Out With The Old

In With The New. Happy New Year Everyone!

2007 was a fairly good year. I was thinking back this morning to New Year's 2000 when everyone thought the world would come to an end. Our computers would crash, crazy things would happen and there was near panic. Life went on as it always does. We all somehow managed to make it to a new year. Good and bad things have happened. We lost loved ones and watched little ones have birthdays. We've gained friends and watched some go through difficult times. We've grown closer to some friends and lost contact with others.

In our own family we lost an icon. My husbands uncle passed away early this year at 87 years old. He was sticken with polio at the age of 10 and not expected to live past 12. This man over came every obstacle thrown at him. He lived a great life and was an inspriation to all.

My brother-in-law had brain surgery on October 19th for a brain tumor. Things were a little messy and we spent a lot of time at the hospital and rehab visiting him. He was sent home on Thursday and is doing well. A few hours of week of Therapy is about all he should need now. Thanks to all of you for your well wishes and prayers.

My sister-in-law J is now one year cancer free as well as my mother. We are thankful and looking forward to the up coming years free calls.

We also lost some friends this year. May they rest in peace and forever know we miss them and are thinking of them.

We had a good camping season this past year. The Brewers played well and the Packers are on their way to the playoffs. Looking forward to the next few weeks being exciting. I chuckle as every year when the football season ends we mull over what to do from mid Feburary to the end of May when camping starts. Some how we always manage to be busy. We have a vacation planned and I will hopefully be taking my annual trek to Arizona the end of April to visit my parents. This is like my jump start to summer. Whether I go solo or someone comes along this year is up in the air.

There's household repairs on the list this upcoming year also. Our enclosed porch is in need or repair, the driveway cracks are getting bigger and I still need to get the spare (not really spare J) room turned into my hobby room. Guess it would help to find a hobby first. And, the roof that is partially shingled will need to be finished. This may all make the summer go by pretty quick.

So let's all think good things this year. The best of luck to everyone and enjoy a safe and Happy New Year.

Tragic Short Cut

I had some errands to run after work today which involved going into stores. Not for returns mind you but for a few birthday gifts for people whose birthdays just happen to fall this week. I then had to make a run to Goodwill due to my cleaning frenzy yesterday. I opted for the short cut route from 35th & Layton to 27th and Rawson. I hate 27th Street between the hours of 330 and 6pm. So I did the little cut through on side streets to get there. Big mistake. First of all I had to go a block out of my way due to a water main break and when cutting back down another block had to pull over for an ambulance. I was going the same way and came upon where the ambulance was headed for. It appeared to be a body covered up laying by a driveway approach. There were 3 men standing around the body and one car close by with it's headlights on. At first glance (I wasn't gawking, I had to stop to let the ambulance pull up to the house)it appeared as though the car may have hit the person. Then I saw that it was a little icy in the driveway approach. May have been that the person slipped. These things make me sad. One could tell it wasn't the body size of a child so I'm guessing elderly person maybe.

As I drove away I thought if the person was hit this could explain the pulled over car. This person may have just taken responsibility rather than flee. I'm sure most of you read about or heard about the couple that was hit on Christmas Day while getting presents out of their car. The driver never stopped but has been located now. Even without hearing the entire story , there is no excuse. You will get caught eventually so going home and hoping you sober up isn't going to help you out.
We're taught not to pass judgement on people but how can you not in a case like that?

Going back to work today sucked! Although I may not have done much at home today it would have been nice to have another day. I might have tackeled the basement and then my husband would have really freaked. He didn't go through any of the boxes I had packed for Goodwill yesterday but he did ask what I did with the stuff on his dresser. I had to tell him that it just looked cleaner as the dust had been removed. I put everything back on it. He was growing some kind of dust farm up there. I do think he may have taken stock of the flannel as I heard no cussing when he went into his closet.

Stop This Insanity

For many years I have taken the week of Christmas off. Just this thing of relaxing after the holiday. This year I was lacking vacation time therefore only took today off. I had a plan. I was going to relax, maybe watch some movies, catch up on some laundry and take it easy. My head started ticking last night. I could really use to clean out some junk. I was going to do this a while back and put a stop to it as I thought maybe we could have a rummage sale and rid ourselves of some crap. Never got around to that.
It is now 12:30 and I am on the third bag of stuff to haul to Goodwill. This is only from two closets and part of the kitchen. Anything I haven't worn in the past two years is in the bag. As I stood in front on my husbands closet and viewed his collection of flannel shirts I used my better judgement and shut the closet door. My God what was I thinking? I would never be able to get even one out without him noticing. I did dig around a little and found two pair of gloves that he frantically searched for this season. Dare I tell him? No, then he would know I was in there. I just moved them to the top of the stack of crap in his closet with hope that he may notice them.
We have a program (5S) starting at work this year. I was given all the books to study up on it and will be one of the elected persons to start this program. It basically instructsyou on how to rid the workplace of un-needed items. There is a holding area for items you are not sure of or not ready to part with. At work we have begun tagging things to either hold or throw away. In the book it explains that usually the holding area turns into a big mess and you end up getting rid of everything in the end. It's just a safe zone for junk collectors. They also mention in the book that this program will rub off on people and they will begin to use it in their personal lives. Hello! Our safe zone items are in the bag. I also have several boxes that I need to haul up from the basement. I can assure you that someone will be digging through the boxes as he's loading them into my truck. I must be present to make sure none of this gets back in.
Must get back to work. I'm loosing valuable time. The desk I'm sitting at is the next thing on my list. (not the desk itself..just the crap piled up on it.)

Merry Christmas

Here's hoping everyone had a Merry Christmas. I always get that "whew" I got it all done feeling once all the gifts are open and the hub bub is just about over. We had the traditional breakfast with the kids, grandkids and mother-in-law this morning. The food was good as everyone was here on time this year. (no crispy, burnt offerings to be had).
My daughter has twins and although I try to get them different things I've found that they like the same things. They were the highlight of the day. They had asked for the set of Little House On The Prarie books and I was able to find them online. They'll watch to see what the other one got and get a little jealous so when the book opening came the one was almost in tears as she didn't think she got the same thing. Joking around I remarked that I figured they could share. It appears that she didn't really want to read them. She wanted to save the set unopened so she could someday give them to her kids. When I told her that the books were around since I was little the look on her face was priceless. I had to take her and show her that I still had them.
We also got each of the kids digital camera's and were subjected to a lot of posing for the rest of the day. All in all the day went well.
Last night was our family gathering and Ben & J's house. This was also a good time. No family fights, good food, and holiday cheer. My parents had bought each family a set of silverware which some of us were confused about. When I talked to my mom she said she did it so we'd always have something to remember them by. This cracked me up a bit as I said "Yeah Mom, I'm going to pick up my fork and burst into tears someday." It's a nice set and the thought was truely there.
So now we're off for our last stop of Christmas. Brother in law is home for the day and we're going to visit for a bit. He's been out the past 3 days on a day pass and is doing very well. He may only need a week or so more and he'll be able to come home. The doctors wants to make sure he doesn't take a step back after the holidays. It was great to see her so happy also.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas..

Woudolph The Wed Nosed Wiendeer

Two little bits of cuteness came to my door tonight. Door bell rang, dog went nuts and I didn't see anyone at the door. At first I thought it was prank but then thought I should open the door just in case UPS left a package. Upon opening the door I spotted two little girls who immeidatly started singing their carefully practiced Christmas Carol. They sang their little hearts out with no coaching from their mother, my sister. Dressed in pink they were the picture of all that is good. My crappy day was made brighter. I love that they didn't miss a beat. I love that the 4 year old Tori did not look at me but directly at the Christmas lights on my porch and Savannah the younger sister looked me right in the eye while singing. After a quick visit to check out my tree and get a cookie of their choice and one for dad who was waiting in the car they were off to their next stop. "Yet's dough Mom, Daddy's in da van" and they vanished.

Do people still go Christmas Caroling? This was big when I was young. The neighborhood parents would get all the kids together, bundle us up and we'd go to quite a few houses on the block and sing away. We'd get pennies, cookies and sometimes hot chocolate. I know we did this for a few years but when we moved it stopped. Of course when we moved it was also a little remote for the first 5 or so years. In my early teens a group of us went but that died off. I can only recall once in my adult life that carolers came to our door. Must be a thing of the past as I guess you never know who you may "offend" by appearing at their door. It seems as if it's left to school or church groups visiting nursing homes. This is good as they probably appreciate this much more then others do.

Today was the shortest day of the year. The first day of winter. Apparently we got a little head start on that with all the snow and cold. Of course now that it warmed up a tad we have a river running down our driveway. By this time tomorrow with the falling temperature we will have a nice ice rink. Hopefully my husband can get some of the snow off our porch roof before we get hit again. If not we may be shut in's when the roof caves in. I have the notion to bring in all my Christmas cookies just in case. Hate to be running out then during the cave in to save the cookies. I don't think I'd be able to explain the loss of the sacred peanut butter balls to my family.

Squeak, Squeak, Squeak

Ahh...Christmas. Time for shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating and Christmas Concerts. This year my grandchildren ( the twins) had a band concert at their school which was actually called a Christmas Concert. My daughter and I noticed while walking through the school hallways that they had various decorations up. Christmas trees, stars and Santa Claus. Last year it was called the "Holiday Concert". Not sure of the reasons for the change but I welcomed it.

I stopped at their house before the concert to see the new puppy. Bella is a 10 month old black lab that they adopted from the humane society. Actually all their current pets have been adopted. Cute little puppy and well behaved.

The girls were being preped for the concert. Hair combing, clothing check, shoes changed to match the outfits. They were nervous and of course admitted to not practicing their violins much. We assured them that they'd be fine and off we went.

