Responsibility

I am on a rant again about responsibility. The production hours at work changed today. A normal start time of 7am was moved to 5am so the operators could get out at 1 and rest up for their New Years celebrations. Very nice on the part of their boss who usually won't allow this to happen. In the past there have been communication issues when hours have changed. Forgetting to notify QC or maintenance of the change and operators forgetting to set timers for the change. I was notified of the change two days ago and wasn't to happy. I only had to work 3.5 hours in the first place and would have liked the extra two hours of sleep, but I complied with the operators wishes.
The four operators that were to work today were the one's that pushed for the time change. When I got in this morning they were all sitting in the lunch room as usual. For the past year or so I've been in earlier then them and have gone and turned on some melters to allow them to start up on time. I told them yesterday that I wouldn't be in until 5, therefore they would have to turn the glue on. No one did. They all forgot. As I went out to turn it on I noticed that the major melters were not running. They are on a clock which should have been changed yesterday to reflect the starting time change. No one did it. This glue takes 1 1/2 hours to heat up from cold. This caused a 1 1/2 hour delay in their start up time. The acting Production Supervisor took the fall for this. I say it wasn't his fault. He notified them that their wishes for an earlier time change had been granted. It is not up to him to make sure the line is ready to start up. These people work on a line every day and know their start times. They tried to lay it on the operator who isn't here today. I say no! One of them should have taken the initiative to make sure the timers were set. He could care less, he's off today. He probably could have looked into it but in the long run these operators should take the fall. This is why their boss doesn't allow different start times. This is why I am no longer a boss...I cannot stand when people cannot take the blame for their own mistakes. Sad thing is that I know come Monday when the Production Supervisor is going through the numbers from today he will announce the delay and stand there and take the fall. Not one of them will speak up and claim responsibility.

Happy New Year to all! May you all have a safe and fun evening.

9

That is what my car told me the temperature was at 5:45 this morning. "9". By the time I hit Highway 100 it was 11. The creaking of the frozen porch door told me it was cold. The crackling of my car door when I opened it seconded that motion. Funny how it didn't really feel that cold. Maybe I've become used to the cold. The perk was that it was cold without wind so the coldness just kind of sat there.
When I got to work I noticed the abundance of salt in the parking lot and on the walkways. I think our service overdid it a tad. It may be a good idea for them to spread it out a little more evenly. There are literally piles of salt in some areas that if you're not careful could trip you. I'm sure that at some point this winter someone will be writing up an incident report for unsure footing on the salt.
The birds got me this morning again. There is an evergreen tree close to the side of the building that one has to walk by to get to the door. A flock of birds has made this there evening resting place. Usually they fly out around 7 am. This morning it was still dark when I walked past and I saw the tree branches moving a bit. Out they came. I stopped while they began their flight into morning. I felt a little like Tippy for a minute or so. I'm not quite sure how all those birds fit into that tree but can picture them all huddled together to stay warm. Their path out was not all on the same course so I think some of them were a bit shocked to see me in their way. I'm just glad that I was alone at the moment and no one got to see the show. I see this as being a pay back for my laughter last week when one of the guys I work with was walking past at the time of their departure from the tree. I happened to be outside and got a good laugh at him dropping his lunch bag and taking off with some not so nice words coming from his mouth. A good idea to solve this problem might be taken from Steel Magnolias. Get a gun!

My Shadow

It's a tough transition from being very busy to being idle. There doesn't seem to be a happy medium. I went from going non -stop the few days before Christmas and right up to Christmas morning then it was like all of a sudden someone slammed on the brakes. It was over just like that.
We did have one social event the day after Christmas but it was very low key and was only a few hours. It involved snacks which I avoided and cake which had the yucky whipped cream frosting, so that didn't interest me either.
I am beginning to see the inside of the fridge again. The hash brown casserole is gone, finally. I couldn't eat it again. There's still some dips, polish sausage and cheese & sausage. I need to get rid of some cookies and pretzels and then things will be good. Yesterday I did make another batch of peanut butter balls as they went fast and I'll need them for New Years.
So in all total I had 5 days off. Two were pretty busy. The remaining three were a bit boring. Apparently my husband was also bored as he took to following me around. He assisted with setting up the new printer he bought me and it was then I discovered the poor guy got no toys for Christmas. He received clothes and gift cards. I don't think he knew what to do with himself. That and the fact that the kids didn't get any toys so he had nothing to put together.
This is quite unusual as he usually gets something to putz with. Last night I told him to dig out the beer making kit he got at least 5 years ago and hasn't touched. It was on his list.
I may make a "to do" list for all the idle time he will have.

Taking A Lesson

There was drama this weekend. Some of it started in the middle of my Friday afternoon chocolate dipping. The drama was on my husband's side of the family this time. Things are a mess over at the family homestead and we were called to action. Arnie went first to try to sort things out and make sure that his mother was okay. She's been doing so much better since her hip surgery and this was just a kick in the butt for her. Arnie has a way of keeping his cool and assessing a situation prior to flying off the handle. He's a talker, not a screamer. Because I was in the middle of something I waited until later to take the trip over. This was good as it gave me time to cool down and take a look at the problem at hand.
It appears that one of the kids was dipping into Mom's emergency cash. I feel bad because at first we questioned the amount of money she had. With the surgery and meds she had been on we wanted to make sure she did in fact have the cash. There was enough evidence supporting that she did. The guilty one also fessed up to the crime. My heart went out to my mother-in-law as she's always been there to help the kids. She's borrowed money, charged things and paid for certain things for them , all while being on a limited income herself. This was money she had put away for a trip she wanted to take and just little things for herself. I cannot fathom the hurt she was feeling. The trust that has been lost. This of course affected my sister-in-law also who has just recently had surgery and is in frail health herself. She's right in the middle. Trying to find a reason for this and yet feeling the hurt also.
The story filtered through the family and some first reactions were to pounce on the guilty one. Call the police! I didn't see her the first day but upon my return the second day she was home. We had a talk. I never once raised my voice. I told her that she had to make it right with her grandmother and not just by paying her back. She needed to earn her trust back. She told me she intended to pay her back before she discovered it was gone, but she just got caught up in things. There's no admission of drugs or any addictions. It's just car problems and the fact that she likes to hang out in the bar. She likes to buy drinks for people. This is where Arnie stepped in and talked to her about priorities in life. He had my full attention also. All done without raising his voice. Reminding me so much of when my kids would be in trouble and he'd wait awhile and then talk it out.
On the other hand, we have the brother and sister-in-law that went marching over there the next day and totally screamed their fool heads off at all the kids and the sister-in-law. Threatened to have them evicted and flat out told them they were all losers. We were again called to pick up the pieces. When I talked to the screamer she told me that they needed it. She feels no remorse in freaking out my mother in law, and has now written the family off. Good way to handle life...you don't like it..just write them all off. She was at one time one of my closest friends and I have seen this change in the way she deals with life coming for years now. I will give her the benefit of doubt as her husband has had some medical issues for the past three years. This, I would think, would make her a little sympathetic to the health issues of others. You just don't raise hell in a house with two people who's blood pressure is already being monitored.
I tried to not bawl my eyes out when I got there and found my mother in law in tears huddled up in her bed with no intentions of ever coming out. She had already begun to find a way to begin patching things up with the niece , and although still hurt was defending her. The "take control, and scream at everyone tactics" didn't quite work.
I am guilty of bashing my niece at first. My first reaction. I need to take a good lesson from my husband and take the step back before opening my mouth. You think after 25 years I'd have that downpat.

Stay Tuned

Our "Holiday" Party is being held today. This is an on site party complete with Wii bowling and some game show activities. I would venture to guess that the reason for the on-site location is the budget cuts. Rumor has it that another reason is low attendance at the past Holiday functions. They're usually held at Country Clubs or the ICC and are held on a weekend two weeks prior to Christmas. In 9 years, I've never made one. The company picnic on the other hand is usually more populated. Hence location and it's summer and it's not two weeks before a Holiday. I just choose not to go for my own reasons and don't fault anyone involved in the preparation and planning. I know what goes in to planning a party and trying to make everyone happy.

Yesterday we received a memo with details of the party. One thing that struck a lot of people was the raffle ticket rules. In the past when you attended a function you received a raffle ticket toward one of many prizes they were giving out. This year you may purchase raffle tickets, with proceeds going to a local charity. You must also be present to win with the drawing being at 4:15. There was a lot of barking about that. Quite a few people in our department planned on attending the party until 3 and then cutting out. I have decided to stay. There are some good things at stake here. A 32 inch Sony flat screen HD tv, a Bose home music center, Ipods, Brewer tickets and various gift certificates. For the cost of $3.00 per ticket or 2 for $5.00 you really can't go wrong. Spend $20.00 on tickets for a charity cause and have a chance to go home with one of these things. No, wine glasses are not a prize this time. Even the chance of paying $20.00 for a vacation day is appealing to me. So, I will attend until the end and hopefully go home with something. We'll see.

Charlie Brown Ain't Got Nothin

this is the tree that my husband worked so hard on Sunday afternoon. After positioning it where he wanted it I made him move it to right under the front window. I was afraid that all that hard work would go to waste if some hoodlum should decide to steal it. Here it stands in all it's glory. I may add a decoration or two as Christmas Day draws nearer.

Rembering Randy

One year ago today we lost a good friend. A man full of laughter and with a compassion to enjoy life to it's fullest. To this day I still can hear his hearty laugh. To many times we shared laughter that would bring tears to our eyes.

