I'm Outta Here

In 11 hours I will be flying away from Milwaukee where it could be snowing and heading for Phoenix where it will be sunny and warm. I think I could label this a cheater prelude to summer. I look forward to this but don't look forward to the boring plane ride. I get the thrill at take off but once in the air boredom sets in. I have problems reading on a plane and staring out the window is only good for so long. This is where the portable DVD player comes in handy. My daughter is supposed to be borrowing it from my grandson. Something is terribly wrong when an 8 year old has better electronic equipment then his 50 year old grandmother. If that doesn't come true I'll be renting one and hoping it's some type of good movie. Snakes on A Plane won't fly with me.

I was scheduled to work 8 hours today but when we weren't running from 830 and 11 was getting closer I did the deed and took 1/2 day of vacation. I'm glad I did as there was a lot of things I needed to get done yet. At the moment the sky has opened up to dump some more rain on us and our power has flickered several times already. Glad I got the laundry done so I didn't have to leave it for the hubby. My guess is it would still be sitting there when I got home. I was kind enough to clean the house for him. He's pretty good about not making a huge mess. I'm sure that next Saturday he'll shovel out the food wrappers, start the dishwasher and throw all the dirty clothes down the magic chute.

It's been a pretty stormy night so far. Sadie is a little nervous which is unusual as a good thunderstorm usually doesn't bother her. Maybe in her older age she's getting to be a worry wart. I did go to look for a flashlight just in case the power should go out. Found two of them, both with dead batteries. I have resorted to finding a few candles. The annoying weather alert on my husbands alarm clock has gone off a million times already tonight. I still can't believe I bought that damn thing.

On the local radio station I listen to on my commute to work they got on the subject of American Idol. I'm not a big fan of the show and will watch the first week or so and then if I think of it will watch the final few shows. Paula annoys the crap out of me. She always sounds like she's whining and ready to break into tears. This morning the DJ commented that her breasts look unusually large and pushed up the other night. "As if her chin was resting on two pillows". That was comfirmed at work this morning by a few of the guys. I'm finding that more men at work watch the show then women.

Hope you all have a great week. Go Brewers!

Dad Is Good

My dad was released from the hospital today with an rx for medication. He did not require any surgery. He did have three strokes, two which he can account for. The speech therapist came in to see him and told him by the time he saw her for his appointment next week that he'd probably be back to normal with his speech. When I talked to him today he sounded much better. A big improvement from Sunday night. Now if we can just get him to take it easy he'll probably be okay.
They both seem to go through a lot when one of us visit's and I tried to convince them that I need nothing special. I just want to bask in the sun and relax. We'll see how well they listen. As he puts it " He'll listen as well as I did as a child". I find that unfair as I did listen (to him). He had a way of making you feel really guilty when you did something wrong (without talking).

So I am as well as my siblings very relieved. Thank's to all of you for your concern and well wishes. It just beats us up that they're so far away. We've had the talk before about them moving back and I can see it in their faces that they are not ready to give up their independence yet. My parents are both very stubborn and have very rarely asked for help from anyone. (some of that may have rubbed off on a few of us). There may be some convincing that maybe coming up here for the warmer seasons might just be a good idea. I remember my parents going through this with my grandfather. He lived part time in Florida and at 85 was still driving back and forth. Had he not had complications I'm sure he would still be doing so. I was told that all is well now as they have On Star in their car. That makes me feel so much better (not). So now instead of flying into Phoenix in case of an emergency I can have the airline pilot drop me off in the desert some where between Phoenix and Laughlin.

I took the liberty to pack early just in case. Probably not a bad idea aa I have already thought of several things I had forgotten. I did see the weather forecast for Milwaukee on Monday. 46 sounds a little chilly.

The Stroke

Finally we had a great weekend weather wise. The rain forecasted for Saturday never happened. Instead we had a full afternoon of sun and temperatures in the high 50's. We caught our grandson's baseball scrimmage, when each and every one of the boys is hoping to get the position they really want. Dylan started out on 3rd base and in the 3rd inning went to catcher. He did a good job and should be splitting this duty with another boy. Hopefully he can maintain that position as he is happy and seems at home there.