I have many heart warming memories from seeing my kids in concerts. From my son nearly falling off the top step on the stage while goofing off to my daughter with her solo "Let's go Fly A Kite" slightly off key. Besides my brothers daughter who was somehow gifted with a beautiful singing voice no one in this family can carry a tune.

I now have another cherished memory to add. Four Christmas songs plus "Hot Crossed Buns" played by 6 children on violins with the band instructor playing along. There were more squeaks then one can fathom but it was heart warming none the less. They all looked so nervous but yet totally concentrated on their performance. This was better then some high class costly concert. Actually it did end up costing me as there was a trip to Culvers afterwards. I look forward to next years.

Brother in law is making progress in the rehab center. Not sure if he'll make it out by Christmas but happy that he's finally getting the help he needed. She went back to work this week, a break she really needed. Things may finally be on the up and up.

Looking forward to meeting some friend for a little Christmas get together this Saturday. I need a beer! It's been a while. I'm not supposed to be on the 12 step program. Just haven't had time lately.

Getting Things Done

This weekend was very productive for me. For some reason this year I was very behind in holiday "chores". The shopping is 98% done, the tree is up and decorated and I have lists laying around for the rest of the things I need to get done by next weekend.

For the past 10 or so years the woman folk in my family have gotten together the weekend before Christmas for cookie baking. We've pretty much gotten everything down to a basic science now. The cut-outs are all baked up prior to the day and several doughs are mixed up ahead of time and ready to go. My middle sister used to work for a bakery so she's all about the frosting and which one we should use. Of course you have a choice as one hardens quickly but doesn't taste very good but the other is quick to harden but tastey. We ususally let the kids decorate the cookies so unlike the pain stakingly decorated cookies, ours are more imaginative. Some how yesterday when I got around to decorating there was only one cookie left. Something tells me that my family knows my artistic talent therefore keeps me busy so I don't get near the table other than to clean it up.

I haven't been in to much of a Christmas mood up until yesterday. The cookie thing at my sisters and then my daughter and her girls coming back to my house to make a few other things may have finally gotten me in the mood. I hate when decorating or baking feels like a chore. One should do it because they are in the spirit, not because they feel they have to.

Like my friend Peve, I'm not really into wrapping presents. Maybe it's because I'm yet to find a scissors that cuts good. This year I ended up using the scissors that came with my set of knives. That thing rocked. Mental not to myself not to let my husband near it or it will then be in the same shape the rest of my scissors are in. I'm not quite sure what he cuts with them but after he uses a pair I may as well toss them. I bought a lot of gift bags and tissue paper this year. This cut down the wrapping a little. There are just some things that you can't stuff into a bag and pass off as not being lazy.

Pretty good Packer game today except for the last field goal which took the pool I was on the track to win, out of my reach. Not doing to good in that this year. I did catch pretty much of the last half of the Cowboy's game. I really though they'd pull it off in the final few minutes.

Well let's all hunker down for the longest work week of the year. Somehow to me the week prior to Christmas seems to drag on forever.

My brother-in-law is now out in Waterford in a speciality rehab center. He seems to be doing quite well except for still having some confusion.

He's Spent

I am often very amused by my husband. I should end this here but I feel I must share this particular story. It appears that he decided to do some shopping last night. He called me around 4:30 ish to let me know he was at Southridge and he'd be shopping for a bit. He figured he'd only be able to take about an hour or so. True to his word he was home by 6. It was then that I got to hear the perils of Christmas shopping. Apparently he's bothered by the crowds and as he puts it "stupid people". The first thought that came to my mind was "he's a stroller. I can't imagine him in a crowd moving fast" (unless of course it's to get on the bus to exit Summerfest). I could picture the sceniro in my head. The big guy strolling through the mall and people passing him. Maybe he got bumped into a few times. It gave me a little chuckle.
I then started to think about all the shopping I've done. I also hate crowds but you have to go with the flow. Keep the pace. Be prepared at the checkout so as not to hold up a line of people because you picked up the one thing without a price tag. The checkout line is not the time to haggle over getting a few bucks off something as it has a small spot to pull in it. Do that with the department person or go to Customer Service. Know where your check book or card are. Have your 15% off coupon readily accessible and know the location of your driver's liscense. Don't bitch at the cashier for asking for ID. This is for your own protection. Expect that the parking lot is going to be packed.
My husband spent 3 hours one Sunday evening Christmas shopping with me. This was probably 1/4 of our shopping. I mentioned when he called last night from the mall that his mother's birthday is next week and maybe he should look for something for her. He forgot. He'll think about what to get her. Funny, he has not purchased a gift for her on his own in 23 years. Sometimes I'm nice and tell him about it before she opens the gift. She always hugs him first. She's a bright woman and she knows damn well he was clueless.
Don't get me wrong, he is a thoughtful shopper and buys great gifts that are meaningful. He's not an impulse buyer and he is a bargin shopper. I'm not into driving 5 miles extra to save a buck when it cost me 2 to drive there. A lot of my stops are made on my way home from work. I'm a little route planner. Kind of like a junior Cruise Director. I urge all of you who read J's blog to apply for the assistant job. I hear she has great benefits.

Broker Than When I Left

They got it all....All my money. Despite the fact that there wasn't much to do but gamble, it could have been worse. I spent no more that I planned on. I did manage to hit on two different machines, but rather than pocket that it got sucked right back into another one. Unlike J I just couldn't find the right machine. I did play for over 2 hours on a nickle poker machine with a $10.00 investment. Although the outcome was bad I was amused for 2 hours. At this point I felt the need to remove myself from that area which was close to the stage where the band was. Not quite sure of their real name but J's dad had nicknamed them Booger Snots and the Hanker Chiefs.
Made the trek to the Farmin Inn with good food as usual. Saturday we were going to venture to another casino but the snow was coming down pretty good. We opted to not risk it and return to our place. I do need to find out for Kim and myself what the shiny stuff is that they spray on an omelet. It almost appears to be some type of wax or oil.
On my weekly listening to Leroy Butler the DJ's were talking about an interesting email they received analyzing the Packers loss to the Cowboys. This person apparently believes that the Packers lost on purpose. Kind of like tricked they Cowboys into thinking they are not a very good team. See, and then the plan is to kick butt in the playoffs. Leroy was asked if this was true. He never hesitated before saying a flat out "NO". I chuckled listening to the letter and conversation afterward. I find it interesting that some people cannot just accept the fact that the Packers did not play well and lost..rather than make up excuses or reasons for it. Did the coaching staff plan for Brett to get injured to make it even worse? This guy's email was also about Woodson sitting out when he looked perfectly fine to play. In his eyes this was part of the ultimate plan. Let's just take it one game at a time. Anything can happen.
Happy Shoveling out in the morning everyone!

Off To The Woods

We're taking a little "mid-winter" trip this weekend to visit the Indian Casino up north. Nice place, small and I usually do okay. As always it's fun to people watch. Let's see how many chain smoking little old ladies require my assistance in putting their money in. Can't figure out how to insert the money or card but these broads can push the buttons like there is not tomorrow. This day just happens to fall on our anniversary to so a big win would certainly help that celebration along.

Brother-in-law is still in the hospital. Last word yesterday is that the CAT scan showed almost normal. He wasn't quite as confused. Let's just home he continues on this road.

So, the Packers lost to the Cowboys. It was a good game to watch...until Brett was out. That made it more interesting as #12 hasn't played much. I got a kick out of sitting at a machine which happened to be near a table of younger folk. The comments that were coming out were keeping me quite amused. "The assholes been on the bench all season so far. You think he'd get out on the field and do something", as he scrambles for a first down. She was a hoot...that is until she glared at my friend the Cowboy fan.

In my special message to my friend..Congratulations to your boys. Let's breath a sigh of relief that tattoos aren't quite as bad as a body piercing.

Click....Done

In the past it was a huge deal for my two sister-in-laws and myself to wake at the crack of dawn on Black Friday and hit the stores. Over the past few years it has dwindled to hitting the stores later in the day to maybe not going at all. We never really came home with a lot. Just people watching was fun in itself.

After prodding my son for gift suggestions yesterday, of course he shows me something from Kohl's that he wants that is a good deal in the Early Bird special. I read the fine print. Some of these items are available on-line but only during these hours. Hell if I was getting up a 4am. So last night around midnight I logged on to find that it was in fact on sale then. With my 15% off and free shipping it was well worth the click of the finger verses the trip to the store.

My brother-in-law has managed to take another turn for the worse. He woke up yesterday confused and agitated. Sister-in-law D spent a good part of the day trying to convince herself that he was not himself and to not let what he was saying affect her. She's a strong girl and managed to make it until around 4pm before she chucked it in and went home. She unplugged his phone first to assure he wouldn't make any phone calls. Earlier in the day she had left him for a few minutes and he had phoned his mother begging her to come and get him. This set off a round of events that occurred when I should have been mashing the spuds.

Today will be another CT scan as the area in his head where the shunt was put in is swollen. This could be a possible build up of brain fluid again. She had 12 hours of him being somewhat back to normal. She's thankful for that little bit.

Our family Thanksgiving turned out well. Good food, no arguments..good company and my son directed the clean up. J (Annette) was a huge help. We won't mention my husband waited until the last dish was done and the kitchen cleaned up before showing up with his dirty plate. From the sinister grin on his face one would think he planned this out.