A year has gone by fast. Yes, it still feels like a few days ago we were chatting on the phone and making plans to get together for a few beers and a game. I can honestly say that not a day goes by that something doesn't remind me of him. There are days I can smile to myself over a funny memory, but also days that I really miss him. I get plenty of hugs from my husband, but he had this way of giving a hug goodbye at the end of a fun night out. He always had all the right words and always made light of any situation.

I know he's probably sitting up there with Big Dave and my brother getting in all sorts of trouble and just having a good time. Probably the last one to leave any type of social event and probably in the middle of a circle of others telling one last joke. Void of any pain and problems. I can't picture him any other way. Probably made supervisor by now.

So on this day I remeber him. I'm a little sad because I miss him. I smile when I think of certain things. I'm still trying to make sense of it. I'm proud of Jodi for being so strong and know she also misses him. Forever in our hearts!

Panic In The City....

Here we go! Will the city shut down? Will school be called off? Will the grocery stores be packed with people in fear of running out of food? It's 2-4 inches possible by midnight. Not that I like snow or anything but it's no reason to panic. Yes, it can cause some inconveniences at times but if you plan accordingly you'll be fine.

I heard the first report around 11:30 stating that the National Weather Bureau had issued a snow advisory. By the time I got out onto the production floor 15 minutes later there was panic in the air. These are mostly people who have lived in Wisconsin all their lives. One guy who's been in Wisconsin for 2 years was calm and assuring everyone that they'd be fine. 2-4 inches. To me that's wimpy snow. I say bring it on! Give us something worth panicking over. No need to rush to the store as I doubt anyone will starve in the 24 hours it would take the city to dig out after a big one. Maybe for some batteries, beer or diapers (if you had babies). Drive according to the weather conditions at hand and all will be fine.

Snow does make everything look clean for a while. It covers up all the deadness of fall. It looks good until the dirt and sludge from the snowplows is tossed onto the clean piles of snow. I am more partial to the big flakes that fall at night. It does have a certain prettiness about it. One that maybe the warmer climate inhabitants could be slightly jealous of. I just hate the cold that comes with winter. I hate the crunch of the frozen snow beneath your feet. I hate the blast of cold that goes down the back of your coat and the tingling of your ears as they begin to freeze. I hate that your face is frozen but your nose will still run. That's not to far away. And to think 3 months ago we were trying to find ways to cool off while camping. Ah, yes, Wisconsin! Gotta love it.

The other excitement at work today was the coyote spotting. For years those of us coming in at 4 & 5 am are used to seeing them. We've gotten to where it doesn't even phase us. Some of the office and management personnel have spotted them roaming our parking lot as late as 8 am. They put out a warning to us. If we see them we should stay in our cars and honk the horn to scare them away. When all is clear you may then exit your car for the building. There is one guy that still rides his bike and he's thinking of ditching that mode of transportation for fear that the coyotes will chase him. I think he should carry a few morsels in his basket and throw them out if they do. At any rate, there are enough rabbits and squirrels around here to keep the coyotes from bothering any people. If they're so worried about the pesky critters then they need to speak to the people at the back side of the parking lot that put food out for the geese & deer. They have created a death trap for them.

25 Years

Yes, today is the official date. 25 years ago Barney & I said our vows in front of our families & friends. It just doesn't seem like that long. My first marriage lasted 5 years and it seemed like forever. This one has gone by quickly. Maybe because the first one was the marriage from hell and the second one has been fun.

We've accomplished a lot in 25 years and also accumulated a lot as can be seen by our storage areas in our home. I've switched jobs 3 times, he's had the same job. We've managed to stay afloat financially and have been blessed with good health. We've had 4 dogs, several birds, hamsters and cats. He's been a great father to my kids (truly grateful and blessed for that) and shared the good times and sad times. We are pretty equal when it comes to family members and their need for help. The one thing we can never do is use each others families in an argument.

Things have been good but with any marriage there have been some struggles along the way. We have managed to work through them. We've both put effort into this marriage. I remember the first year being pretty shaky, but it was also a learning experience for both of us. So today as I look over the past 25 years I can truthfully say that it's been fun, interesting, frustrating at times, exciting and adventurous. I can go for another 25.

Today I am also celebrating the fact that the ol' snowmobile has also been with me for 25 years.

Giving Thanks

I'm thankful every day for the people & things in my life, but today seems to be the day that one vocally expresses the feelings.
I'm thankful that I was able to get up this morning and prepare a Turkey. I'm thankful that I had a Turkey to prepare as so many people don't.
I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head to share these things with.
I'm thankful that I have family to share this day with.
I'm thankful for those who are not with their families, but instead fighting for our right to do so and for those who have done so in the past, and for those who will do so in the future.
I'm thankful for my husband, who has been a rock for me throughout 25 years of marriage.
I'm thankful that we are both still employed, as so many have lost their jobs this past year.
I'm thankful for all the past experiences in my life that have allowed me to learn from the bad ones and rejoice in the good ones.
I'm thankful for my friends. I think I may qualify as one who has been blessed with only the best of them.
I'm thankful for the fond memories of have of those who can't be with us any longer. Although still sad at times, I'm thankful that I have been able to lean toward focusing on the goodness of their lives.
I'm thankful for my children. Without them I wouldn't be the person I am. They have brought plenty of joy to my life, and without them I wouldn't have the three wonderful Grandchildren that I have.

I'm sure I may have missed something, but to sum it up...I'm thankful!

Parade Issues

The annual Christmas parade has always been a "thing" for our family. It started with my dad taking us and I think it was just to get us out of the house so Mom could relax and do whatever Mom's do when kids aren't around. There were some years we missed but I've always had memories of silly things that happened and my dad always seemed to have this certain look on his face when he took us. Going places with dad were more relaxed then with Mom. He let us run around, he bought us cotton candy & popcorn and he poked good hearted fun at things at the parade. He bought us McDonald's after the parade and told us not to tell Mom.
Before I had my kids I took my sisters a few times when Dad couldn't. It made me feel good to take time out of my life to bring a little joy to them. Since I've had my own kids we've tried to go, weather permitting but have missed a few. I was hoping the tradition wouldn't die once they got older. We went along with them when they were teens and dealt with some of their friends sitting in the car because they were cold, but eventually coming out to check things out.
When the grand kids were old enough to go without being bundled we headed out again. Instead of our group getting smaller it's gotten bigger. It's more like a family gathering where we get to be silly, eat doughnuts, drink hot chocolate and hopefully not freeze. My brother David was big on the parade and always made sure his girls got to go.
We have this "spot" we always try to get and by leaving at 8am were always assured to get it. This year the route changed! We had to find a spot a block over. As we were walking up they were closing the street and the island was available for the taking. We scooped in and staked our claim. Set up the chairs & blankets and made sure the kids had prime spots. All was well until about 10 minutes before the parade. Things were getting squishy. We were all about cheer and moved closer together several times to accommodate late arrivals. Then it got ugly. My sister & family were down on the end. A late arriving group of people with kids came and decided to cram in next to her. One of the larger woman was just about sitting on my sister's lap and they were shoving her kids out of their spot. One of my niece's wasn't having it. She did a little shove back at this kid twice her size and told him to move. She didn't care, she was there first and no one was getting her spot. My sister nicely told this woman that we would slide down a bit to let her kids have a spot on the curb. We did so, and big woman then squeezes in and stands right in front of my sister. I heard the arguing. Then brother-in-law stepped in and explained how this was for the kids and we've been here since 8am and could she at least stand in back of her kids. She does this eye rolling thing and excuses herself for "sleeping in". Some how it got resolved for the moment.
The parade went on, the kids were happy, warm and well snacked up. The weather was great, they got to see Auntie Nannette and Uncle Benny in the parade and were delighted that they were waved at by someone they knew. They were like celebrities. Santa came and the parade ended. We began to clean up our mess of cups, and wrappers, chairs, blankets and most of all kids. A lady on the other side of us offered the late arrival a bag for her kid's trash. She stated nicely that we should leave it as we found it. The woman poo-poos her and states that they have people to clean the mess up. The other woman states that it's proper to clean up after yourself, at which point late arrival woman says "What is up with you white people. You all think you own the world". Fighting words were coming out. We took out trash and left.
Will we go again next year. Yes. That's what us white people do.

Working On My Last Nerve

In the past week we have received ten or more calls from toll free numbers. They show up on our caller ID and I brush them off as being un-important as theres no message left. My daughter picked one up the other day and it was for the Heart Association wanting me to pass out envelopes to my neighbors. She told them I was out of town. They call back 1/2 hour later and I answer. I nicely explain to them that my neighbor does this and I contribute therefore there are no other neighbors to ask. I live next door to her and she has it covered. He's very persistent and I continue to try to be nice. Finally I ask him if he understood me and he persists. I hang up. Last night the call comes again. I explain, he persists, I ask to speak to a manager, he declines my request. I proceed to tell him that I want to be taken off the calling list or I will call and complain. He thanks me for my time and hangs up. Sure enough, at 8 pm last night the same number! I'm done with these people. Being on the no call list does not block non-profit organizations, which is fine but once you tell them no then they should not return the call for a least 6 months. Today my call is going in to the American Heart Association.

Too Early...

3:15 a.m. is just to early to be getting up, no matter what it's for. As usual our business seems to pick up the last quarter of the year. Just when everyone is becoming busy with the Holidays and shopping. What's nice is the production associates are now back to 40 hours after being on 32 since March. And I should mention that fact that I am grateful to have a job when so many people are still losing their jobs or out of work. The downside to this is by mid January they will be back to 32 hours unless the industry picks up.

