked a few more areas and then went off to work.
I stayed clear of the basement. There was no way I was going down to "check the paper".
Also had to keep the dog upstairs lest she come up with sticky paper stuck to her nose.

He got home around 11 and we went down to investigate. The look on his face when he rounded the bar was priceless. He just let out this strained "Ohhhhh" and almost looked sad. "Did you get it I asked". "Got them" him...."Them"..me "Ahh, there's three". Then he was kind enough to tell me that I don't want to see the mess. He took off into the workshop and returned with a pliers and bucket. I figured he was just going to pick up the whole pad and toss it in the bucket. I asked if they were still alive and got a nod of the head. "Got to put them out of their misery" is what got me to fly back up the stairs.

As the count goes now....3. More paper is down and unless he checks it in the morning I'll be staying upstairs with a towel jambed under the door.

Brrrrr....Humbug

No big shocker here. It is cold outside! Snow, cold, repeat..seems to be the same old story over and over again. I ventured out of the house long enough today to put the peanut butter balls we had dipped in chocolate on the porch to set. Didn't take long. My compliments to my husband at the solid porch walls. I felt no breeze coming in, only frigid cold air. I don't hear my windows rattling any more so the wind must have died down a bit.

Last week we were given the option to have the entire week off. Seeing as I had only one vacation day left I pondered for the whole week on what to do. Thursday at 2:45 I gave them my answer. I would be in Monday & Tuesday. How do I feel about that now? Duh...how dumb could I be? Am I seriously going to want to get in my car at 4 am and go to work? Well, I have no choice now.

I though I was doing pretty good with all the Holiday things and I prided myself with starting early. Not feeling so much that way now. I just spent three days being quite busy. Right about now I could use a beer but I'm opting for a shot of cold medicine instead as I've developed a bit of a cold. That's par for the course though. I'm always sick on Christmas. The bad thing is feeling like yuck. The good thing is not being able to taste anything, therefore not eating much of it.

We received an envelope in the mail yesterday for "Cowboy's Fans". It was handed to me by my husband when I got home. He asked about the letter and then noted that he was wondering if that's why I made him put up all blue and white lights this year. He wondered if I was "turning". There was the one thing that I ordered off their web site earlier this year that has prompted these mailings. He doesn't check the mail to often, so is unaware of the fact that they come several times a week. I might just stop and pick up an ornament and hide it on the tree to see how long it takes him to spot it. Or maybe I could borrow one from my friend.

Holy Crap!

Remember not to long ago when it looked like this outside? I think that was back in October. Hard to imagine that we are on track to beat last years snowfall. To me this is not a contest we feel we need to win every year.

At 6 am this I asked my husband if he was going to work. They have a standard rule that if the public schools are closed they are also. I quoted this rule to him and he replied in his hero voice "That's just the production lines. I must go in". Then he has some dumb lady call him for a ride as she didn't want her husband to drive in this. That's just a point blank sign that she was calling his bluff. She wanted to stay home. I'm not sure I could ever call another guy for a ride in a snowstorm because my husband didn't want to drive. Her poor husband either didn't hear the call or is not feeling like the biggest wimp in the world.

For some reason I keep smiling at the image of my husband outside his work shoveling so the office people can get in. His beard covered in snow and his mustache icing up. I did notice that he had his shoes packed in a bag but left them by the door, so if he does decide to stay he'll be clunking around in his boots all day. He was nice enough to leave the shovel inside the porch today so I could shovel my way out.

Things were looking pretty upbeat yesterday. After work I went out with a few people for a Christmas drink. We were done within 2 hours as everyone wanted to get errands done last night before the big storm. I stopped at the mall to look into an air compressor for A. It was on sale but the added bonus was the man who handed me an additional $10.00 off a purchase of $100.00 or more. He was like a secret Santa, just walked past me and said "'Maybe you can use this". It was like finding a coupon at the grocery store right next to the item you are going to buy. So I bought it and then thought about how I was going to get it to my car. Suddenly this woman walks by with a cart from another store and asks if I need to use it. Double score! Got it into the truck and managed to get it into the house. I need to train my dog to help out a little more.

Here's wishing all of you a Happy Snow Day!

No Auditions

I made a mistake last night. I had stated that I was going to start taking auditions for a new friend. Of course our group joked about it and comments were made.."Randy would have never said that" or "Randy would have got me a beer". Things that seemed funny at the time.

After much thought about my audition comment, which I now blame on my emotional state over the past week, I am retracting that comment. You see, I feel that every one of my friends are unique in their own way. They are all special to me for different reasons. Randy was special for many reasons. I made the comment that his shoes would be hard one's to fill. That is true, but I don't compare my friends. I care about each and everyone of them and enjoy spending time with them. We've seen each other at our best and worst. Over the past week we've all been here for each other.

As I looked around last night I was over whelmed by the amount of people that came out with one purpose in mind. To provide support for each other. We shared stories, attempted to sing, and saw a few tears. We helped each other through a rough time. This, to me, is why all my friends are special to me.

It Has Been An Honor!

To My Friend Randy,

The initial shock of loosing you has finally hit me. I was gathering some pictures tonight to add to your picture board and broke down. It was then that I realized that you weren't going to make that next trip to South Dakota. I would never be able to prove to you that Custer State Park is chuck full of buffalo. Then I had to laugh when I thought about how much ribbing we got from you the past few years for dragging you all the way there with the promise of seeing them.
This is the person I will always remember. The good hearted, there for everybody person. The guy who's laugh you could hear clear across a bar, campsite or any activities we joined you in. The guy who would always cheer me up, make light of a situation and give the best hugs ever.