Happy Day

Although one should be thankful on a daily basis we sometimes look at Thanksgiving Day as the day we should give thanks. My brother-in-law had yet another surgery today and the call I got an hour ago was one of joy. I have been friends with my sister-in-law for 34 years. We've been through a lot together. Our weddings, the birth of our children, a loss of a child for them, my divorce, my marriage to A, the death of her parents, the list goes on. For some reason their life together has been somewhat of what I'd consider a test. A test of love and a test of faith. There were times when she'd be so discouraged but then buck up and deal with things. Yesterday when she told me he had to go back in she sounded so down. They found a kink in the shunt that the doctor had put in from his brain to his stomach. Luckily the kink was in the stomach area. They tested the shunt by injecting die through it after the surgery and found it to now be working properly. She did not know what to expect when he came to as he's been very confused for about a month now. The man woke up knowing things he has not been able to remember for a month. Her and I were bawling over the phone. We can only hope that he moves forward from here. For this glimmer of hope I thank God.
Of course this got me to thinking...this can sometimes be dangerous. But in this case it's all for the good. I compiled a list in my head of things I'm thankful for but I took a little different route:

I bitch about going to work everyday..but I'm thankful that I wake up each day and that I have a job.
I bitch about cooking..but I'm thankful that we have money to buy food and a home to cook it in.
I bitch about aches and pains..but I'm thankful that I can feel them.
I bitched about all our boarders but I'm thankful that I could help each and everyone of them out.
I bitch about the price of gas..but I'm thankful that I have a vehicle to drive
I bitch about my husband..but I'm thankful that I have someone to share my life with.
I bitch about my parents living so far away..but I'm thankful that they are still able to enjoy their lives.
I bitched about my ex-husband but I'm thankful that I married him as without doing so I would not have the children I do.
I bitch about snow-but thankful that it paints such a pretty picture.
I bitch about mosquitoes when camping-but thankful that we have such a great time with good friends.

Things I'm just plain thankful for:

For the most part my family is in good health. Those that have had illness's are with us today.
My children and grandchildren. What a joy! I'm thankful that I now get to hear my kids scold their kids for the same things they did and I can secretly chuckle.
My husband-there are no words to express how thankful I am.
I'm thankful that my brother was divorced twice otherwise I wouldn't have the wonderful sister-in-law I have now.
I'm thankful for my upbringing. My parents did right by us.
I am thankful for each and every one of my friends. You are all special to me.
I'm thankful that I have a family to share tomorrow with. (even though I get to cook)
I'm thankful that they eat my cooking and don't wince when I'm looking.

There was a time in my life when things were just plain rotten. The days I didn't want to get out of bed. I am thankful that my father gave me the lecture of my life as I truly believe that he put me on the right track.

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your day.

Cause LeRoy Says So...

I'm a freak of listening to Leroy Butler on KLH on Monday mornings, which repeats on Tuesday morning. I didn't catch him yesterday, in fact I'm not quite sure of what I listened to on my way to work. Both my husband and I woke up feeling a little ill. Me, at 3am and him around 5. At first I though it may have been the Mac & Cheese we ate at Big Momma's but no one else was ill. So it remains a mystery.

Anyway, back to Leroy. I like listening to him as he shines hope upon the next weeks Packer win. Funny how he poo-pooed the game with Detroit and went right into talking about how the Packers can and will beat the Cowboys. Now, I said I don't talk smack as it's bad luck, but he did have some good points. I will leave it at that rather than get into any smack talking arguments. We all know that anything can happen.

One of the DJ's then asked the question I have wondered about for awhile. "Is the Mac & Cheese at Thanksgiving just an African American thing or what?". I used to work with a girl who told me that Mac & Cheese was the most important part of their Thanksgiving Dinner. He confirmed that. Not boxed Mac & Cheese, this stuff has to be home made with three cheese's and sour cream. So at work today I took a poll. The two AA women answered before I had the question out. Everyone else looked at me like I was nuts. The girls went into detail about how it has to be made and what the repercussions are if it's missing. I wondered what my families reaction would be if I pulled a large casserole dish of Mac & Cheese out at Thanksgiving. As if you need another food item to sit like a rock in your belly. But the solution for that from the girls and Leroy was that you do not eat, or eat very lightly the day before so you are near starving when the feast begins. (I'm getting the home made recipe tomorrow and will try it out some other time)

My brother-in-law is going for another surgery tomorrow. The shunt has a kink in it but luckily it's in the stomach area rather than the brain. He's still pretty confused and the doctors all though this would clear by now. The dye was shot into the shunt this morning and the kink discovered. He's supposed to be released Thursday morning but with his history of extended hospital stays who knows. We're hoping for the best.

Here's to my sister-in-law J who is in much better shape this year then she was last year at this time. I'm happy that she will be joining us for Thanksgiving this year rather than opting for the Meals on Wheels. No drinking blue slushies so you can pee blue again this year. Pull out the Pink Hat, all survivors eat first. (I'm not sure the hat will get you out of dishes though)

He's Not Real?

We hit the Milwaukee Christmas (oops Holiday) Parade today. This planning started back in mid-October when my two nieces hit me up about it. Apparently the childhood memories got to them and they felt the need to go. In the past we've had a good time watching the parade and have weathered rain, snow, very cold temperatures and as I can recall one year where it was 50 some degrees and we were all in sweatshirts. Yesterday when I heard how cold it was going to be I tried pulling a fast one and offered hot chocolate, chairs and our living room to watch the parade. This did not go over well. By 6pm last night the plan to go was in action.

The must haves at the parade are doughnuts (real, not Dunkin or Honey dip) and hot chocolate. There was no way I was getting up at 7am to secure the doughnuts. I was always in charge of the hot chocolate. Upon rising this morning A went off to Walgreen's for tape for the video camera. He arrived home with doughnuts. "gotta have em" were his words. I boiled the water, dug out the awesome air pot thermos and made the hot chocolate. Everyone arrived on schedule and off we went. We met my grandson Dylan and my son's girlfriend on 3rd and State and staked our claim. I then discovered that the hot chocolate was still sitting on the kitchen table. Starbucks was visited and all was well.

A lot of interesting things go on while waiting for the parade. Santa was spotted. As I pointed this out Dylan looked a little sheepish. I saw him say something to Laura and then he climbed in my lap and proceeded to tell me very secretly that he didn't think Santa was real. I was crushed. My baby was all grown up. What was I thinking? A boy that goes out and kicks butt in football is not going to huddle up with the guys and tell them what he wanted Santa to bring him this year. I give him credit for not yelling it out. He wasn't sure if the 15 & 17 year old still might believe. It was now up to me to explain this. I thought back to when I found out and tried to remember how my parents covered this all up. I'm trying to act fast on this one when all of a sudden he says " I can't believe you guys lied to me for 7 years". My comeback " no 8 years". "Grandma when I was 1 I didn't know what the heck was going on". "Did you guys really think that I wouldn't figure out that there is no way a 300 lb. man is going to fit down a chimney"

I did my best. I explained that there really was a Santa although refereed to as St. Nick, and he really did bring gifts to children. The story just grew from there. I remember my parents saying that Santa is the magic of Christmas and relayed that to him. We went through the list...tooth fairy-fake/ Easter Bunny-fake. Every costumed character that went past in the parade was a costume or real question and answer. And then Ronald McDonald appeared. I looked at Dylan and he looked a little puzzled. "I'm not quite sure on that one" he says. "I'm not real sure someone would dress up like that on purpose".

Boy Was I Wrong

I figured since I had such good luck with daytime shopping yesterday that I would venture out to do some daytime grocery shopping today. How bad could it be? A weekday, and mid-morning. What a joke!
As I pulled into the local P&S parking lot I noticed that it was quite empty. A good sign, I thought. First stop was the produce department. Not bad except for the cluster of carts of produce waiting to be put into place. On to the deli where beside myself there was one person waiting. I listened to the goof behind the counter describing why they call Vegas "Sin City". It was a funny conversation, only he could not work and talk at the same time. So the customers waiting started to grow as dork boy carried on his story. I think clearing my throat brought him back to reality.
Aisle after aisle I discovered that all stocking must be done during the day as every fricking aisle had crap in carts or on pallets to be put on the shelves. It was worse than Walmart. I was in search of the advertised Turkey and after looking myself for a few minutes I went to the meat service counter. Now, there is a window where I could see 3 men working away and I know they could see me. Rather than ring the service bell (because why in the hell would I be standing there) I waited a few minutes. Then after feeling really ignored I layed on the bell. A man with meat covered hands came out looking really angry and prior to asking me what I needed began to search for the missing meat counter person. " All I want to know is where the advertised Turkey's are". He points down an aisle with his meat juice covered hands and I nicely tell him that I looked there. Then he barks out that someone would bring them out. Needless to say, meat covered hand man brought me out a nice big 22 lb. Turkey. He did take the time to wipe off the outside of the Turkey where he left meat prints.
I thought this would be the end of a trip gone bad but I was mistaken. The check-out with the bagger was the shortest line so I opted to step into that line. If anyone is ever wondering why grocery prices are rising it's because they put one fricken thing in a bag. I swear that I had 18 plastic bags of groceries that could have been combined together into maybe 10. And my Turkey wasn't even in a bag.

The Only Good Thing..

Day 2 of the night shift is over. I have composed a list of the good side of working nights.

1) Shopping at a mall during the week, mid-day rocks. The stores are your own. If you can dodge the mall walkers and the jerks in the mall trying to persuade you to "try this hand lotion" or switch your cellphone service, then you're doing good.

2) I was able to get caught up on some phone calls to business's that are only open until 4pm.

3) There is no traffic on the freeway at 11pm at night. A 20 minute commute is knocked down to 12 minutes. (okay so I sped a little)

4) After 5 pm the management team has pretty much left the building. One can accomplish a good amount of work when not being bothered.

5) That's all I got!

Here's the bad:

1) 2pm traffic sucks

2) Daytime tv sucks

3) My body and brain want 1st shift

4) I have to be quiet when I get home so as not to disturb someone.

5) I have become accustomed to a 1st shift life and want to get up-go to work and get it over with.

Let's just quit the list as it could go on forever.