Our company Christmas party this year is an on-site event. The boss raised quite a ruckus around here regarding the party. Our work week for production is Monday-Thursday. The Christmas party is being held on a Friday afternoon. He took it upon himself to change the work week schedule to Tuesday through Friday so everyone would be here for the party. I think having a Monday off would be nice, but also see the conflict others are having. Not many of the production workers have attended the Christmas parties in the past. I have never been to one, simply because I don't enjoy them. I enjoy going out with the people I work with in a comfortable environment. The problem that arose with switching the hours is that some people have taken part-time weekend jobs to make up for the loss in hours. He's now telling these people to take either take off from those jobs or take a vacation day from here for that Friday because he's not changing the schedule. A few unhappy campers around here now.

Yesterday we received an email with details of the party. It's from 2:30 to 4:30. We are scheduled to work 5am-3. He was asked if we were shutting down 1/2 hour early to attend and they were told they can shut down at 3 and go. I'm almost certain that no one will be attending the event. It's not mandatory. The problem here is that this is considered a during the work day event. Beside the production employees the majority of the work force have a 8-4 or 9-5 workday. They are being paid to attend the event and odds are will be there the entire time.
He was asked if we could work 6-4 and shut down at 3 and go. Denied. So he came to me to find out why all the complaints when he tried to do something nice. He didn't want people to have to come in on their off day. After a brief discussion regarding production workers attire and hat hair and not much time to clean up or change I think he understood a little. The question from him that I couldn't answer was "How many production associates do you think will come" and "how many do you think will take off after their 10 hours are in"? I'm guilty of being one of them that will take off. Not because of the pay, but simply because I feel we're being forced to attend an event.

Sometimes you find the most unlikely people listening to Christmas music. It's a nice change for an hour or so a day but they've got it blasting out on the lines. Big old goofy guys singing along to Janet's favorite donkey song.

They Got Us

The past couple weeks a group of friends have been planning a small cribbage tournament. Ben, Nannette, Arn & I even had a little practice prior to a Packer game to brush up on our skills. The tournament was to be Saturday. Snacks were assigned to everyone and things were rolling into place. I received several emails regarding the tournament and noticed a few facebook posts by friends also in regards to the tournament.
Saturday morning things were going along as usual. The taco roll-ups were made and waiting. I did the weekly keep in touch phone calls to some friends & family. Everyone was pretty busy. My friend asked what we were doing after cribbage and suggested we get together. My daughter and the girls were up and out of the house for a "brunch" with a friend. We were told to be at cribbage by 1:30 to register so we could start by 2. We left the house, taco roll-ups in hand around 1:20. The thrill of the day so far was we found the bridge on Grange Avenue to be finally open. My daughter and I had walked over it the night before but the road was not open. I called her to somewhat brag about going over the fence but got no response. She called back a few minutes later and sounded pretty busy with her girls and her friend's dog. I could hear the girls practicing their "cheerleading cheers" in the background. I decided to hang up as we were pulling in the lot. Arn made the comment that he didn't want to be at the bar all night. "Let's not make this a 9 or 10 pm night". I rolled my eyes as usual.
As we were walking toward the bar I saw my husbands brother Ike walking toward the bar. "What is your brother doing here". We both paused and noticed that he just kept walking in. Hmm..Maybe he was getting in on the cribbage. We kept walking and then Arn spotted my son's truck. By that time it was to late, we were walking onto the porch of the bar. We both tried to turn around but heard the laughter and camera's were flashing. "Happy Anniversary". What a surprise! "No cribbage" was just about all we could say at first.
These guys are great. All the planning and little white lies they told. All the effort put into making it a special day for us. Neither one of us expected this. We were (still are) going out of town for our Anniversary weekend. Never, ever expected anything. We had a great time with all the people that matter the most to us. Great friends, great family, and man there was a lot of food.
Things I'm thankful for that day..of course everyone who made this possible plus Arn decided to go get his hair cut Saturday morning. Also that I changed my clothes at the last moment. I had running pants and a tee shirt on. Heck, we were just going to play cribbage.
Thanks again too all those who made this possible.
I can't leave this post without mentioning the Packers win over Dallas. I must admit that I was a leaning toward a Cowboy's win. It was just an added plus to an already great weekend.

What To Do...

Tomorrow will be my first Friday off in quite a while due to some accumulated comp time and a little bit of a lack of work. I'm wondering if I'll be able to sleep past 5 a.m. I'm thinking negative to that because of the snooze hitter that sleeps next to me. I find myself to be a very polite riser. My alarm goes off and I get up and shut it off and head for the shower. Mr. Snooze isn't so polite. He hits the snooze several times. In the past I have found the way to solve this is to just stay up as long as I can. If I'm in a deep sleep I don't hear it. I hear nothing until he slams the door when he leaves.

I'm trying to think of things to do tomorrow. I've got some shopping to do and had plans to haul some things to Goodwill. If I get the junk I want to rid myself of in the truck tonight then I don't have to deal with my better half wondering what I'm getting rid of. Sorry to say that I can't get into his stuff. I have noticed him loading up the back of his truck with junk and making a few trips to the dump over the past several weeks. The other day I saw the snowmobile sitting in the driveway on wheels. I got a little excited thinking it was going to the dump. "Hey, is that going to the dump" I asked. "If you can move it, you can take it to the dump" was the reply. I walked over and started pushing it. He never moved so fast! Stood right between me and the hunk of scrap. My only recourse was to comment "Well, I guess it's been with me for as long as you have. Dang that thing is old". I have come to the conclusion that I am married to one stubborn man. Either that or there's some hidden treasure under that snowmobile seat. I can't think of any sentimental value it has and it's not like he's ever going to fix it. Not quite sure what goes on in the head of his sometimes.

Maybe I should just take the day for myself. Sleep in, laze on the couch and watch some Lifetime tv, prepare the taco roll-ups for the Cribbage tournament Saturday, read one of the four books I have started, watch the Wii fit video.......

Could This Be Relief?

I get up and leave for work a little earlier than most of you so I'm not sure you got to experience the frost on the car windows this morning. Yep, there is was, nice and thick and not just the windshield, the side windows also. I turned the wipers on and heard the all to familiar noise of the wiper blades scraping across the frost. I rolled down the side windows and upon coming back up the frost remained. Because I was not in that big of a hurry I waited for them to clear while I sat in my car. Must remember to dig out the handy frost removing tool.

I should be happy to see this frost. Yesterday my doctor told me that as soon as the first big freeze comes, I should see some relief from the allergies I have suddenly encountered. Yesterday was not a good day. The month long cold and sinus headache finally got to me and I could not cure this on my own or with otc drugs any longer. I was spending just as much on DayQuil as I would on a prescription that could clear it up faster. I'm not one to run to the doctor, but I know when I can't do it without help. She was kind enough to give me some good antibiotics which I must take for 7 days. She said between that and some allergy medication she suggested I should be good to go in a few days. I took the antibiotics around 5 last night and did sleep well. For 4 hours. I woke up at 1 am wide awake. Part of this temporary sickness was feeling tired all the time. 4 hours wasn't going to cut it. I strolled around the house for a bit, took some NyQuil and went back to bed. As soon as I started feeling like I was going to fall asleep, the snoring began. WTF!! He hasn't snored like that in ages. I tried to pull the extra pillow out from under his head (not to smack him with it or smother him) because it looked like his head was propped up to high. Boy did I get a glare. But at least he turned on his side and stopped (for a short time). I think I may have dozed off for an hour or so until it started again. Chucked it in around 3:30 and got up. As far as dose number one of the medicine...nothing. I did sleep good for 4 hours but the headache is still present. I've now taken dose number two and the nose is starting to run now. I am armed with two boxes of Kleenex and lots of hand sanitizer.

This just in...Dairyland Greyhound Park is closing December 1st. Good. It was really going downhill the past few years. Although they did have some good cheese fries. We'll have to look for another spot for those on the rainy camping days.

I Wasn't Shocked....

Watching the Packers loose to Tampa Bay wasn't at all shocking. They are a poorly coached team being killed by their own penalities. By the middle of the first half I began to laugh at all the mishaps. Next up..the Cowboy's. This should be good. I shall not wager anything because I already know what the outcome of that game will be. I'm loving all the morning talk shows trying to make sense of it. Plain and simple...they are a bad team right now.

We had Dylan yesterday and it became more amusing as he started analyzing what was going wrong. My little Fantasy Football kid was flipping channels for scores. He looked like a minature bookie. Him and my daughter were still watching toward the end of the 4th quarter. I heard the yelling and knew that TB had gotten in one more time. No use crying over spilled milk.

Putting that loss aside, I had a very productive weekend thanks to the nice weather. The yard is all cleaned up and I got a lot of cleaning done. Nice to have the doors open to aide in drying the cleaned carpets.
Made several trips to my mother-in-laws house for items she needed. It appears that now that she's home the help has subsided. Sure people will run to the store for her but then leave everything on the counters. She's still using a walker and isn't quite able to put things away yet. I give her credit for trying. But, I'd like to give the two older kids a good kick in the butt. I guess they were to young to remember everything she had done for them. Put a roof over their heads and basically supported them because their drunken, deadbeat father couldn't.
She made live good for them. Yes, things suck at home for them. Their mother is going in for her 2nd hip surgery soon and depends on them a lot for help. "What 21 year old wants to be stuck taking care of people" is the comment that was made. So you leave you 15 year old sister there to do everything. The 19 year old man boy has a job now (finally) so because he works 30 hours a week he feels it's not necessary for him to do anything at home. I'm seriously thinking of getting her on the Hoarders show just so that house can get cleaned up. I will go over and clean my mother in laws house but I refuse to clean a house with 3 adults living in it. Two that should have the sense to figure out that their mother needs help right now. Either that, or they need to get out and fend for themselves.