We became friends when stuck working 3rd shift together. But my first memory of you is when I worked 3rd and you worked 1st. You would be coming in early and had do buzz in. I'd walk the long hallway at 4am to let you in and I'd hear the same words every morning. "Good Day". After a few weeks of this I'd get Ahoy Mate in before you could utter a word.

Pretty soon we met each other's spouses and my husband took a liking to you immediately. Social activities came after that and we'd always get the evil eye from the spouses for talking about work. It seemed as if you knew everybody. You always had a friendly word and a funny story about someone. You became a friend that I could talk to and trust. You became my boss and although we didn't always see eye to eye, I respected that fact that you had a job to do and vice versa. Any indifference's we were always able to talk over. This is what is known as a true friendship.

When you left our current place of employment you were missed. There wasn't a day that went by that someone didn't ask about you. I missed you, not only as a boss, but as a friend. I missed your crazy comments, your stressful hand through the hair motion and bitching at you for not having your safety shoes on.

My heart sank on Saturday. It sank for J your wife, for your family, for all your friends and for myself. You were loved by many people and will be missed by many. Your circle of friends is bigger than you ever imagined. I am not at all shocked by it. This is the kind of person you were.

We will all miss you terribly. I will burn every glow stick I can find in your honor. I will shine my flashlight into the sky and try as hard as I can to search for Major Tom. One thing I don't think I'll be able to do is down 21 Mike's Hard Lemonade's in one night.

We will take care of Jo. We will never forget you. I have my memories.

Touching

Last night I picked up my grandson and headed off for the twins annual school Christmas concert. Their school really goes out of the way for these concerts and last nights was even better then the previous years. The principal is very involved and demands that the parent's and visitors stay through the entire concert and don't just get up and walk out when their child is done.

Each of the girls had a solo, one vocal and one on the violin. Last year she was still a bit squeaky but as nervous as she was last night I heard not one squeak. They do more of a culture orientated concert so each grade did one. When the Christmas Rap part came it was truly hilarious. This was a 3rd grade class and they wrote the song themselves. There were several groups of 3 or 4 that would break into rap for a few lines. We happened to be sitting in back of one of the parents whose son was very Opie Taylor looking but when his turn came he transformed into a rap King. His parents just cracked up and explained how he had been practicing at home. The father who looked strictly the business type , took credit for practicing with him. Of course besides the girls, this was the highlight of the concert.

I also scan the stage for the kid that looks the most uninterested or simply did not care to practice. I found several last night. One little guy was not singing at all, just standing at the end of his row looking up at the lights and waving his prop mittens around. The little girl next to him looked completely disgusted with him.

I then scanned the crowd as I like to see the looks on people's faces. I happened to be taking a drink of my water when I spotted the man with the worst beard ever. Needless to say it sent me into a choking fit and trying very hard to fight back laughter. My daughter looked over to see what was going on and I very discretely pointed it out to her. Broke her and my son-in-law up. This came at a time when we were able to cover it up as the little boy on the stage was dressed as a Sheppard and looked like Linus. Back to the beard thing. He had what looked like a Chi Pet on his chin. A very strawberry blond one. It almost appeared as if he just stuck it on there. Completely clean shaven with a nice hair cut and this crap on his chin. So you know how when you spot something your eyes always want to go back to this spot no matter how bad it is? Luckily I didn't spot it until 1/2 hour into the show. What made it worse is that he kept stroking it like he was proud. My son-in-law was attempting to get a shot of it but I tried to be the sensible one and stated that we should never laugh at others misfortunes. He stated that if it's out of your control it's wrong to poke fun...A purposely done thing is worth a laugh.

Recession...It's The Buzz

The front page of the Journal was the talk of the shop today. We have been in a recession since last December. Was this actually news to anyone? I got sick of hearing about it by about 10 am. When I went to lunch at noon I was soon wishing I could actually leave for lunch. Had it not been so cold I would have fled to my car to get away from the head of our Department. There were three of us in the lunch room just relaxing and chatting in between eating our lunches when in he walks with lunch in hand to "Eat with the workers". He went on to ask us all how we felt about the news. Then went on to explain it to us as if we had no clue of what was going on. As I left the lunchroom I commented to one of my co-workers that maybe he was preparing us for bad news. This is the same guy who comes in around 7, grabs the sports section and heads to the bathroom. I'm in tune to the fact that people read on the pooper, but do it at home not at work. Then don't bring the paper back and lay it down on the table when you're done. There is a mad scramble for the sports section prior to 7am. When he brings it back it literally lays untouched.
I am a little nervous about the next month or so because apparently what we're making right now is all inventory. You never want to see a warehouse full of finished product. Incoming raw materials is a good sign, but there's not much of that. May have to look into the library after all.

Through out the course of the past two weeks I have discovered that I now work with one of the moodiest people I have ever known. She's a former 3rd shift worker who made it through the last layoff. This girl doesn't utter a nice word until at least 10 am. She comes in with a scoll on her face every morning and answers in a grunt. By around noon she starts to chat. Yesterday I almost blew up at her, but couldn't lower myself to her level. I'm all about trying to get along with the people I work with. It makes for a shorter day when you can actually converse. Today after about an hour of grunty grunterson I decided to give her some of her own medicine. Yes, I actually went down a few pegs. Within fifteen minutes she was asking what was wrong. Tomorrow I think I'll try that right away.

On a lighter note, my mom's thyroid which was removed a few weeks ago is cancer free. She's still a little shakey as her meds are still being worked on. Now if I can just get them to move back here I'll be little more relaxed.