On a lighter note, I was almost taken out by an elderly woman at Southridge today. I'm not sure she could see over the steering wheel. I was walking from the parking lot to the store and she was coming right at me. It was a moment of chicken. Who was going to move first. In the end I did as she was coming right for my hip. The one I just had surgery on. I had this image of pain and going through all that again so I moved aside and let Mrs. Magoo continue on her way. I'm sure she didn't see me as I didn't see her fist shaking out the window as she drove on.

Yeah... I Was Wondering If You Could....

After watching Office Space the other night I came to the conclusion that the approach used by the boss is often used at my place of employment (minus the cup of coffee). This week I am "taking my turn" on the night shift to assist in training of fellow employees. As I've expressed before I am not a night shift person. I have grown used to getting up, doing the daily hygiene things, and shooting off to work. Start your day and get it over. I dislike waiting around all day to go to work. Not that I'm sitting here waiting because as I write the laundry is going and I am getting dinner ready for my husband. He may be the happy one in this situation. He'll get dinner and not be bothered all night. Just him and the dog bonding. I see it now, Sadie in the kitchen, maybe at the table, having dinner with dad.

I did manage to talk him into joining me in some Christmas shopping last night. I know, it's not even Thanksgiving yet but the opportunity was there. I asked, he made a face, I explained how I do this alone every year, he agreed. I did have to look for him a few times as he wandered, but for the most part he helped out. My lame excuse for wanting him to come..I didn't want to get mugged in the Walmart parking lot. I'm pretty brave, but I hate that parking lot. The little dork driving around in the security car is not going to save anyone.

I was able to watch the first half of the Packer game yesterday. My son's girlfriend had a Pampered Chef party at 2pm. She felt bad enough so I saw no need to inquire as to why one would schedule a demonstration on a Sunday afternoon. They had the game on so all was good. I caught the highlights. All was good.

It's Back...

I know I'm going to take a lot of "ribbing" for this but the only food I consider edible from McDonalds is back. Yes folks, back for the season is the McRib sandwich. Color me happy! My husband is currently on a McRib run. He loves me.

When Life Hands You Lemons.....

I truly wish I could find something good or funny to write about in my post. Racked my brain, nope, I got nothin.
My brother-in-law was discharged from the hospital today. Physically he's fine. Sister-in-law was under the assumption that he'd be going to the rehab floor for a week or two so they could work on his mental state. Their insurance will cover for him to go into a Nursing Home, but not stay at the hospital. The girl has exhausted what donated vacation time she has and is not able to leave him home unattended. He's a bit clouded yet. He had no psychiatric evaluation prior to leaving although all the nurse's could have been able to attest to his mental state.
A & I stopped in to see them after work today. He was sleeping when we got there but woke and came into the kitchen to chat with us. At first he made sense, asking A about work and talking about small things. He then went into the bathroom and after taking too long my sister-in-law D went to check things out. She found him taking the light fixture in the bathroom down. For what reason is beyond all of us. He then came into the kitchen, complained of a headach and proceeded to open up a pill bottle and self medicate himself. We then took any medications that were in the house and locked them up. Yeah, he's ready to go home alright. They live about a mile from us so I'm sure we'll get a call soon.
There is a slight chance of hope. Their insurance will pay for adult day care which happens to be at the same hospital she works at. She'll find out tomorrow if he can go. She then can at least go back to work. Not saying she'd be able to concentrate much, but more then she could if he was at home alone. Oh, there is another great thing...they may just be able to stream-line the hearing for Social Security that was applied for a year ago. This illness started more than 2 years ago. He quit his job in October of 2005. This is when things began to esclate. All we can do is be there for them. A winning lottery ticket would probably be welcome right about now.

Did I mention also that work once again sucks! Yes, my 1st shift job is rotating onto my most dreaded shift next week. 3pm to 11pm. I am going to this shift to train the untrainable person who will be running the line on 2nd shift. My co-worker /friend has been on 2nd for over a month now attempting to train him. She's not real patient and he's not to attentive. It's going to take more than a week but that's all I care to work it. There is a slight chance that there may just be a little good in starting at 3pm. When I figure it out I'll let you all know.

You're Almost Perfect????

I think my husband may have been a little on the tipsy side the other night. He's have a horrible couple of weeks at work, has worked some long hours and has been a little on edge between work and his brother being ill. Saturday night we ventured out after a visit to the hospital. After I saw him consume his first drink like it was water I knew I'd better take it easy as I would be the driver. As the night progressed I was handed the car keys and also watched the eyes grow glassier by the moment. I figured it was just about time to go when he sat down next to me and in somewhat of a slur proceeded to tell me that " I was almost perfect". Yep..time to hit the road buddy. But he wasn't quite ready yet. He would go on to put his 5 bucks into the slot machine and play for what seemed like an hour. Luckily he lost it all or I'm certain we'd still be there.

The best part was when we got home. Our dog is not allowed in our kitchen. I had gone into the other room for a moment and came back to find him standing in the kitchen staring at the floor. I then saw the dog, in the kitchen chowing on something. When I asked he told me he dropped his piece of lunch meat and cheese on the floor and she got it. Something tells me that I'm the only one that doesn't allow her in the kitchen. She probably loves when I work nights. No doubt the big guy has her eating at the table with him. He then went on to continue his "almost perfect" conversation. It appears that if it wasn't for me being " a little bit on the bitchy side" once in awhile that I'd be in that category. Hmm... I guess I'm bitchy When I wake him up prior to 11 am on the weekends. Maybe because the night before I'm told that he wants to be up early to get somewhere before it gets to crowded. Maybe because when I do wake him up at 11 or so he's pissed off because I "let him" sleep so late. Regardless of all that I guess he sees me much better than I see myself.

On a sad note I got news tonight that one of our friends that we know from the bar has passed away. He's been in poor health for a while now and suffered a stroke a few weeks back. He was a good guy who always had a hug and a smile for you. We'll miss you Pat!

Third Times A Charm?

My brother-in-law has been through hell. 15 days ago he went for surgery to remove a tumor from his brain. He is still in ICU. He has had two additional surgeries, one to insert a shunt and another to reposition the shunt. The doctor was hoping his natural valve in the brain would take over and drain fluid after being plugged by the tumor for who knows how long. This did not happen, hence the shunt. He was very cloudy, very confused and I know to himself he made perfect sense. The man put on a show for us everyday. His last surgery was Thursday and they just might have it right this time. He was still a little cloudy yesterday and was a little irate when told he'd been at the hospital for 14 days. I'll be heading up their shortly to see what today holds. My sister-in-law is holding up well. She just wants her husband back.

I haven't done to much of anything else the past two weeks. I hear Miller calling me and later on tonight I just may answer his call.

Change of Plans

I've changed my mind about wanting to be a tour guide at St. Luke's. I have seen so much of that hospital in the past 6 days that I now know many of the ICU nurse's by name. My brother-in-law is having a rough time. He came out of the surgery good but slipped into a rough 4 days with detox and cold turkey from all the medications they were giving him prior to the surgery. The past few days he's been pretty much sleeping until around 7 at night when he gets a little irritable and hard to control.
When I stopped there after work today I was happy to see him sitting up and awake. That was crushed when I saw the look of concern on his wife's face. He's very confused. He knew me but thought I was still married to my ex. He was convinced he was at the vet's office and his dog was injured. Our chore for an hour was to talk to him and remind him of where he was and why. He was giving me names of people he claimed came to see him that he hasn't seen in years. The man did always have a sense of humor about him and that's still there. At least today he remembered he was married for more than thirteen years. What is sad is seeing the strain on my friends face. She is at least going home at night now. I wasn't sure how long she would hole out there. So all this has caused a set back in his recovery. The doctor is assuring her that by tomorrow he should be regaining his memory clearer. We can only hope so.
My husband is still working some screwed up hours. Hence the holiday candy sales. I must say as tired as he looks he has managed to be pleasant at home. I just can't ask him to do anything. Then I get the "sigh". So for now I lay off and don't worry that the dryer takes 2 hours to dry a load. I'm just glad my clothes lines are still hanging outside. I figure if I get up an hour early I can chip the ice off the lines and "freeze dry" his skivvies outside.

Tour Guide Of St. Lukes

I have become way to familiar with St. Lukes Hospital. I know where the color coded diamonds on the floor lead to and the quickest and easiest way to enter the hospital. There are nurses that are familiar and I can tell you that I'll walk across the street for food rather than eat in their deli or cafeteria.

In the past year and a half I should have earned frequent visitor miles for the amount of times I have been there. Today my husband's brother had surgery to remove a tumor (non-cancerous) from his brain. This poor guy has been through a roller coaster for more than two years now. He's been to doctor's, therapy and through many tests only to have them continuously mess with medications. Finally about two weeks ago my sister-in-law took matters into her hands and went to see his doctor, begging him to do more tests. She knew her husband was out of character and knew he needed help. A CAT scan was done and the tumor was found. The surgery was scheduled fast. They're not sure how long the tumor was there but are leaning toward since birth. The doctor figures that it started to take a toll on his well being the past few years. This could or could not be the root of many of his recent problems. We're all praying that this could be the miracle that could put him back on track.

As I sat in his room with her tonight we had a lot of time to talk. He wasn't resting to comfortably at first, but after some pain medication and just plain exhaustion on his part he fell into a peaceful sleep. She of course has planted herself at his bedside for the night. The look of strain that I've seen on her face over the past few years seemed to be lifting. She's worried, but so hopeful. This emotional day has shown me a good picture of what "true love" is. She has not and never will give up on him. Sure she gets discouraged and angry at times but that's human nature. I admire her strength.. Now if God can see this and just throw them a little luck all our prayers will be answered.

On a different note there is sadness amongst the family of a good friend of ours. After a long struggle with cancer he has lost his mother. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this time. Although she will be missed, she's in peace and in good hands.