I Don't Think So

My husband raised a question to me last night. Should he put the camper away or am I interested in going this weekend. Granted the weather man said we would have highs in the 60's for the weekend, but I think he forgot to check the lows (30's). The man who goes to bed in sweats, socks and a sweatshirt and has to have the flannel sheets on while at home in the heated house wants to camp when it's going to be in the 30's at night. Sure..I'll get right on packing up. I'm sure it would be nice during the day and we'd have a good time, once we defrosted from the night before. Now if we had the ultimate home on wheels I may reconsider. I'm thinking that once the sunsets at 4:45 pm there may not be a fire big enough to stay warm. Plus the fact that the only bathrooms available are the pit toilets makes me think this through logically. No!

Update on the football pool at work...I am still without a win. I wonder just how far this loosing streak will go on.

I received a few emails yesterday regarding the Packers loss. Most of them were expressing sympathy. I don't feel bad about it. They played horribly! Our quarterback did finally decide to scramble and run in the 3rd quarter which made the game a little more exciting, but once again penalties cost them. The whole Brett thing was over played. Nice to have a camera focused totally on him so we could see him blow snot out of his nose. My highlight of the game was hearing the comment regarding Rogers "He's a nifty runner". Cute.

So this whole cold thing is really starting to frustrate me. I have been stuck with it since October 2nd when I went to Arizona. I have gone through the sinus part, the stomach part and the returning sinus thing. My home remedies are not doing it and Stb's remedy isn't working either. I'm pretty close to going to the doctor for something to wipe it out. Problem is every time I'm ready to call and make an appointment, I feel better for a few days. It's back again, and along with it is the totally wiped out feeling. Can't seem to get enough sleep. Maybe if I just became a booze hound for a weekend I'd burn it out.

Boredom=exercise

The past month or so has been a bit hectic around my house. My daughter moved back home and her girls are over a few nights a week. There was a bit of an adjustment period but I think we're on our way to things settling down to normal. We had about 2 years after my brother moved out where it was just the two of us, two cats & Sadie. Dinner got made once in awhile, there was a minimal amount of clutter and we sunk into a routine.
That's changed. We now have an additional dog (my daughter thinks she's getting her back when she moves out) and a dog that visits (when the soon to be ex son-in-law is out of town) and two 11 year old girls. We now have to worry about lunches, what to have for dinner, homework and little girl stuff. It's a little fun. More fun because I'm not totally responsible for them. I can stand back and watch their mother take charge. I thought I was strict as a mother?? You don't want to mess with Momma Shelle! She is on them.
I had to set some ground rules, but I'm still the Grandma. I'm still the one that gets to spoil them a little and have fun with them. I don't want to loose that by having them live with us. The good thing is they're well behaved and polite. As girls their age, then can be a little messy and unorganized. Going in their room reminds me of going into their mother's room years ago. I'll never forget when she wanted new carpeting and Barney went in and looked at her room and told her "When we can actually see what the carpet looks like, we'll think about it". We never knew what her carpet looked like until she moved out. But boy that girl had my bathroom and kitchen sparkling.
Last night was a rare occasion. I was the only one home. Of course the pets were all there, but it was quiet. This was the time I was supposed to catch up on things and do whatever I wanted. I can't believe I got bored. I made some dinner, did some laundry, cleaned up a few things and it was only 6pm. So it was then that I decided to get back on the wagon. I haven't had a regular routine for working out for a few weeks. Baseball season for Dylan is over and I was walking to his games a few times a week. Took the dogs for a walk a few times. It paid off for Sadie as she lost 7 lbs. I decided to pop open the Wii Fit Plus program I purchased last weekend and check it out. Not bad. It has a few added features and about 20 new exercises. I tried a few of them and then came across Kung Fu Rhythm. The first time through I was lost. What the mess am I supposed to be doing? Tried it again and caught on. Difference between first try (41 points) and second try(265 points). Then there was this Parade Marching aerobic game I tried and laughed through the first try. It's one of those things that are goofy and you hope no one walks in and sees you marching and waving your arms around. Those few things plus the regular routine I was doing have shown some benefits this morning. Maybe an 1 1/2 hours was a little to much. I guess if boredom puts me to getting off my butt and exercising I can't be upset. I shall try again to master the Kung Fu game (and march).

Did You Know?

That there is a trailer park on Highway 100 just a few blocks north of Greenfield Avenue. I go this way every day and never really noticed it. I stopped at a small gas station this morning, that I've stopped at before and there it was. I'm guessing there to be at least 150 mobile homes in the small area.
I remember when I was younger I had a friend in my class that lived in a trailer park. I went to her "home" a few times and thought it was pretty cool. It was like camping. At that point I was to young to realize that it may not be all that it's cracked up to be. I can see a newly married couple hanging out in one while waiting to buy their first home, or maybe a single person, or perhaps a retired couple who spend part of a year there. What I can never imagine is Barney and I living in one. We'd have to have one hell of a rummage sale and really downsize our possessions to ever think of living in one. No basement, no garage, no attic. We'd have an issue. Then there is the added fact that you are right on top of each other, so it's worse then camping. They had an article in the paper a few weeks back about the historic trailer park on 27th street. How they're all like family and help each other out. That's a small one and it's been there forever. It's convenient that the historic bar is the center of the trailer park. The city wants to get rid of it to improve the quality and appearance of this area. It's going to take more than that. So they're going after the little people first rather than the business's in the area. I say "leave them alone".
Then there's the one on 6th & College next to the old Blue Canary tavern. I used to drop a girl I worked with off there. It was nasty. This place was like a ghetto. My friend's mother lived in this park for 2 weeks and got out. I know they've been warned to clean the place up several times. Come to think of it there are several trailer parks within a mile area. Further up on College Avenue you have a nicer park. These appear to be more like permanent homes. They have decks and sheds and it's all kept very neat. When I was a paper girl this was part of my route. I recall a lot of elderly people living there. People who had decided that they don't need all the crap that fills up an attic, garage or basement. There's no bar on the grounds of that one. Then you have the 27th & College one that is also pretty run down. Hmmm...there's a bar right there also.
On to other things. I am enjoying the 1/2 hour of peace and quiet I'm getting this morning. This is one of the joys of coming in early. Within the next 1/2 hour people will start rolling in. If it's anything like yesterday I may need to start handing out numbers. I may also need to hire a phone operator.

Come On Dere Hey!

Isn't that how all Wisconsinites talk? Not so. In listening to a talk radio show on my way in this morning, they had clips from the Regis & Kelly show. They were talking with an actor who was born and raised in Appleton. They asked him to speak Wisconsin. He's from Appleton! He breaks out in this language I've never heard unless I was in extreme northern Wisconsin and upper Michigan ( or was making fun of Fargo). They got on the subject of Milwaukee and noted that in this area we speak with the same accent. In fact they said "all of Wisconsin speaks this way". Made us out to be a state of goof balls.
I know we have the old Polish & German accents still floating around. (I still get a kick out of my childhood friends mother swearing in Polish). Maybe we're portrayed this way because we have such a mixture of nationalities in this state. Pretty soon we'll have our own language, but it won't be what was portrayed by this doofas on TV.

The football game we attended the other night in honor of our late friend Randy, was once again a reminder of what an impact he made on people. I've felt bad for almost a year now for never attending a game he coached. He'd ask all the time and would speak proudly of the team, but we never made one. We left the game at half time and caught the team walking back toward the field after their break. Somehow I could just picture Randy walking with them. The image was perfect and just gave me a little chill. Pretty sure he knew we were there. The almost emotional moment was broke when we had to lighten it up a little by painting the mental picture of him jogging along with the boys. I know exactly what he would have responded to us "What, you don't think I could jog from the school back out to the field? Come on, let's put 5 buck on it". And somehow he'd get out of it. You live on, my friend.

I Do Not Like You!

I'm a little confused as to why my ex-husband would feel the sudden need to speak to me at Dylan's game Saturday. I pulled in the lot right behind him and purposely parked two aisles away to avoid having to walk anywhere near him. (There's some history in this latest dislike of him and I though I made my thoughts pretty clear to him via a phone call when I was in Arizona).
Anyway, somehow I managed to make it to the Dylan fan clan way before him. My son questioned his where abouts and seeing as there is a bar on the same property as the field we all just naturally assumed that's where he parked his ass. Nice.

He showed up a few minutes after the 2nd quarter and felt the need to stand near me, not talking to me, but rather directing comments to my kids about me. Not nasty, just sickening. All that kept running through my head was the Green Eggs and Ham poem. I chuckled as I wished for Annette to be there adding to my crafty poetry. "I do not like you, you're a louse. I did not like you as a spouse". I cannot stand you anymore, I'd like to knock you to the floor.
Then he starts goofing around with the twins and wrestling with them. One of them gets knocked into me smack into the small of my back. Jolt down my legs, but I withstood screaming out loud and found joy in the time I smacked him so hard I split his lip open. (No, I'm not a violent person). Then my son stepped up. "Dad, what are you doing? Don't mess with her, it's pretty obvious she wants nothing to do with you". His reply "Yeah, she's still mad at me for screwing up our marriage". "HUH"....I pride myself in keeping my mouth shut. As I listened to my kids laugh and sarcastically assure him that's what the problem is I came up with one more line. " I wish you'd stumble from the bar, so I could hit you with my car." It needs work, but it kept me from making a scene. Yeah, real grown up ex I have. Not the time or place to hash out your indifference's. The thing he doesn't understand is...My kids are grown now. I don't have to pretend to like him anymore. That was hard enough to do when they were younger.

