Big Bed

The choice was made a few weeks ago to purchase a new mattress. We looked at ads and made a few stops here and there just to get ideas of what we were looking for. My husband decided that the Queen size bed would be upgraded to a King size. I was a little shocked by that as we had went from a King to a Queen years ago to free up some space in our bedroom. I think he was just tired of falling out of bed because his cat feels the need to take up so much space.
I was able to hold him off long enough to paint the spare bedroom in anticipation of moving the existing bed to the spare room. That was done by Friday night. We had some errands to run on Saturday and some residual things to deliver to my daughters new home. Afterward my plan was to go home and organize things in the spare room. "Did you want to take a run out to Colders and check out the mattress's" was not what I was expecting to hear. I agreed but with the intent that we were only looking.
Two hours later we walked out of Colders with nothing. They have a "deal" going on. Whatever you spend you get back in store credit to spend on whatever you want. We found a mattress which I thought was very over priced. Walked around the store looking for what we could use the credit for. Everything we found was jacked up in price so much it was almost a crime to assume you were getting it for free. We took the salesman's card, thanked him for his time and said we needed some time to look around.
Off we went to a popular stores newly opened outlet store. Saw the same mattress for a much lower price. The problem was we also needed a headboard. Saw nothing that caught my eye. The store was closing so we took note of the pricing and decided to look around a little more. As we were leaving, husband noted that we had seen some mattresses at Menard's a few weeks ago. I thought they may have been the same one we had just looked at. Didn't hurt to drive across the street and check it out. It was indeed the said mattress and $700.00 cheaper than the first store with an 11% rebate. We stood and wondered if we'd be able to live down purchasing a mattress from Menard's. With the savings we would have been foolish not to purchase it. The only thing lacking was the free delivery. I'm just saying that one of these days this old workhorse is not going to be able to help Paul Bunyan haul furniture around any more.
It is comfy and very roomy and I have slept wonderfully the past two nights.

ADD?

I think I have it today. I'm easily being distracted from one I thought was a carefully laid out plan. Painting the spare bedroom. Maybe I'm lax because the past few times I tackled the said room and had it how I wanted it, someone came forward with a need for a place to stay. It may be a curse that goes with the house.

I recall my parents having only three children left at home and deciding to make the smaller bedroom into a playroom for my younger sisters. Brother was in one of the two basement bedrooms at the time. About the time it was completed my marriage fell apart and being 8 months pregnant was told to come home. After my one year stay they fixed up the room again only to have my grandfather need a temporary place to stay. A few years later came my niece. I think they gave up after that because when we bought the house the smaller bedroom still had the Ernie & Bert wallpaper on one wall. The room I'm currently painting has housed my brother three times, my middle brother for a few months, my older brother a few times and most recently my daughter and her kids. There were a few brief stays by my sister and her children also. It's been a revolving door for those in need. I can't say it will never happen again because sometimes my heart is just to big.

As I'm painting today I'm seeing traces of past colors. A dusty rose from when I painted after one of my brothers stays. Dark green from my daughter's teen years, purple from who knows what and most recently yellow which was the last time it was empty. I'm done with two walls and the closet right now and wondering dare I go further? Of course I'll finish the room, move the furniture back in that was moved out for the last guests and nervously await the next arrival. Whomever it may be I only hope that this person will have the ability to someday get back on their own two feet.

The Uniform

The company I work for is huge. Our little division inside the Wauwatosa building is a small little spec on big map of world wide divisions . There are a total of 20 people in the division, with 5 of them being upper management and sales and five being middle management. We take up about half the building. Our US corporate offices are located here also. We also house the directors of EHS and the CEO of the US companies.
The head of EHS travels a lot and sees other production areas. She has been on a kick for years to have us wear uniforms. We are the only division that does material conversion. A huge percentage of the other plants produce all forms of adhesives, grout and oil based products. These people perform entirely different functions than this division. We do not come in direct contact with the adhesives we use as they are pumped directly from drums in to melters and directly into machines you're running. The operators wear cotton sleeves and heat resistant gloves when working near the hot adhesive. Our previous CEO saw no reason for production operators in this division to wear a uniform. He felt it an unnecessary expense and felt PPE was appropriate for the job. He especially felt no need for QC or management to wear uniforms. The new CEO took over as of January 1st. We knew Ms. EHS would get to him. He has only been at this plant for 6 months with all his previous experience being in Georgia and has probably been physically in our area two to three times. One of the first things she hit him up with was uniforms. He is huge on safety and ordered it done. The management on this end balked about it but being up against this EHS woman is like beating a dead horse.
The uniform fittings have been rescheduled three times already due to people being out. I am willing to bet that they will be rescheduled again today as two operators have called in sick today. I'm really saddened by this.