My final comment of the day is to my friend who painstakingly was trying to find a job that would suit me after my retirement from my current job. I'm pretty sure I could handle being a tour guide of some sort. The toll booth-parking lot attendant is out of the question. But thanks for your suggestions. Now I know how you see me even if it was the beer talking.

On My Way To Recovery

After a totally miserable Monday spent mostly sleeping, I managed to pull myself together enough to go to work on Tuesday morning. The biggest problem was that my ears were hurting pretty bad. I can count on 1 finger the number of times I've had an ear infection. Usually when my ears hurt it's because something else is coming on. By Tuesday it was just the ears and a sinus headache. Took some DayQuil tablets and vitamin C and still felt like crap all day. I had this hollow, echoing feeling in my head. Not much of what anyone said to me all day long made any sense, nor did I care. I know I had a fever as hot flash's don't last that long. Toward the end of the day and a few more cold tablets I felt well enough to stop at Menard's.

Our current kitchen faucet sucks. It's some cheap $40.00 faucet that for some stupid reason I picked out. You get what you pay for I guess. We've replaced the sprayer on it twice in the past year only to have it leak start to leak again. Every Sunday for the past few months I scan the ad's looking for a new one. A few times I've mentioned to the guy I live with that it'd be great if we could get a new faucet. This is the reply " Oh, crap...that's just more work for me". I then threaten to do it myself. Then I get " Well go pick out what you want". So yesterday I did. With ad in hand I wandered through Menard's but did I get the one in the ad? Absolutely not. I went up a few grades. Not the most expensive but I figured right smack dab in the middle should give me a faucet that lasts awhile.

While at Menard's I also happened upon some room area rugs that were "drastically reduced". I've been looking for a new one for the living room for awhile and the price was right. This little feat required me to go back for a rolling cart. I loaded this 8 X 10 1/2 rug on the cart, got through the checkout and out to my truck. This is where the problem arose. Duh! Dumb broad trying to load carpet into truck bed that is about two feet to small. There was no way it was going into the back seat. Hence the bungee cords that are always kept under the back seat. I managed to find two and bungee the cover down on the truck bed. As soon as I was done a kind man came over to ask if I needed help. I'm pretty sure he watched this whole show from his car and after having a good laugh thought he'd now come to the rescue. He noted that I seemed to have it all under control. Things went smooth until I got home. Now, I could have easily left the hauling in for the man I live with. Not my style. I got it in, pulled the other one up, moved some stuff around and liked the results.

The guy I live with got home around 8pm, noticed the faucet laying on the table and said " Oh crap, more work for me". Proceeded to walk into the living room , sit down on "his" chair and never notice the carpet until a few minutes later when I brought it up. I'm wondering what else I could do around here that could go un-noticed?

Stricken

I woke at 2:30 this morning in a bit of a sweat. Nope, not an old lady hot flash. This felt different. I got up for water and noticed a soreness in my throat and my head was feeling a little light. Didn't think much of it and popped a vitamin C tablet and returned to bed. Two hours later I woke again feeling worse. I feared I had become stricken with the illness that many people at work have been walking around with for a few weeks now. This angers me as I had been so careful. Like a dork I walked around with a bottle of alcohol for the past few weeks wiping off everything I see the ill touching. I've taken my vitamins faithfully and even added an extra boost with vitamin C.
At 5 a.m. I shut off the alarm and began the morning ritual. My throat felt as if it were closing up on me, I have a fever and my head feels more hollow than it normally does. My eyes (although cleaned out now) were crusty and my nose is plugged up. In general I feel like crap! I then did something that I normally don't do. I called in sick. And now I'm going to take some over the counter drugs and get back into my warm bed, because now I have developed the chills, and sleep this thing away.

A Soggy Win

Being the dedicated Grandparent's we are we headed out the door around noon today for the game. Not the Packer game, but Dylan's playoff game. I was prepared with my yellow rain coat and an umbrella. As we pulled into the lot we saw the mud soaked kids coming off the field from the last game. Not a sad look on their faces. Not even the parents.
Dylan's coaches had them off the field for their pre-game hype. I looked at the field and saw one giant mud pit in the middle. We stood in the continuous rain and watched as they scored three touch downs in the first half of the game. Dylan was mud from head to toe. Those boys were hungry for a win and not caring a bit about the mud that had consumed their once clean uniforms. The way I figured it was the muddier you got the harder you were playing. This game, standing wise meant nothing to them. There was no pressure but they won 20-6. You could just see it in the kids faces that they were having a blast. I was glad I opted for this game verses the Packer game. A Packer win means something but watching this game and how much fun they were having meant more than any Packer win. Besides you know your Grandma loves you when she'll hug you even when you're caked with mud.

We did make it home just into the 3rd quarter of the Packer game. I thought it would be a higher scoring game but I'll take the win and the $$ I won in the pool.

I went to my first Rugby game yesterday afternoon along with J & J. After a quick explanation of the game we hunkered down to watch my fellow co-worker in action. Within 10 minutes of playing time he was out with a rather large gash across his eyebrow and a lot of blood. He was a little angry at this happening as he wanted to play. He got fixed up on the sidelines and had a nice goose egg growing on his forehead. I knew it was a little tougher than football but didn't expect it to be quite as bloody, nor did I expect to see so much skin. I'd certainly go to another game in the future. Maybe it'll be somewhere where there are actually locker rooms so this one guy won't have to totally strip in the open to change his clothes.

Thursdays Should Be Girls Night

I don't usually stop for a liquid refreshment during the week, but yesterday I had the urge. After twisting Gambino's arm to meet me earlier than 5 she obliged and was partaking in her refreshment as I strolled in. Jo would soon join us after standing in line in not so comfortable shoes at the book signing. (She's on the good list now for sure).
Prior to going I had to promise myself that 7:30 was my curfew. 8 at the latest. The one thing I can no longer do at my age is function at work hung over. I also knew it wouldn't be a good day to take a sick day. Plus I wasn't going to stick around for the singing. Ben & Peve did, but accidentally. They though they had time for one more.
After a few hours of the company of good friends, a loss at Rock'em Sock'em and a really good chicken sandwich I hit the road. I was sure my dog would be crossing her legs by this time. Must have made it just in time as she made a bee-line for the door.
Jo made a comment last night that stuck in my head a little. She wants to start doing things she hasn't been able to do for some time. I was thinking about that comment today and thought about some things I want to do, but A raises his eyebrows about. He's not a movie goer...he snores through them. He's not a play goer (unless it's Grease or something from the 50's) but has gone in the past to things with me. Why should I continue to make this poor guy suffer through this stuff or be disappointed when he balks at going. He'd probably be quite happy to stay home and fix something or just enjoy the peace and quiet of his wife not being home. So let's go girls...let's start planning some "Things Girls like to do and Men Hate" outings. I think we'd all be happy then.

Oblivious

I found out today that I am oblivious to what goes on around me at work. Years ago I made a promise to myself to not give in to meaningless gossip in the work place. This is the result of being burned once.
My full time career started in a small office with a handful of employees. People were having affairs, getting divorces, in rehab and born agains right under my nose and I wouldn't know until months later. I concluded that it just didn't concern me. I would listen but not repeat. The last job I worked at was with a bunch of cackling hen's that did nothing more than gossip all day long. If they had nothing...they just made shit up. I was getting a divorce and didn't even know it. I stayed out of this stuff as most of it was hurtful. Once, I repeated something to someone else and had the source of the gossip in my face. That ended it. I went to the "I don't care" attitude and went to work to work.
I made it through 6 years where I am now hearing idle gossip. Keeping what people told me in confidence to myself and not offering much information about my own personal life. Either they think I am the most boring person in the world or they've figured it out by now.
I must have missed some specially marked day on the calendar today. Was it National Gossip Day? I checked but the day just say's October 10th. Nothing special besides my friends anniversary. Was it "Get it Off Your Chest Day". I wonder as if a line could have formed by me without interupting production it would have. A few things made me a little sad as one guy at work that I'm pretty close to is in the process of a divorce. They just bought a house. He had no clue they were even having problems. Another guy is pretty down on his luck. I'm not really concerned about him as he's one of those "I know everything" people and has his face in everyone's business. But there's more, and I had to act like I knew nothing. I was shocked at some of the crap I heard and am a little angry that some things are going on. I was trusted with some information awhile back and kept this all in confidence at work. It was no one's business. Now today I have four different people shoveling information that I just plain don't want to hear.
My special message : " Don't confide in me as a friend, explain that there are two sides to every story, and then think that everyone is so stupid that they'll never figure it out. That is a complete insult.

Tuesdays Generally Suck

I've come to the conclusion that for some reason Tuesday's at work suck for me. It's only worse when you are missing one person from the line and another has meetings to attend. Then you have one who has suddenly forgotten everything you trained him on, and another that does nothing but complain and forget what he's supposed to do. I walked into the line this morning only to once again find 3rd shift not running, granted they had issues but I think too many people get involved in a simple fix. In all my years in the manufacturing industry it was pounded into my head that when a problem arises that affects the quality or outcome of the product you change only one thing at a time. This will allow you to capture what the issue was and correct it. But no...let's change ten settings and then not be able to pinpoint which one actually corrected the issue. Hmmmm...then let's look around and discover that someone has brought the incorrect raw materials for the product into the room. When discovered this will then send up a red flag that perhaps the raw materials should have been labeled in the warehouse. Gee, I think that subject was raised in the last line meeting we had. Too many new employees wandering around in an unfamiliar warehouse trying to locate things. It's just easier for an old-timer (watch the cracks about this one) to go get these items. This ends my work rant....(for today).