The game was good until the last 2 minutes when the other team scored and beat the Buc's by 1 point. Lot of rukus going on about the ref's missing the block in the back which would have wiped out the td. Playoffs are next. Hopefully it won't be as cold Saturday. (I like to tell myself foolish things sometimes).

I Can't Win

Plain and simple. I cannot win a football pool this year. Of the 10 people in our pool I am the only one who has yet to win. I'm close until a team scores in the last minute or so of the half. I'm not complaining because I feel confident that my day will come.

I did however hit my first Royal Flush on a poker machine. Yet my glory was short lived. I hit it on nickles as I was trying to regain some of my loss's. I felt a little excitement as this was the largest pot I hit in Laughlin in two days. I quickly cashed out and went to find my mother. The smile on my face was instantly gone when she showed me her own Royal Flush (the second one hit in two days) for 5 times the amount of mine. Oh well. Short lived glory.

The bad thing about coming back from vacation is going back to work. The good thing is my past two days at work have flown by. I'm off my normal QC job and working QC for a pretty important customer trial. Very busy, yet very interesting. It's a change of scenery and a change of pace. Keeps my mind off other things.

Mother-in-law had hip replacement surgery Monday and is doing well (so I thought). One of the siblings claims she whiny and a patient from hell. Maybe she changes when I get there to see her. I'm not sure this is going to solve all her problems, but it's a start. She finally decided to take the smart route and go into a Rehab center for two weeks. It was a divided family for a while on where she should go. Home was not an option. The rehab will get her more and better quality care than sitting at home.

I though I could make it through Halloween without turning the heat on but on it went when I got home Friday night. Granted 64 is good for now, but I was bummed to come home to 40 degree weather. I think I'm just about over it. The shocker was sitting through the girls cheer leading debut on Saturday afternoon and then Dylan's game Sunday morning. I was a bit chilled and am still feeling the effects. I don't think that what I thought were allergies while in Arizona were. I was trying to convince myself, but can't seem to be fooled.

Wow..That's Nippy

If the blast of cold air that slapped me in the face as I walked out the door this morning didn't wake me up, then I don't know what will. It's a might bit chilly, but then again it is fall. I'm all set to extend my summer a week longer starting Friday. It's still in the 90's in Arizona. I'm just not ready for this cold quite yet. Fall means yard clean up, and our yard is already full of leaves. Next thing you know it'll be snowing and Christmas will be right around the corner.
Speaking of snow, it appears to have snowed shingle grit in my attic. We stupidly did not cover the things in our attic prior to doing the roof. I went up to get a suitcase and saw the mess. This will need to wait until another date to clean. I need to find a smaller shop vac and get up there and clean the mess. Funny thing was when I told Barney about it he had this strange look on his face. The look that I've become to know. The look that said "Oops, I probably should have know that it would be a mess." I have to admit that the thought of covering things up or moving them never entered my mind. I was telling one of the guys at work about it and he got this look of panic on his face. He just had his roof done and like us never moved anything. My stuff at least is in totes and bags. He said his stuff is just sitting in open boxes. It's nice to know that someone has a lot more work ahead of them then I do.

How does the state loose 15,000 DNA samples from felons? Is someone going to be on the chopping block for this? Is this an inside job? Why is Steven Avery back in court? A mistrial because a juror was dismissed? And you have to feel a little sorry for the guy who's truck got sucked up in the sink hole and then on top of it some degenerates rob his truck. It was a bad day for him.

I made a wrong number call from my cell the other day and rather than hang up when I got the voice mail I left a quick message apologizing for the wrong number call. I though it was the polite thing to do and I knew that if I didn't someone would call me back anyway. Two days later (last night) I get a call "Who dis"
me: who are you calling
"Dis number be on my phone. I wanna know who dis is"
I then explain that it was called in error and I had left a voice mail apologizing
"I don't got no voice mail, and if I did I not fixin to check it"
me: okay then..sorry.
I looked at the number and knew it was the one I called in error. 1/2 hour later I get another call and look at the caller ID first and it was the same number again.
"yeah, who dis, yall left me a voice mail"
me: Seriously?I just talked to you and told you it was a mistake. I just hung up rather than to through the ordeal again.
Geeze..you make one little mistake.

note: "dis" does not show up in spell check.

The Roof...The Roof

I could see them from the corner. Two men working on our roof. As I pulled up I saw my loyal handymen. My husband & brother Ben were laboring away. Communicating in the way they do : a grunt or a nod. Wasting no time on small talk. They had time for a quick wave to me and then continued on with their task.
A few minutes later I received a call from the roofers cell phone. They were in need of water and a few hammers. Granted these guys are right above me and they call. I could hear them talking from my kitchen. I handed up the water and then went on the search for the hammers. Of course they were not in the garage where I was told they were so I ventured into the workshop. Norm would be embarrassed to view my husbands workshop. I think it's more like a junk collecting area. But I managed to locate the hammers. I was shocked to find them hanging on a hook and not thrown in a drawer.
I prepared dinner which they declined as they wanted to keep working. In the words of Ben "I'm not coming down until dusk". Threw up some more water and had to leave to pick up Dylan from football practice. We got back around 7:30 and they were still up there. I had to make the call. "Come down now. You can't possibly see anything." There were a few grunts and I was asked to pass up a flood light. This project was done for the night.
I went inside for a minute and upon returning saw the two old men, who five minutes ago were moving around on the roof like 20 year olds, but were now struggling to walk and groaning. "I think it's time to start calling workers to do these big projects. It's getting to hard on you guys" was my comment. Before I could even get it out I got the evil eye from both of them. I guess it's just not proper to tell the manly men that they just aren't as flexible as they were 10 years ago. I have proof of this now after attempting to sleep between Barney's groans every time he moved. The good part is they got a chunk done and my son will be around to help tonight. The bad part is they are about 1/2 done. I need to stay away from the scene because I don't like to see them hurting. I'm pretty sure that by Sunday we'll need to rent wheelchairs for the Breast Cancer Walk.
Needless to say "They are both my hero's".

1-2

Dylan's football team is off to quite a rough start. After winning the first game of the season they have lost the last two. Dylan seems to have shrunk during the off season. On his baseball team he's of the average height and weight. Get him out on the football field and he's one of the smallest on the team. He's on the front line of the defense and always seems to be up against some giant kid. Somehow he does manage to squeak through and make some good tackles. Not sure what was up with the play calling last night, but I'm not the coach, so I'll leave that at that. Once again I have to stay down field of the other grandfather for fear of speaking my mind on his constant yelling. Point blank-he needs to watch the game, not one person. He needs to leave the coaching to the coach's and he needs to quiet himself when around the refs. It would be most embarrassing to Dylan to have one of his family members kicked out of a game. We're there for support and the fun of it, not to condemn every play called or question every blatant penalty.

I attended a class yesterday that taught me not much more than I knew already. What I did learn is there are a lot of people in this company that cannot get past a start up screen, and they use computers every day. I think I will be seeking this further education on my own as this was a crash course (8 1/2 hours). I did get a book out of it though.

Sit By Me Drunk Girl

I must have a sign plastered somewhere on me that attracts stupid drunks. We went to the Brewer game yesterday and sat in the usual place we sit when my husband is awarded with tickets. Ten rows in back of the Brewers dug-out. Nice seats, but I'm ready to tell him to trade them next time. These are season tickets but we've yet to sit around the same people. I'm assuming the surrounding tickets are about the same (given out). Yet, it seems that every time we go I end up in front or back of some stupid drunk girl. Not funny drunk, annoying drunk. The one yesterday went as far as having her husband announce it was time to go. She started out okay, but then I think she felt obligated to purchase a beer from every vendor. I didn't need to know she had to use the potty. And why is it that the voice changed the drunker she got? It went from normal to high squealing baby talk. There was a couple sitting with them and from what I could pick up, it was a first date. The girl bailed around the 7th inning to join some friends. The drunk girl spent some time trying to text her but couldn't figure out the phone. Also in the 7th inning she asked her husband where JJ was and how come he didn't bat yet. I felt his pain as he shook his head and explained to her that he was no longer on the team. I give him credit for his patience while she rambled on about JJ.

I also noticed that every time we sit in these seats we spend a good majority of getting up to let people out. I don't mind passing beers down, or getting up here or there but seriously it was at least two times per inning. There was a group of woman that just couldn't all go at the same time. One would come back and the next would leave. I think they felt the need to guard their Doug Melvin bobble heads. These weren't people with kids, these were all grown adults. Around the 6th inning the man in back of me leans over and says "Do you realize that I have not had to get up for anyone yet"? He didn't want to trade seats with me.
I'm grateful for the tickets and enjoyed what I could see of the game and somehow managed to keep my cool. I tried to get Barney to move over to the aisle next to us as no one was sitting there but he wasn't budging-except to let people out.

I did have a little scare yesterday with a sore throat, but all seems well. It appears to be a slight sinus thing or hay fever. Should be easy to take care of with some allergy medicine and much needed rest.