Top Five

Milwaukee is listed as one of the top five cities to find love. I believe they are #2 on the list with San Antonio being #1. I wonder if they mean actual love and a meaningful relationship or just a brief affair. Could the summer months be bringing the rating up? Just saying, with all the festivals and concerts during those months, it could have really brought the ratings up. Then again, the winters are long and cold. At any rate, we were finally top five in something else beside biggest drinkers, most obese and most crime.


I have two major goals this week. Look for a new eye doctor and a new dentist. I like my dentist. He is located very close to my home and I've been going to him for around 6 years now. Love the hygienist-my problem is his assistant. She's not very gentle and will ask me a million questions when my mouth is full of tubes and clamps. I'll always ask for the hygienist to do the X-rays rather than suffer through the DA doing them. The dentist seems to get a little irate with her at times so I can't quite put my finger on why she's there. As far as the eye doctor-I need to find someone who can get this contact thing right. I went through 4 different types of contacts and still couldn't see. Then he just plain,flat-out gave up on me. I am not the only near sighted/far sighted person in this world so I shall move forward with this.

-2

I know I shouldn't complain about the cold. After all I choose to live in Wisconsin. But damn it was nippy at 4am this morning. It is the kind of cold that just slaps you in the face. My temperature in my car read -2 when I left for work. Between the Hale & Zoo it climbed up to 1 and then stayed there. At least the wind is mild, keeping the wind chill at bay. If the forecast holds true-tomorrow will be a better day.

We had Monday off in exchange for Friday this week. Now that it's Friday I wish I would have taken a vacation day. I'll admit I am spoiled and as tired as I am from Monday through Thursday it is worth having the three day weekend. I enjoy the Friday's as it's a day to myself. It's usually spent running errands and catching up on housework, but I'm on my own schedule. My chores are done more efficiently without anyone under foot.

I did get a little behind this week with having some down time due to a run in with some flu like issues. This started on Tuesday and this morning I finally feel like I can eat something without worshiping the toilet bowl afterwards. I was safe with the toast I ate yesterday. Took it easy on dinner last night although I don't think a taco was the best choice. So now I'm in the hungry but guarded mode. I was really hoping someone would bring in doughnuts today. That would be yummy right about now. Then again, I should probably stick with the toast for another day just to be on the safe side. By that time the doughnuts will be off my mind.

Now What?

Sunday's Superbowl turned out to be a great game, with great friends, and as usual yummy food. Not to mention the win by the Packers. I feel blessed that I have been able to see the Packers go to the Superbowl 5 times in my life time (counting the loss). Hate to admit that I was old enough to watch the first one. Couldn't tell you much else beside I watched it with my dad and brothers and remember my dad being very excited.

The entertainment after the game was equally as good as the game itself. There were some snow angels after the win that still have me shivering. Note to self:next year bring extra clothes. Somewhere along the line my brother and my husband became completely stinking drunk (for lack of any better word to describe their condition). I noticed my husband getting quite chattery, which he does when he drinks, and mentioned slowing it down a little. I got the "look" so I figured I wasn't the one who was going to suffer for this. They were entertaining to a point but then it was time to call it a night. My brother has secretly voiced his concern about blowing a candle out and splattering some wax. At the time I didn't think much of it but upon seeing it the next morning you would think the guy took a leaf blower to the candle. He's got some cleaning to do. There is green wax splattered up a wall and actually made it to the picture a few feet above it.
My husband sat in his chair all day yesterday-taking a few naps-and I don't think he got out of it until 7pm. Looks like this is going to be a slow recovery for him.

It was a great season that extended our normal football watching just a bit longer this year. I remember feeling some dread after the new year that football for me might have been over. Thank you Green Bay Packers for an exciting,winning season.

This hype will end soon and we'll enter the last few months of winter in Wisconsin. I'm on the fence about a trip to Arizona in May. I could use a sneak peak of summer and May is a great time to go. Other than that I need to find ways to make the last few months of this season go by faster. May be doing some much needed painting in the now vacant bedrooms in our house. Could be jinxing myself with that as it seems that each time we fix up those rooms someone moves in. It was suggested that we just seal up the rooms.

The Song

It's the little things in life that jog your memories of someone who has passed. I see little old men scrunched over their steering wheels and think of my Grandpa. Never without a cigar while driving. One of the most influential men in my life. He was the base of our family. Always stern when need be but spoiled us rotten when the parent's weren't looking. And Lord help the person that messed with one of his grandchildren. He had your back whether you were right or wrong. Grandpa accepted and loved you for who you were.

I hear certain songs and watch certain TV shows and think of my brother. Always the comedian no matter what the situation. Another accepting person who loved you for who you were. Taken to young and 2 1/2 years later I'm still waiting for his phone calls and still waiting for him to come pulling in our driveway. This was a tough one and will take some mending time.

And then there is Randy. Football jogs my memory. Camping does it also. Work does it. Certain songs do it. This morning I thought it was great that American Pie was on the radio. A tribute to a great friend. You will be forever in my heart. Thanks for all the great memories. I miss you still.