On a lighter note, on my way home today I saw a dumb accident. On the corner of Highway 100 and Layton a compact car wasn't able to stop in time to avoid tapping the bumper of a small delivery truck (DHS I believe). You could clearly see there was no damage. This guy sits and waits until the light turns green and then exits his truck almost getting hit my little old me as he swings his door open. This prevented me from moving as he left his door open. I had a choice of going partway up on the curb or ripping his door off. I opted to sit and watch this incident. He got out, looked at the back of his company truck which had no damage, looked at the woman's car- no damage and told her to pull into the gas station to exchange information. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE. He was completely tying up traffic not only in the proceeding south lane but in the turning lane also. She must have refused citing no damage and he said then " I'll call the cops and we'll sit here until they come". I then rolled down my window and politely said " Excuse me, but could you please close your car door so this line of traffic that is not involved in this little incident can go". I expected some foul response, but he complied. Maybe it was the politeness of it.

Did Anyone Catch....

John Madden's totally asinine comment shortly into the 4th quarter in reference to Brian Griese " He's playing like a ten year veteran out there". Reaction in this household was complete shock, not to mention arguing with someone on TV that can't hear you.

More later...I am currently in mourning, although I will admit I don't think the Packers showed up for the 2nd half of the game.

Speaking Of Commercials...

Last night were were joined by K & J for a rather late dinner. The boys were roofing most of the day so the grill wasn't fired up until dark. We had a good dinner of steak (ribeye was the best I've had in a long time) spuds and veggies. After dinner we retired to the porch and after flipping through channels settled on Grease. Maybe because it's a upbeat movie, maybe because we can pretty much recite the movie, maybe because my husband things ONJ was hot.

This was on the Family channel, so things were cut. The commercials last night were also a little on the funny side. The unexpected, never seen by any of us before took us a little off guard. An always maxi-pad with wings is floating through the air and comes to land on a mechanical bull. The wings of course attach to the sides of the bull and the bull then starts to rock. "What the fuck, You gotta be kidding, that's just wrong, I thought the water tower one was bad" were some of the comments that I can remember. I though A was going to come unglued. I searched for the video of this to post but was unable to find it and share it with those who have not been able to see this yet. You get a lot of funky stuff when doing a search for "Always Maxi Pads" . If you add "with wings" to it you get a few things on buffalo wings. Interesting. "Always Maxi Pad with Wings in a narrowed search will bring up buffalo wings. Hmmmmm.

Winners For Effort

Dylan's game today was a complete blow out. They played the #1 team. Last year they played this undefeated team in their Superbowl and won. No such luck today. I have to give them a "A" for effort. It seemed in some cases they may have been intimidated by the size of these kids. This is a 3rd and 4th grade league. I'm almost positive that some of the opposing team members may have flunked a grade or two. The heat couldn't have been doing them much good either. At one point we were all under the impression that this was their last game. However they go on to the playoffs next weekend.

Sitting (or should I say pacing) out there brought back memories of last year when my parents were in town. My dad was able to make two games. I recall sitting there drinking hot chocolate and wearing a winter jacket. What a difference today. I was swatting at the bee's so much it must have looked like I had some uncontrollable jerking disease. Of course if one un-named husband of mine would have stood farther away from me while consuming his hamburger I may have avoided this issue. Thanks to Jodi for coming out and supporting the team.

In honor of Gambino's little ditty she posted yesterday I felt compelled to join my friends at the local watering hole. There is truth in Stb's statements that one can consume and not spend a whole heck of money. I have a collection of tickets in addition to not a big dent in my wallet. I'm still confused (?) at buying a round for 7 and getting $12.00 back from a $20.00. Once again and enjoyable time. Good company...good friends and plenty to chuckle about. I did come to the conclusion upon arriving home a little hungry and making a peanut butter sandwich that it was time to hit the grocery store.

While composing my blog I am currently listening to the sound of the nail gun that I purchased for my husband in Christmas of 05. It is being put to use on the roof right now. I pulled up from grocery shopping and saw my brother on the roof. I immediatly yelled for him to get off my roof as I cannot be responsible if he should fall. Of course the homeowners is paid but I would not be able to bear the guilt if something would happen. Now my husband is up there. I don't want to be out there, nor do I think I'm welcome out there. I guess as long as I hear the nails being fired that all is well. I did go check the color of the shingles just to assure myself that they were not some discounted funky color. They are black. That is about the extent of my involvement in this project.

Magnet For Rudeness

We started three shifts at work a few weeks ago and I was fortunate enough to stay on first shift. We also went back to 8 hours shifts, unless you want to stick around and help out the next shift. I've been exiting any where from 3:15 to 4. It just seems so weird. There should have been a gradual decrease from 10 plus hours down to 8. One's body and brain cannot comprehend this change. It's been nice though. I can now complete any errands I have and be home before I was usually leaving work. I finally feel somewhat normal. I'm sure this will change without much notice soon.

On my way home today I decided to stop at the local Walmart. I needed a few things that are less costly there then other stores. As I was walking in the cheaters door (lawn & garden doors rock) a middle aged couple must not have seen me and banged their cart into me. I managed to mumble an excuse me and went along my merry way. I would run into this couple several times more during my trip. Each time it would be that one of us was exiting an aisle and the other would nearly bump into them. I was polite enough to continue saying the thing that you say when you get in someones way. They opted for the rude person's way. Say nothing and carry on.

When my purchases were complete I headed for the cheater's check-out (once again Lawn & Garden area). Low and behold who should be right in front of me. It was my big chance...I could ram my cart right into rude lady's very large behind. By accident of course. They had 3 things in their cart. He argued every price with the cashier. The other check-out opened and I tried to get around her to get to that aisle. I said "excuse me" 3 or 4 times. Then I nudged her. She whipped around and gave me the glare that your mother would give if you cut up in church or something. I politely explained that I was trying to get to the other aisle and asked her several times. "hmmmmphft" was all I got from her. By the time she moved her fat ass the line had other customers. They were done by this time anyway. I did my thing, walked out to my car only to find they were parked right next to me. He tried to leave his cart in back of my truck until I pointed out to him where the cart coral was. I dared not make any more stops on my way home for fear of confirming the fact that I was being followed or tested.

Stowin Away The Weekend Home

This weekend marked the last camping trip of the season. Hard to believe 5 months went by so quickly. The camper is now parked in the driveway, soon to be cleaned out and necessary repairs made and it will retire to it's winter resting spot. Toward the end of April it will be pulled out and put into use for hopefully one more year. My husband promised that he'd so some work on it as it is starting to show it's age. Plans are in the works for a new camper but it may be postponed another year. Unless of course, we should happen upon some extra $$. We did have a pleasant, low key weekend. Some good friends were absent but we did manage to have a decent fire and the TiKi torches were filled. The food as always was good and provided one lovely woman with enough gas to just about propel her from her chair several times. A side trip to the Dog Track cost me more money then I won as usual.

It was back to work this morning only to walk into a mess, or I should say several mess's. Once I got one thing straightened out we tried to work on the second problem. I knew this was serious when our Engineer was out on the line pretty much all day. I left at 3:30 and the problem still was not resolved nor did we have any production for the day so far. I called around 6pm only to find out the issue was still not resolved and he was still there. A little "joke" was going around between him and another Engineer about sending out their resumes. This issue has been holding us up for several weeks now and should have been looked at long ago. Now that we didn't make a shipment it seems to become serious. This is not entirely any one's fault as we are a little short handed in Production Support and these guys are doing more than their share of work. They are constantly in meetings and trying to juggle around a heavy work load. As operators, we can only do so much on our own and it gets extremely frustrating for us to be at work for 8-10 hours and not come close to making a production goal. But enough of that.....

Too bad for the Brewers, however they did have a winning season and provided us all with 6 months of excitement. There's always next year.
Another great Packer game yesterday. 4-0. Next week it's bring on the Bears. This could be an exciting game also. I should start getting emails any day now from my nephew the one and only Bears fan that I know. He can talk all the smack he wants to. It's not my fault he was raised corrupt.

In The Dark

Wednesday afternoon brought an out of the blue power outage for much of the South Side of Milwaukee. A power outage is never convenient, but this put a damper on my night. I had planned to get everything ready for our weekend camping trip. Instead I watched the battery operated television and lite many candles. Our power was expected back on my 8pm. Apparently the area we live in was the last to go on. From what I can figure it was around 1am. As much as I cursed out my husbands new alarm clock, the battery back-up functioned correctly. Having a power outage is live rough camping but inside your house. We found that the generator we purchased a few years ago served its purpose. We found that we are not prepared for an emergency. The generator is in the garage. I was never issued a garage key. (Man's world out there) and husband could not located the key ring with the garage key on it. We then found out how easy it is (was) to break into our garage. This has not been corrected. Then of course the brand new, never been used generator would not start. I left the area at that time. I'm no dummy.

On to Thursday...I left work to a flooded parking lot and pouring rain most of the way home. I got about a 1/2 mile from home and saw what appeared to be snow on the ground. 27th street going south was flooded, and there were small piles of white stuff all over. We had some accumulation of hail. Of course do you think I could find a camera to snap a picture. One had dead batteries and the other was out of film. The dog was a little skeptical about walking her little princess paws through the pile of hail on the deck.

It's off for the last weekend of camping this year. The weather seems promising. Hopefully the bee's will have left the area already. I seem to have caught my husbands cold so I may just plop my self in a lawn chair and let the sun take over.

Crappy Day

Why does one have to have a bad day? Is it just to off-set the good days you have? I know everything can't always be peaches & cream but come on now, what's wrong with a streak of good luck?

Yesterday for example was a good day. We did the Save the Boob's walk. The weather was good, the company was good and the Packer Game, refreshments and company after the walk was good. My hurting feet were okay after an hour or so and when we got home I did a few things around the house and actually sat down and watched some television.