Morning Shows

I caught parts of two morning shows on my way to work this morning. The topic of one of them was "If you live like a millionaire for a day what would you do". I thought about it for awhile and then wondered if I'd be able to keep what I purchased. The question was soon answered. Yes.
So then I figured that I'd want to purchase things that would not cost me any further money. Sure I could buy a mansion, but then I'd have to come up with the money at a future date to pay the upkeep and taxes. I could buy a few very expensive cars but I'd have to insure them after paying the initial premiums. After some thinking (on my level) I figured I'd pay off the debts of my family and closest friends, I'd invest some money, purchase clothing, any needed furniture, and then buy a slew of gift cards to be spent at a later date. Couldn't think of much else but it was all a spur of the moment thought.
The second show I caught after listening to Jason Aldeen sing to me about his "Big Green Tractor" was about ditching someone during a date. Either doing so or having it done to you. Some interesting calls came in but I don't think it brought the results they were looking for as it ended pretty quickly. I thought about this for a moment and since it's been 26 years since I've dated I had to dig deep into the memory bank. I recall being with some friends once and meeting this guy I had afterward tagged "The Butchers Son". We were at a local bar and one of my friends and I left with these guys (alcohol played a big part of the stupidity) and went to a few other bars. We were pretty stupid in not taking our own car. As the evening progressed she seemed to be doing fine with her guy but Butcher's Son was weirding me out. (His dad owned a butcher shop downtown and he worked for him). The topic of every conversation was something to do with being a butcher. I was sober enough to picture myself cut in pieces. At bar closing they decided to take the night further and go to a local greasy spoon for a great dining experience. I suggested going back to get our car. They were having no part of that and neither was she. We ended up at a Webbs back on our side of town. I seriously wanted out of this and was ready to just ditch the whole thing but didn't want to leave her with these two clowns. We walked into Webb's and I felt instant relief at spotting one of my male friends with his group. When the clowns hit the bathroom I grabbed my drunken friend and we bailed with my friend. They took us back to our car and as we were getting in the clown's pull up. Male friend steps up and asks "What are you doing with my wife" to butcher boy. Drunkin friend was whining all the way home. Stupid night.
Next morning show. What secret song is on your Ipod? Don't have one but it was interesting listening to some of the call ins. "Ben" seriously?

The Morals Lecture

As kids most of us sometime or another have had "The Lecture". My dad was good at giving them and believe it or not had a way of getting through. Maybe it was the honesty, as he would use himself as an example. Of course some were far fetched, but he never put on a front. Dad wasn't afraid to tell us what he did as a kid. He also wasn't afraid to tell us of the punishment he received either. Maybe that was the part that made us listen carefully. We may have been just a bit afraid of the punishment. We weren't perfect kids, but my parents had a pretty good hold on it.
I went through the same thing when my kids were of age. Tried to be honest, tried to listen and punished when needed. There were lectures and examples used. I called upon my dad for advice a few times and between his chuckles, he was always able to offer some useful advice. I was able to make it through their teenage years without to many problems. It was a sigh of relief.
But it didn't end there. I have a pretty good relationship with my kids and am able to talk openly with them. I'm grateful for that. I've kept my nose out of the raising of their children because from what I can see they're doing a good job.
My daughter has recently moved back home and along with her came "Bella" her dog, which I'm not letting go when she leaves. We also now have the twins (11 year old girls) a few nights a week. The girls are beginning to develop their own personalities and starting to branch out on their own. Along with that comes the fights. My daughter does a pretty good job of handling things, but the other night I was asked to talk to them. "What!" "Grandparents aren't supposed to lecture" was my first thought. "I'm done with this". Then I remember calling on my dad, and figured this must be part of the duty. It turned out that it wasn't a lecture, just a talk. A talk about making choices, fighting with each other, and walking away from situations that you know are not going to turn out well. This was over dinner, and as I began to talk to them I noticed that they were both staring at me with somewhat wide eyes. Neither of them were eating. I had to stop and lighten it up a little before I burst into laughter. This seemed to ease the frightening looks on their faces. We were warned as kids not to be bad in front of our Grandparents. I spent some time being frightened of my grandfather who turned out to be one of the most understanding and funniest people I have ever known. I have now mentioned to both my children that their kids need to be normal in front of us. I'm not feeling to good about them ever having to be afraid of their grandparents. Besides, if they act up I may take a trip down memory lane and go for the old "you're grounded".

The Early Birds Gets Squat

After a week of relaxation it was back to work yesterday. No big shock that not much has changed. My current boss has "a new appreciation for me". I stood and listened as he told me his woes of waking up before the crack of dawn , how tired he was and what a headache he had the entire week. He claims he never really knew what I did. I think what he was trying to say is that he never took the time to see what I do. He had an easy week, only one line running. Usually I work my lunch around the line running and yesterday for the first time since March he came out to the line at 12:30 to see if I wanted to go to lunch. By George I think he's got it now.

So I'm on my way to work this morning doing a little over 60 on the freeway when I get passed by a fellow co-worker. I start work any where from 5- 5:30 (depending on how motivated I am). The operators don't start until 7. He reminds me of a sinister cartoon character driving like a madman to beat everyone else to work. I had a good chuckle as he sped past. I punched in 2 minutes after him and when I walked through the break room there he was with the newspaper all spread out and his coffee in hand. I have worked with this guy for close to 9 years now and still can't figure him out. He will be at work 1 1/2 hours prior to his start time. He needs to sit and read the paper, bang around in the kitchen, check his email, bang around in the kitchen some more and re-read the paper. Right now him and I are the only ones here and I can hear the cabinet doors banging. Not sure what he's always looking for.

The testing that I came in early to do isn't where it's supposed to be. I love getting a call as I'm leaving asking if I can test something right away in the morning. I get in, there is nothing here and no email or voice mail. I did take the effort to go look for the samples with no luck.

We did manage to make it home from vacation in time for Dylan's first football game of the season. They started out a little shaky but managed to win. One of his grandfathers drives me nuts at his baseball games with his yelling and now I have another season of football to sit through. I had a short fuse on Saturday and after listening to this 350 lb. guy screaming "Get him, get him" over and over again I moved. This helped for two minutes until he followed the team down the sidelines. Barney's got it on tape and I told him to make him a copy so he could hear himself. His wife doesn't come to the games because she said he drives her nuts. If I didn't love Dylan so much I'd opt to go sit on the other side so I wouldn't have to listen to him. The things I endure for my kids and grand kids.

1.3 million

24 hours from now we will be heading out for five days of camping. This may mark the longest camping trip since back in the day when we'd take the kids to the Dells area for a week. We always found things to do there and fought through some nasty storms. In the end it was always a good time.

Today is the day to pack and do all the last minute things required. I've already made several trips to the store to assure I have everything. In the end there will be something forgotten.

We went to a friends 50th birthday celebration last night. The first leg of this celebration was an "All you can eat taco, and all you can drink Margarita cruise". Since I've never been on the Milwaukee river before I found the cruise to be very interesting. Saw a whole different side of Milwaukee. They've done a nice job making the area look good. We saw a sign on the outside of one building listing the condo's at $320,000 to 1.3 million. I think I may, just out of curiosity go check them out. I am very interested to see what the difference in them is. The cruise was nice, never got to the taco bar but had a few Margarita's.

Then it was on to the friends house for a pretty low key party. I guess 830 at night is kinda late for some folks. It was there that I got the story on two couples who were supposed to be on the cruise. One couple apparently has a knack for running late, and threw away $50.00 by doing so. Another couple who talked it up and had big plans just never showed. I find it frustrating that people RSVP "wouldn't miss it, what can I bring" or just flat out never respond. I more so felt bad as the person who's birthday it was goes out of her way to make sure other people's birthdays are special. In the end I guess those who really appreciate her friendship were there.

Well I hear the rustling of the rest of the family, and I promised to make eggs and sausage so it's off I go to Grandma duty.

Hiding Out At Work

I usually don't like working on Fridays, and today's not any different. I'm here because I have to be and because I don't want to be at home. Around 9am men should be arriving at my house to aid in the pouring of the patio next to the new porch/sun room. For the past week Barney, with the help of Ben, has been preparing for the pouring. Several trips to the garden center have been made for stone, several trips to the dump have been made to dispose of the stone and dirt dug out to make the patio, and several trips have been made to the local hardware store for items needed for the construction of the patio. As of yesterday the cement was ordered and paid for. It all sounds like it's going smoothly. But wait! Something will go wrong. There will either be not enough cement, a broken window, or an (knock on wood) injury of some kind.

It's not that I have no faith. Barney does good work. But something out of his control always goes wrong. This is why I want to be at work. I do not want to hear "Oh Dear" coming from the driveway. This could only mean that I am needed to do something. Most likely write a check for additional cement or find a band aid or something of the sort. I shall remain in my safe harbor until 1:30. It's the best place for me. Completely out of the way.

This is my last day before a week long vacation. It's been over a year since I took an entire week of vacation. I plan to use the weekend to catch up on things around the house and pack. As of Monday I plan to get to my destination , set up and plop in my chair with a beverage of choice until Tuesday. I just need a day to have nothing on my mind, and nothing to do. Hopefully one of my friends will give me a jab every once in a while to ensure I'm not in some other world.