I managed to clear the remainder of the fall leaves from the yard yesterday. When I finished I remembered the the helicopters will be falling within the next week or so which means I'll be right back at it. I threw all the neighbor kids balls over the fence to their yard and noticed that Sadie only poked a tooth hole through one of them. I don't even feel bad about it any more as they've been warned. At one point last summer I was stupid enough the replace the ball. I have now seen the youngest purposly toss the ball over the fence. Although his father did yell at him, he continues to do it.

Last night I received a call from my mother that dad was in the hospital. He was having some difficulty speaking and felt dizzy. My parents are not one's to tell us all the details of their health (mom's breast cancer that they didn't want to worry us about). Of course receiving this call was a little bit of a shock. My dad had a heart attack about two years ago and I spent some time out there checking things out. He had shown improvement and was on medication which he was weaned off of within a year. He continues to walk daily and while walking the other day felt out of breath and dizzy. Of course he didn't tell anyone until after he landed in the hospital yesterday. After talking to my mother and siblings I didn't feel I could fall asleep without talking to him. He was his usual humerous self yet was having some speech problems. The staff made the mistake this morning of telling him he'd be having some additional tests this morning. As of 3 pm our time he was still waiting. The tests they ran this morning showed he had suffered 3 strokes. Hmmm...guess that walking incident should have been reported. Regardless he's waiting on one more test which will determine whether he will have surgery or be home tomorrow. His speech was much improved this afternoon. For right now the doctor is calling this aphasia.

Maybe it's a stroke of luck that I'm heading out there on Saturday. I'll have to be pretty nosey and check things out. I'm not sure what if any limitations he'll have. Knowing dad he'll work hard at getting better and will soon be taking his walks again.

The Count Down Begins

I fetched the suitcase from the attic today. In nine more days I will be venturing out to Sun City West with my daughter to visit my parents. (that is if MidWest can hold on for that long). The last time I used this particular suitcase would have been last April when I went there. I was pretty sure I cleaned it out well. It has a ton of side pockets and when inspecting them I found : 2 brand new pair of socks (bonus), 5 quarters (must have been all I had left from the Casino) the comb I had looked for, my Gold Nugget players club card (there's points on there) and a pencil from the Colorado Belle (I think I was going to give that to J) After those finds I dug more hoping to find money. I came up empty. I'm in complete hope that this vacation will do my daughter good. She is still not fully recovered from her back surgery last May. I'm in complete hope that we'll get there and she'll be able to relax and have a good week. I may need to get a wheelchair to get her to and from the plane. I picture her in the wheelchair with suitcases piled up on her lap. I'll try to leave her a little room to see where we're going.

Last week my husband offically started his summer hours. He now works Monday through Thursday. He will be off every Friday until the end of August. I'm just a tad bit jealous. More so on Friday morning when I'm leaving for work and he lets out the overly dramatic yawn. We went a few years at work with 4 day work weeks and the Fridays off were nice. Last summer we went back to 5 days. There was an attempt to go to 4 days this summer which was shot down for reasons I won't get into. Maybe it's best that I'm not home on Fridays as the porch demolition has begun it's next stage. I came home yesterday and saw the back of his truck loaded with insulation and the carpeting from the porch. He is now starting to break up the cement. I think the jack hammer is coming into use soon. I'll figure that out when I get home and he has what appears to be a nervous twitch and stutters.

Good trivia night last night. We were able to take first place and collect another gift certificate. Good weather, good friends, free beer= good time.

She's In Her Glory

The weather Gods have finally decided that it's time to give us a little taste of brighter things to come. The sun is out in it's full glory today. It could be a tad warmer but we must be patient and take what we can get for now. The rest of the week looks promising. We could reach 65 tomorrow. I let my dog out around 1pm today and she seems to have found her favorite spot on the deck. I've gone to let her in several times and she's just sprawled out under the sun looking so comfortable. I figure within the next hour or so she'll be at the door. This also means that the rabbits and squirrels will once again overtake our back yard while Sadie basks in the sun.

