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.