You Gotta Have Money To Get That

Today's breaking news...MJ was a pothead. No big surprise there. Police found several bags of it lying around his house. Comments were made about how in California you can have pot for medicinal reasons. I'm sure that's why he had it, right? But then again superstars can get just about anything they want.
Why do people worship weirdos? How do seedy characters become Superstars? Superstars can completely disobey any laws and walk away a few dollars shorter , a jail term cut down and a slap on the hand. Do a few community service things and make a commercial or two and you're done. Michael Vick for example. The country goes nuts when he's found guilty of his dog thing. He received a standing ovation in the Eagles game last night. The crowd went wild. He's back on top again.
Not let's get to the Mayor beater pleading not guilty on all counts. What irked me on this entire issue was his mother and brother getting on TV saying that if it wasn't the Mayor he would walk away with a slap on the hand. "The Mayor should not have stepped in, it wasn't his business" are the words that came out of his brothers mouth. What???. Yes we all say stupid things sometimes, but come on. This idiot is going at his child and child's grandmother. Defenseless people. He's in a rage. The Mayor did something that not to many people would do. He came to the defense of this woman and he attempted to subdue this guy. He's left with the scars of aiding someone. The guy is claiming to be bi-polar and was off his medication. He is now going for medical evaluation. "It's not him that beat the Mayor. He wouldn't do something like that. " Well buddy, the police have a record on you that's a mile long dating back to the late 90's when you were a teen. Is this another case of "he slipped through the cracks as a teen". No one wants to see another child's Daddy going to jail, but personal responsibility needs to be taken for what was done. Mayor or not, he beat someone and shouldn't have.
Superstar?? Who cares. MJ was wrong for a long time. A Good Father?? A good father doesn't leave pot laying around the house and have access to the drugs that killed him. So the doctor's probably going to spend some time in jail. Good. He's just as guilty. He let money do the talking. Once again , time to take responsibility for your actions.

Whoops There It Goes

Ever drive to work and then wonder how you got there? Actually when I missed my exit is when I came back to reality. I just wonder how far I would have gone or where I was going? Somewhere north which is not really my dream destination.
The past few days, at my normal exit, I've seen a sheriff sitting on the exit ramp. Not sure if he's napping or hanging out waiting for ramp speeders. Today I saw one on my not normal exit. I drive past (at the speed limit of course) and then notice he puts on his lights and starts to take off. As I did nothing wrong I wasn't nervous. He then pulled around me and pulled the car in front of me over. This person wasn't speeding either. I'm just a little stumped as to why the exit ramp. Maybe a speed trap that's radioed ahead, or maybe a seat belt violation?
At any rate, I'm fully awake now and ready for another fun filled day!.

Those Are Some Fighting Words

I'm making history! Never has a QA person worked out on the lines before. They would come out for samples and maybe take over for a few minutes while someone ran to the bathroom or moved a pallet, but they've never actually worked the line for any amount of time. Yesterday started an argument between my boss and an Engineer/Production Manager. Two lines were scheuled to run this week. In the past when this has been done, one line would shut down for break and lunch. This really does a number on production numbers and scrap. Yesterday I was aksed to help out during breaks. I took a look at my work load and decided I could help. It's only two people and breaks are 10 minutes. Not a problem. So I thought. The two ten minute breaks turned into me being on the line for 40 minutes. In the mean time the other line is paging me for a sample check. This doesn't shut a line down, but if there is a problem there could be a ton of scrap. When this was over and I was caught up I explained to the PM that I could not be away from my job for that long. He agreed.

Two hours later I get a page asking for help during lunch. I talked to my boss and we decided that he could cover for me. Both of us assumed that this was a one day thing. Once again the 40 minutes I should have been out there turned into 1 1/2 hours. I guess their breaks are no longer being monitored. Once again caught up I took my lunch at 1:30.

I have just come from the morning meeting where the PM announced that I'd be breaking people out again. Huh? He must have seen the confused look on my face and asked me if I had talked to my boss. Sure I did, and my boss said "They will have to learn to get along without you. They have had approval for an additional person since you came to QA. They're not hiring anyone because with you helping them out it makes their numbers look good". He went on to say that he'd come out and help out this week as needed, but this was it! He's becoming a little bit assertive which is a good thing. I will do what I can to stay out of the manager's war. The good part was the PM (unaware of my boss's presence) says to me "What does your boss do all day? I always see him just sitting at his desk. Maybe he should come out and help". His face was a little red upon seeing the presence of my boss. I walked away because this was no longer my fight.

On a lighter note, I have a walking partner again! My daugher has taken up residence in our home (for the time being) and used to be my walking partner prior to her moving out. It sure makes the time go by and the walk not be so boring when you're with someone else.

Welfare Cornpie

I discovered this weekend that I now have a hippie grand-daughter. Or at least a wanna be. It seems her father purchased her a headband and upon putting it on declared that she is now a hippie. We had a little fun with her when she announced her hippie name was Marigold Moonflower (I think). We were warned however that this hippie had a "dark side".

I did have some worries about taking 3 kid camping. I wondered how I would amuse them for 2 days but my worries were none as they did great. I was amazed at how well they behaved and that I only had to step in once to stop a short lived argument. The good thing is, they all still get along good. The sad thing is that I know this won't last forever. By next year there could be some issues with spending that much time together. Until then I will take what I can get.

The park itself was nice. Funny that less then 1 mile away was a fully stocked BP gas station, but the park itself was quite and private. The rangers are of a different breed from where we've visited before. Maybe you could classify them as "high end Rangers". They were all older then the normal rookie Rangers we see at other parks. I came to the conclusion that they place the older, ready for retirement, Rangers at the less maintenance Parks and stick the rookies at the high maintenance parks. Kind of equal to a Police Officer close to retirement that gets a desk job.
We also usually stake camp close to a bathroom, whether it be pit toilets or flushers. This time all we had to go by was a park map, so back in February we booked what we though were sites close to a bathroom. They were close if you took the path through the woods. We were slightly downhill from the bathrooms so either way you went, path or road, you ended up walking uphill on the way back. I tried the path at 4am and was a little nervous about creatures popping out at me but then realized that this area was a little less rural then we are used to. I'm sure the raccoons had little condo's set up somewhere, but we never saw evidence of them the entire weekend. All in all the trip was good.

Yesterday was also a bit of a sad day. It marked one year since the passing of brother David. I think about him a lot and miss him terribly, but yesterday the thoughts were a little different. They say the hurt eventually goes away, I say it takes more than a year for sure. We took his girls to the spot they chose to lay their dad to rest and spent some time remembering his life and had some laughs and of course a good cry. In honor of him we ordered pizza from the place he worked and I then realized how much I'd go through for a sibling. I still don't like their pizza!

Weird Dream

I had a strange one last night and as the day progressed it even kind of scared me a little. Years ago my parents were friends with this couple and our families did a lot of things together. Some where along the line they had a falling out and the friendship ended. I would run into one of the girl that was my age at school and not to long ago found that she had worked with my husband.

In my dream last night I was sitting on my back porch and looked next door and saw them moving in. They were as I remembered them as a kid. None of the kids looked older and the parents still looked the same. I was a little stunned and wondered what happened to our neighbors. I then saw that they had moved a motor home into the backyard and were staying in it while their new house was being built.

I was puzzled as to how this was happening when all of a sudden my mother appears and says " Oh my gosh it's Bill & Iris, and all the kids". Huh? My mother takes off running across the yard and gives this woman a great big hug and they're chatting away like crazy. I wondered when the little rift got cleared up. I thought about the dream several times today and it just really had me stumped for some reason.

Tonight I'm on my weekly telephone call to my parents and the discussion turns to the possibility of them moving back up here. Dad is all for it, Mom makes excuses. I think Dad may win on this one because he told her she can stay down there but he's planning on looking for a home when they come up next spring. We're chatting away and she says "Gosh, I'm going to have to make all new friends." Then out of the blue comes "I wonder what Iris & Bill are up to". Did you ever just get that jolt that goes through your body? Eeriness? I have now brushed it off as coincidental.

I Can Do Without The Drama

I love my family. I would do just about anything for them and have. There are only a few things that I ask in return. Don't lie to me, don't take advantage of me and do not take anything from my house that does not belong to you. It's most likely that if you are down and out , maybe just lost a job, maybe just had a ton of crap happen to you that I will help you. But then at least show some effort that you are attempting to get your life back on order.

Several times over the past year I've been taken advantage of. #1 was purchasing an airline ticket for someone to fly back home after visiting her ill father. I was told this person was broke. So how do you purchase a $500.00 dog and a camper within a month of you getting back home? How do you not return the cash? Done. It will never happen again.

My brother, GOD rest his soul lived here and contributed in some way. Yes I bitched about his sloppy ways, but he went to work everyday. He tried to crawl out of his hole. I want to truly say he never lied to me not took a thing from my home.

Other family members that we had stay with us were good. Chico cut our grass, cooked, cleaned and contributed. Excellent tenant if he ever comes knocking on your door.

My younger sister stayed with us for her last year of college. Excellent tenant. She didn't cook but she did organize my can cupboards and was my walking buddy. She could come back.

The other sister was here several times and each time was working and did get out. She didn't cook and was a bit messy but she's changed. I'd have to think about the return.