Today was a different story. It started out okay, until I got to work. It was like I was being tested for just how much I could take before I blew. We all know that it's takes a little to yank my chain, and yank it they did today. I first off remembered that a girl who originally started on 1st and then went to 3rd was coming back to 1st today. I had trained her on 1st and she is hard to train. She kept asking all of us to be patient with her and apparently I was the only one who could be as I kept having to work with her. After a few hours today it hit me...she is not much further along then she was when she left our shift originally. She still asks the same questions and still has to show me every roll that she has a question on. My nerves were frayed within 2 hours.

On our schedule it stated that 1st shift was to do a change-over this morning. When I came in I inquired about this and it was confirmed that the changeover would be taking place. This required about 2 hours of switching materials and dies. Not a big deal when everyone takes a task and does it. Nooo....not today. There were only two of us that knew what had to be done. It was bogged down by having to train others. This is not a bad thing, as people need to learn this equipment. But when you have a higher up questioning your every move it can be a little tense. When you have parts of the equipment that do not function correctly it can be tense. About 3/4 of the way through the change-over the big boss comes in and is pissed that we're changing over (he wants answers as to why) as we didn't make the order we were supposed to. I stood there holding material that I was webbing through the machine, just waiting for him to tell me to change back. He mumbled something about the communication sucking around this place and left. Nothing went good. The entire work day was shit! I need to learn not to take things like that so personal, but when I have a crappy day there it bothers me. I'm constantly thinking of what I could have done differently, to make it better. After much thought today I came up with the answer. I should have stayed home.

A Day With Dylan

I was called upon today for Grandma duty. When Dylan was a baby I had him at least 5 times a week for 4 or 5 hours a day. It started to dwindle off as he got older. We had a bond. There were things we did together and memories we made. We stayed very involved in his sports activities and have a "grand kids spend the night" about once a month. Today I was asked to pick him up at his coach's house and my son would meet us back at home to pick him up. As we were having my daughter's birthday tonight I opted to keep him around until then.

I went to pick him up and realized that he's not that little baby anymore. It was around 8 years old that my son stopped giving me a kiss goodbye when I dropped him off at school. It was as we were driving up, but not in front of his friends. I walked into the coach's yard and Dylan came up to me and we walked to the truck. As we were getting into the truck without asking I got my hug and kiss. I had to make a stop at Kohls (big sale STB) and taking Dylan to the store used to entail him asking for something. Nothing...not so much as a book or toy. No complaining that I was taking to long, no heavy sighing..just idle talk. On we went to Culver's. He wanted to know if I minded if he also got a sundae.

When we got home I started thinking about how bored I used to get at my grandparents house. My Grandpa would always take us for a walk to the park, but if he wasn't home Grandma was not very entertaining. He pretty much amuses himself. We played a few games on the computer and a card game or two. Around the time my daughter and family were scheduled to arrive he went outside and sat on the front steps. This got to me as I remember when he would sit on the steps and wait for Arnie to come home from work. I went outside and sat with him and told him about how he'd wait for Grandpa to come home. As we were sitting there he leaned his head on my arm and simply said " I love you Grandma". Not to much could have made my day any better.

Tomorrow is the Race for The Cure walk. Ms. Gambino informed me tonight that she intends to sprint the last 3 blocks. I'll be the one trying to catch up to her. There's still time to donate to this cause!

What Is A Friend?

A few times a week I will receive emails with all this stuff about being friends. At the end of these email is always the message "If you are my friend I will get this back". They're all cute and say meaningful things but chances are if you send me one you will get my standard reply. "I do not have to prove I'm you're friend by sending this back to you". That to me proves I put more effort into the friendship then just clicking and forwarding back. I received one today which really got me thinking. What is a friend? Am I a worthy friend? I came up with some thoughts about the friends I have and why I care for them:

I'll do the mushy ones first. You hurt when your friends hurt. You can talk to your friends about anything. You can laugh and cry with your friends. You care enough about your friends to inquire as to the state of their spouse, children and parents. You can joke about misfortunes but yet realize the seriousness of them. You can be a sounding board and a listener. You will go out of your way to hook up with them. You will fill their Ti Ki torches. You will give it your all on you first pudgy pie cooking experience. You will make sure your friends are warm and have enough to drink. You do not lie to your friends. You will not let harm come to your friends or someone will be in the doghouse. You will accept phone calls at any time and under any conditions from your friends. Even though you don't care for their favorite team you find joy in their celebration of victory. You don't have to talk to them everyday to know your friendship in intact. You don't hurt them. You can tell when your friend has had a bad day and can usually talk them through it. You appreciate the friend that talks you through it. You all like the same drunken songs( or at least you pretend to). You have similar morals. You pick out the same clothes from catalogs. You can pass on shopping tips.

And that my friends is all I got!

Woke Up...Fell Out Of Bed

This song was in my head all day (no points for the artist as I'm on it). The story is simple...Around 1am this morning I heard a loud thud and a groan. Yes folks, once again my husband took a tumble. As I try not to laugh while writing this, I remember rolling over and seeing him on the floor flat on his face. I did not laugh!. I had concern as he didn't move for a moment. He then made a hasty run to the bathroom. He came out moments later with a nice gash right on his eyebrow line. The man was injured. I still did not laugh ( I was a bit groggy which could explain that). I inquired as to whether or not the ER was in need. He said he'd let me know in the morning. There wasn't really any blood, just a nice gash. Morning rolled around and at first I didn't remember it. That is until I was in the shower and immediately started chuckling to myself. When I got out and woke him up I could tell he was in a little bit of pain, so I had to compose myself. I also expressed my concern in him going and having this checked out, which I knew was falling on deaf ears. Upon my arrival home tonight I noticed that it was not taken care of. Some Neosporin was blobbed on it. This is a good thing. I was told that no doctor visit was in order...."It will heal". I then noticed a large rip in his pants. He had a bad day!

My drive to work found me switching radio stations as usual. I held up through the long commercial break only to be amused by the Beatles much fitting for the day song. I haven't figured out how to tell him that yet. Not sure he's in that kind of mood. I'm also not real sure how to pad the floor and night stand next to the bed to prevent this from happening again.

Who Turned The Heat Off?

Yes folks, it was cold. We've camped in mid-September before but this was late October weather. On the way out there I discovered that I had brought along the wrong tennis shoes. Hey we were meeting up at Cousins and how convenient that Kohls was a few doors down. I sent the hubbie in for the subs and made a bee-line for the store. I got a great deal on the shoes and while walking to the check-out saw an entire rack of thermal shirts on sale also. Picked up two which totally came in handy for the frigid weekend. A bargain was had.

Friday night was nippy, but with good company and a nice roaring fire I managed to stay warm. The heat was turned on in the camper and I had my crocheted blanket from my mommy. I'm sure I looked like a mummy as my hood from my sweatshirt was up and the blanket was covering my face. I sleep the furthest from the heater on the outside wall of the camper so I'm always the coldest. Sometime you gotta take one for the team.

Saturday we were joined by P & K and we hit the picnic area. Sweatshirts came off as the sun was warm and boche ball was played. R & I took the win. I must again apologize to K for the bobbled throwing of the Palino. Hope she's healing well! Somehow I managed to get a little sunburn on my face despite the cold. It wasn't as chilly Saturday night due to no wind and again a roaring fire. We must have all had our share of fresh air as everyone pooped out early. The mosquitoes were out for awhile but the bees were annoying. Once again, good friends, good food and a good time.

Next camping trip is planned for the last weekend in September. Hopefully it won't be snowing by then. The only thing that could have made this one bad would have been rain. Cold and rain don't mix well when camping. You just get the "never can get warm again" feeling.

Don't forget the run/walk Race for the Cure this weekend. A group of us are walking with my sister-in-law Gambino and in support of many others. You can donate to this cause by visiting

Komen Milwaukee Race for the Cure® . We registered and picked up our shirts today. I chuckled when the woman asked me if I wanted to be timed. I shall walk with my friend and try to keep the pace. There's a Packer Game to be watched by noon so that will get me
motivated to keep my ass moving.

Other than that it's back to work tomorrow. I'm still wondering how weekends can go by so fast.

The Possum Has Left The Yard

I'm pretty much thinking that the trap can be returned. It's pretty obvious that the possum has either left, is way to damn smart for that trap or different bait needs to be used. There in my driveway sits one big old empty lonely trap.

Had a pretty busy weekend. I just know that when my alarm went off at 5am this morning I wanted to throw it. My drunken Omega dinner did not sit well. Someone neglected to hang the phone up on the charger all the way and it kept beeping every 1/2 hour or so. Rather than reach over and fix it, someone just moaned every time it beeped.

I think we need to train Sadie to handle a few things around this house. Kind of like earning her keep. This laying around all day long crap has got to end. She needs a purpose in life, a goal, something to do all day. I seriously thought about setting up a video camera just to see what she does. She is in the same spot when I get home that she was when I left in the morning. There's nothing chewed or out of place and she'd pretty much penned in the same three rooms everyday. Our bedroom is off limits as she thinks she owns the bed. What cracks me up is when she gets up and moves from one area to another, lays down and lets out this huge sigh. Is it boredom, is she depressed? I also can't figure out how they say that a dog will forget what they did within a few minutes, but yet she will sit by the basement door and cry until we open it. Down she goes and retrieves the bone she left down there the day before.

Good weekend in sports except for Dylan's game. They lost 31-20. The coaches forfeited in the 4th quarter as three of the players were injured. Not seriously, but enough that they didn't want them to play. All that matters is that the kids had fun. I'm not quite sure I'm going to make it through the season listening to the step-grandfather trying to call all the shots from the sidelines. I'll just have to do a lot of walking up and down the sidelines so as not to hear his big dumb ass mouth. He is the equal of the annoying fan in the stands minus the beer.