Now we have the situation of her daughter, my niece. She took off 5 years ago for New York with a guy that was 15 years older than her. Toward the end of last year she bought a house. It was then that we may have gotten a small hint that she wasn't happy. She came in May for a week long visit and hooked up with a guy she's known for a while and has stayed in touch with. She returned to NY only to come back 3 weeks later for which we all though was another visit. She did not return. Over the past 3 months she has managed to not find a job, run up her credit cards, and not have a place to live. She's called several family members (including me) who have turned her down simply because she's with this guy who if someone kicked the crap out of him may come around. They got asked to leave his crack head mothers house and she went to stay with her mom. Things are strained there for many reasons. I received a call yesterday morning asking if she could come and do her laundry by me. I didn't see a problem. She calls back 5 minutes later and asks if he can also come. I sighed and told her that was fine but I didn't want him hanging out here. They show up, she has a suitcase (freaked me out) but then she begins pulling dirty clothes out of a duffel bag. Not one stitch of the clothes were hers. They sat here for 4 hours while she did his laundry. I tried to busy myself and not listen to their conversations but I heard a lot of excuses for why he isn't working. Dumb, flat-out lazy ass excuses. He tried to include me in the conversation by making the comment that it's so hard to find a good $10.00 or more an hour job. The older and somewhat wiser and been there came out in me. I told them both that you have to start somewhere. $30.00 a day in your pocket is better than nothing.
The story goes on.......

My sister came to pick her up and his Grandma came to pick him up. I hugged my sister for not running either of them over. Off they went. My relief was short lived.
At 4:30 am my husband nudges me and hands me the phone. My sister is raving mad and proceeds to apologize up and down . Niece started a fight with her younger sister and was asked to leave. My sister goes out to her car this morning to go to work and finds niece in her car. They argue. My sister explains that she cannot sit in her car all day while she's at work. She explains that she cannot go back in the house as sister's boyfriend (who rents the apartment) is done with her. To make a really long story short.....
At 5am she was delivered to my doorstep by the police. I chat with them for a few minutes and ask them not to draw opinions when they remark that they could not believe my sister would not get her a hotel room. They leave.
I find niece out on my porch brooding. I sit and talk with her for 2 hours. I spill my pent up guts about the situation. I probe as to how she has not been able to find a job in 3 months. I mention that when I told her about a place that was hiring the day before she said "It's the weekend. I need to distress". She asks me if she could stay here. I mention that fact that she lied to me the day before and prior to that. I don't trust her in my house all day. My husband will divorce me if he comes home from work and finds the two of them lounging in my house. After two hours and a lot of talking I go back to bed.
At 10 am her knight in tarnished armor shows up (driven by grandma) and picks her up. My sister is worried about her but has washed her hands for right now. She has drained her financially and emotionally. This drama is not over...

Universal Sign is Understood

On my way home from work today I stopped to feed my nasty habit. There's a "Discount Cigarette" store close to my home. When I walked up to the store I noticed a sign that said "Under New Ownership". Would that mean that the turban man who ran it before was no longer there. He really did have discount cigarettes. I also noticed the door was locked. I started to walk away when a man opened the door and yelled that they were open. I've seen him in there before so I though he must not be the new owner.
I'm standing at the counter and he goes into a broken English speech about being the new owner and prices have gone down. I tell him the brand I want and hand him a coupon. $76.00 was the total. "What?" I say as I pull back my coupon. I then glance behind the counter at other brands of cigarettes and notice that they are all higher than normal. He mentions that taxes went up. I then nicely say "That's okay, that's way to expensive". I go on to mention that just the other day I bought a pack at Pick & Save for $5.45 and I had noticed their cartons were about $25.00 cheaper. This buffoon then rattles off something in his language and then says "No they're not cheaper". You can't come in here and say that so I sell them to you cheaper". I could feel my blood start to heat. First of all speak to me in English. Second of all do not call me a liar. I told him I'd got to Pick & Save and bring back the receipt (in English). He rattles something again in his language to another man behind the counter and I could totally tell he was talking about me and that did it.
I'm not real proud of this but in the famous words of the jailed "Chicago" women "He had it coming". I started to walk toward the door and he spewed out something else. At which point I proudly raised my middle finger and said "I bet we both understand what that means ass wipe".
Best part of this whole thing is that two customers walked out right behind me.
I hate that these people think they can mooch into our country and wiggle through the red tape of owning gas stations, doughnut shops and discount stores but then mark things up 50% more. New ownership my ass buddy. You just transferred it over to a family members name. I saw turban man in the back of the store when I left. Apparently he didn't have a clue of what was going on as he waved to me.
Hey, the moral of the story is simple. Quit smoking.
Ass wipe came up on my spell check.

Sometims You Just Have To....

This is the trophy presentation. The not so formal one. I couldn't get a clear shot of the more formal 2nd place. They played hard, and the best part was that the coach's all made them feel like winners. Good bunch of kids, good coaches and I was provided with awesome entertainment from May through August. Dylan hit a couple triples this season but last night he hit a solo home run that I think even shocked him. I saw him smile a little when he came up to bat again and the opposing coaches were waving everyone in the outfield to move back.

What to do now...well, it's on to football. I am so blessed to have a grandchild who is involved in the two sports I love. I thank GOD every time I'm sitting at a game that none of them play soccer.

Howling Dogs & Solicitors

I woke up at 4 am this morning with a throbbing headache. This was some sort of allergy symptom at it's finest. By 5 am the steaming shower and allergy relief tablets were not helping. I decided to make the call and stay home. I had the funny feeling that staying home wasn't going to be much better and I was correct. I had given in to the idea of any sleep until after 6:30 when Barney leaves for work. I knew his alarm clock would go off at least 3 times before he finally decided to start his day. I give him credit as he was pretty quiet. I think I finally dozed off around 7am. But not for long! At 8:20 my cell phone began to ring. I ignored a few calls and because of it being persistent finally got up and checked it out. Two from work which I called back and took care of, three relating to my mother-in-law. This is still going on and way to much to go into.

With that under belt I attempted to just laze on the couch. Took two more cold tablets and felt something must be breaking up as I'm doing a whole lot of nose blowing. Door bell rings...As the door was open and I was laying on the couch I couldn't very well ignore it. I figured I'd be fetching a ball. No, it was a girl selling carpet cleaning services. I pointed out the "No Soliciting" sign on the door and she tried to apologize in Spanish. "No" seemed to work just fine and she was on her way. Then off in the distance I heard a siren. So did the dog across the street as he began his howling. This continued on for about 10 minutes when his owner finally came out and brought him in the house.

I took a few more "mom" related calls and figured I'd give up on any more sleep. My headache turned into more of a frustration headache by now. Another ring of the door bell. There stands some buy who also, by the looks of him, could not read English. "No, I do not want any magazines". How do you send people out to sell things that cannot speak a word of English except "Please , look". I pointed to the sign again. He no speak English. I simply refuse to buy an additional sign for my door "No Solicitar". Maybe when I've finally had enough I will just hand write signs in various languages and post them up my front lawn like the old Burma Shave signs. I should be able to have my front door open.

50 Came & Went

My husband usually has a month long birthday celebration, but he's done now. Last week I had a 50th for him at our house for family. I figured he'd think it strange that none of our friends were there. He never asked so I felt no need to explain. Ben, Nannette and I had been planning a party for him with all our friends. He claims he didn't know but suspected something was up when he didn't receive a birthday card in the mail from a certain couple. I had to tell a few white lies this week in able to make things happen, but I have been forgiven.

The party went well. A big thanks to Ben & Nannette for the use of their house and all the hard work and effort they put into it. You guys are great! Also to everyone who attended and made this special to him. In his drunkenness (all the way home mind you) he said over and over again how perfect it was. How he got to see people that really mattered to him. Between the slurring I was able to make out that he really had a great time.

I'm going to jump on this and talk about the Watermelon. Nannette had received a phone call earlier in the day from an invitee that was going to be a little late. She had also mentioned that she'd been really busy and was going to bring a watermelon. Nannette got off the phone and repeated the conversation to me. We both commented that we hope she was going to cut it up first. When you have a crowd of people and a stock of food out for them your kitchen space is pretty well taken up . Now a bowl of cut up watermelon would have been great. No rind mess, no sloppy mess in the kitchen to clean up. We had enough to worry about. So when this couple appeared we saw no melon. I saw no bowl of cut up melon. I just figured she decided not to bring it. Little did we know until later that the whole melon had been deposited on her couch. By the time we saw it they were already gone. Nannette commented how the melon was left on her couch. We're wondering if she will be calling to come by and claim her melon.

All in all good party, great friends and a big thanks to all of you who made it happen. Slurry is doing good today. He slept until noonish and got up and consumed his big bowl of "build your own nachos".

There's Always Got to Be One......

Bitch in the crowd. Did I mention how happy I am to have landed this QC job? The grass is greener for now. Part of this job entails doing in-process checks of products run. The former QC girls would sit in the lab until someone called them. We do inspections after each pallet. Being that I am a former operator I know how it takes to produce a pallet therefore will usually be out on the line by the time the pallet is complete. If not I get a page. From nine out of 10 operators. From the operators that are aware of whats going on.

Then we have space cadet. Unaware or just not caring? I'd like to think that after being employed somewhere for 2 1/2 years you'd know the drill. The operators have to do a sample also and then hand it over to me. I'll go out for a sample and she will look at me like I'm crazy. I'll look at the operators inspection sheet and see that she's done her part and then will ask for the sample and be told "Oops, I think I tossed it". I refuse to dig through the garbage so will go get another sample only to get an eye roll and dirty look from her. Seriously, this girl thinks I'm going to dig for this. This is a case of stubborn meets stubborn . Today I'd had enough and told her that according to our SOP I should put the pallet on hold and she'd have to go through it roll by roll and make sure that all is well from my last inspection until the most recent sample. "Hmphhh" was what I got. She then tries to blame it on the rest of the people on the line by saying "They're not telling me we're on the last roll of the pallet". The pallet is 5 feet away from her. I couldn't stand there and not say anything that would have caused a ruckus so I walked away. I just wish I would have had a door to slam in her face.

All I keep saying over and over to myself is "Good things come to those who wait".