Lean & the 5 S's

We are going through some changes in our manufacturing practices at work. At first, I was a little doubting that this would work. I still am. Don't get me wrong, I am all for finding a way to make things run smoother because Lord knows I am getting tired of the overtime. When I started my working career it was as a papergirl. My own boss I was. If I didn't get my ass out to collect I didn't have money. If I didn't treat my customers nicely, I didn't get tips. Things were good for a short time until I wanted more money and all my friends worked at the local Arthur Treacher's. I joined the team. For 1 1/2 years I was the smiling girl behind the counter. I reeked of fried fish and found that my life would not be in the fast food industry. I then went on to work at a Hardware Store. That was short lived as the manager of the store was a fucking pig and hit on everyone that worked there. I don't think there were many laws supporting sexual harassment back then or I know my dad would have had this guys ass in jail. I took a little break , graduated High School and went to work full time the day after my graduation as a secretary. Seven years. I did like that job but the company was going downhill. Had second child and went on to work in the manufacturing industry.

I can't say I don't like this industry as I do. I more so enjoy the R&D part of it. I'm into wanting to know how things work and trying to get them to run more smoothly and efficiently. I have learned that this is not possible without the support of everyone involved. When I worked at ET they would constantly implement new programs only to have them wash away within a month or so. As Production Leaders we were constantly required to attend self-improvement meetings/class's only to have that all wash away also. So at times I may go into something with not such a positive attitude. Yesterday I saw this negative attitude from one of my co-worker/friends.

We have a fairly new Process Engineer who was given the job of trying to make some sense of our new line. I like the guy, but he needs to assert his authority rather than shrink back. I like the fact that he is all for input from the operators and does listen to us. He has his butt out on the line and is known to help out. We run several different products on this line and yesterday we were changing products. He had a plan. His plan came from a book. I was also given this book to read and read it I did (Lean Manufacturing & the 5 S'S). My co-worker was also given the book, claims she read it but I have my doubts. I could see what he was attempting to do and I went along with it. She fought it tooth and nail. He came to me a little upset and expressed his anger toward her not wanting to cooperate. No one else but her had a problem with his plan. I told him that if he could get this change over more organized and down to 1/2 half the time it was taking us that he should consider it a success for now. My attempt to explain to her to just go along with it and if it does not work it's not our fault, fell on deaf ears. I'm thinking that she may has just been having some major PMS issues or that this was a power struggle. At any rate I was out of there at 3pm yesterday and things were still moving slowly. I guess on Monday at the changeover process meeting I will be filled in on all the details.

Speaking of mosquittos...I think had I stood in the Applebee's parking lot for one more minute they may have carried me away. Holy Crap! Next weekend is a camping weekend. I'm hoping for a frost before that. The weather is supposed to cool down a bit and stay dry. I was told today that the requirements of each camper is one can of Yard Guard. The little bastards are so hungry that I doubt it'll help.

Dylan has his first football game of the season today, grandma must go cheer.

The Trap Is Set

I had some crappy hours today. 9am to 7pm. The day went by fast as we're short-handed and a little busy. Actually the last hour dragged by. That's the point when we're all stocked up and just waiting for the next shift to come in at 6:59. Then of course you have to go through the events of the day and hear some boring chit-chat before you can leave. I got myself a little extra ot by not actually punching out until 7:20. I was immediately attacked when I walked out the door by the giant blood thirsty mosquito's. That's pretty much the topic around Milwaukee and outlying areas this past few days.
I managed to get myself behind a sheriff pretty much the entire way home. I was fine with that as he was cruising between 65-70 most of the way. I just chuckle at the brake lights when people see a cop. It just says "I was speeding" all over it.
I was informed when I got home tonight that the "trap has been set". I need to "stay away from it" when I got out in the morning. If I hear hissing or squealing I should just ignore it. Between us...I have not intention of messing with the trap or what's in it. It's baited with the neighbors tomato's as they figure that the possum is the creature eating all their tomato's. Duh..why should he go to the trap for them when they're right out in the open. I'm not sure what's to become of the ugly rat but I'm sure it will make it's way back eventually. It's probably out there right now sitting on top of the trap, legs crossed and munching down some delicious tomato's fresh from the garden.
It appears that we have vandals in the hood. Two cars on our street had their windshields smashed last night. This isn't the first time. It seems every couple years someone goes on a little window smashing spree. They don't take anything, just cause you the inconvience of shattered glass, calling the travling glass man to fix it, and your loss of work or $$. Some people have to get their rocks off in different ways!

Booing the Boys

Does a die-hard baseball fan boo at their team? Do we boo because of a bad decision a manager made or is it at the actual players? I could see if they were standing in the outfield counting the blades of grass or staring at the girls ta-ta's in the stands( that job is for STB and his friend) but these guys seem pretty intent in winning a game. While watching the game Monday I was a little angered at the booing after the game. What kind of fans does Milwaukee have? It's actually disrespectful and down right rude. I'll admit I booed in the past for players on other teams, but I've never stood with my hands around my mouth booing my own team. How rude! Good game tonight.

So who wants to wager on how long the possum will take to get back to our house once it is trapped and let loose elsewhere? I was chatting with someone at work today that told me that they had trapped a raccoon once and first took it 1 mile away, then about 2 1/2 and the third and final time took it over 5 miles away. He claims he knew it was the same one. They all look the same to me. (no pun intended) So maybe this weekend when the great possum hunter sets out the trap and then wonders what the mess to do with the hissing animal the next morning I should just stand back and not say I told you so. Somehow I picture him running past the window several times with this thing stuck to his body. Here's to you Mr. Excuse Me But Can You Get This Possum Off My Back Man.

Baseball It Is

I can't even say it was a dilemma. Pre-season football vs. the Brewers playing the Cubs. I choose the Brewers. I tuned into the game at the end of the first quarter, checked the score, saw that Rogers was in and switched back to the Brewer game. Not a big fan of #12. There's money involved in the football game but not much excitement in watching it.

The wonderful people I work for were so gracious as to let us out at 3pm today. That's twice this week. I am so rushed when working until 5 that I didn't know how to handle getting out 2 hours early. My first thought was to do some shopping. That was short lived as I can squeeze that in this weekend. Second thought was go home and read an Operators Manual that was given to me at work. That went down the tubes. I opted to catch Dylan's football practice.

I found myself seated on my lawn chair in between my son and his current girlfriend and Dylan's mom and her husband. They all get along well but the subject of who gets Dylan on what days for Christmas came up. This is a hassle that I went through for years with my ex also. After listening to them for awhile my head started to hurt. I thought to myself...this is 4 months away, let's let it go for another few months. She has a large family that needs to understand the Dylan can't be at every one's house. My family understands. But when her husband busted in with "My parents and grandparents want to see him on Christmas also" I snapped inside. I have natural grandparent rights. There are a lot of times that I back off as I don't want Dylan to feel this pressure. He's a kid and shouldn't have to. But if you tell me that I have to step aside so a step-grandparent is not unhappy it jerks my chain. My son's girlfriend has the right idea-she takes him to her families home a day or two before the holiday so as not to add anymore visits to the boy's already full plate. The final outcome was to find out who's doing what and when and talk about it at a later date. Let's focus on the reason we came to the football practice. We then switched to the bickering over who he was going home with after practice. It seems he's been with his dad for the past 4 days and mom wanted him to come to her house before she turned his bedroom into a den. As we were leaving I decided to settle the whole thing and told him to hop in my car. His plan was that I'd take the day off tomorrow and we'd go fishing. It was tempting. In the end the torn between his parents child went home with Mom. His parting words to his dad "Pick me up at 7am tomorrow Dad". Ahhhh the memories.

Buy A Truck!

I had to make a stop at the local garden center after work today. During my shopping I happened to notice a couple purchasing a large tree. The thing was hanging out of a shopping cart. I wondered why as the store has several wagon type carts that they could have stood the tree up in. As I was loading my four bags of wood chips into my truck (I am so glad I'm not a girlie girl and can hoist these things up) I saw the couple attempting to load the large tree into the back of some type of hatch back car. It wasn't going to happen. They were arguing quite loudly. She wanted to call someone, he was sure they could get this thing home. I overheard her say they had to go all the way to Highway 100 and Morgan. Ding!! There is a Steins Garden Center on Highway 100 and Beloit. I thought of mentioning that to them but I figured why add fuel to the fire.

I've come to the conclusion that all the weathermen should say on a daily basis is : A chance of rain. That would cover their ass. I watched the weather this morning and heard nothing about rain today. I listened to the weather on the way to work and heard "chance of rain tomorrow". It sure did rain. I'm not sure what was going on but the weather radio at work was going nuts around 11 am. Obviously there was no need to take cover or someone would have run out and told us.

The camping trip was a good time. The hot firemen at Muster Fest were pleasant to the eye. A fan may have come in handy a few times (to keep the bees away). I found the Grumpy Troll Bar to be a little stuffy. I found the dive bar to be fun. Thankfully we only had rain upon our arrival, the rest of the weekend was great weather. I had doubts that raccoons still existed as we hadn't seen any evidence of them so far this year. They made a little visit to us on Saturday night. Ken was able to save the cake but the little rats made off with a bag of Doritos (we never found them) and a bag of bad peanuts (which we found a few feet into the woods). I partially blame this on us for leaving the stuff out in the first place. See what happens when E doesn't come and Ken goes to bed early. There is no one on food patrol.

I have found my Bible and highliter and will be reading and highlighting all the "knows" in the Good Book. I found that bit of trivia to be quite interesting and amusing. I must though share one verse I have found so far: Genesis Chapter 4 vs 1- And Adam knew Eve his wife: and she conceived, and bare Cain. This is as much as I read today