I made a trip to the newly opened Woodmans this weekend. For all the hype I didn't find it very impressive. Keep in mind that I hate to grocery shop in the first place. But I had heard so many great things about it that I figured I'd check it out. Here are some things that I observed.
#1) The prices are a bit lower than P&S.
#2) The produce was not as great as I had been told. All the bananas were green, the oranges were not huge as I was told and nothing appeared cheaper than else where. You want good produce visit Sendiks.
#3) The entire store is like a maze. The 2 aisles of bread are just one aisle and two square displays. There is more of a selection of breads but most of us get stuck on a few certain brands of bread and don't really switch to often.
#4) The bakery is mostly imported things. I saw Grebes, Muerer's and a few different Kringle places. It didn't appear that they do their own baking.
#5) The deli did not have a very big selection. All the salads are packaged.
#6). Almost everyone I walked by had the same look of confusion on their faces. The women mostly had smiles, the men had the "Get me the hell out of here" look.
#7) If you are looking for any type of ethnic food you will find it here. One aisle each dedicated to Mexican or Asian. One aisle, both sides dedicated to all natural food items.
#8) It has the warehouse shopping appearence. I was looking for the crayons to write the prices on what I was buying.
#9) Checkouts are slow. The girls are still learning. However they are friendly enough.
#10) If you work there you will get a lunch break. They will announce for a relief cashier to take over on lane whatever for a lunch break.

I would say that it may be worth a second visit if I am in the area, but it's not worth the drive just to go there. I didn't go into the liquor area (which is seperate) but it looked pretty big. So for now it's the usual P&S or Sentry for me. If I feel like grocery shopping.

The Purse

With enough comments from my friends about my suitcase sized purse I went in pursuit today. With my 30% off coupon that came in the mail along with the Kohls advertisment I made a slight detour on my way home from work. This is anal I know but I have to find just the right purse. I may purchase one once every 6 months or so and I do not have a collection of them. I have the every day purse, the casino purse, the wedding purse and another smaller standby purse. I need my everyday purse to be large enough to hold more than just a tube of lipstick and it has to have a shoulder strap. I'm not about the small strap that you cock your arm and walk around like an old blue hair. I'm also not about the purse matching the shoes or the seasonal purses. (white or cream in summer, dark in winter). Not happening here.

I made my way through the purse aisle. I knew this was no easy task. This thing has to be sturdy, not gaudy (hate big buckles or any decoration on them). Just simple brown or black with a shoulder strap. I don't need the added extra cell phone case or checkbook holder. After about 1/2 hour of pulling out just about every purse in the section I was almost ready to give up when I spotted it. The Vera Wang purse. Not sure how I missed that small rack the first time through. It may have been because I looked at the prices. But I consider what I got a bargin. Or shall I say with the sale price and extra 30% off and the balance on a gift card I paid what I would have paid for a normal purse. Not as long of a strap as I wanted but I did downsize. I can fit a tube of lipstick and a lighter in it.

Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo

What can you say about Opening Day? The weather was good, the crowd watching was great and the Brewers won.

We left Ben and Nannettes house around 9 ish and began the trek to the stadium. We had bets on what time we would actually hit the lot. 10:30 was the magic time. Don't know who won that as I don't think we ever put money on it. We were able to enjoy a few cocktails and dogs before going into the game. We were also able to do some crowd watching. The hairy bearded man in the tan colored skirt walked by a few times. There was a guy with a "Virgin Tailgater" shirt on that was pretty funny.

We had good seats thanks to Nannette and her connections. Did I mention someone stole her jersey. Yes folks walking over the bridge right in front of us was a man with "Gambino" across his jersey. I pointed it out to her but I think she refrained in taking it back due to the crowd. We sat up by Bernie which gave us a good view of the game. We were in a small section which was good for entering and exiting. There was a good crowd of people around us which made for a better time.

We lost the boys for a while. On a trek to smoke we got all the way to the smoking section and realized they were no longer behind us. When they did finally show up we were ready to head back in. My husband in his drunkedness tried to convince us that there was a shorter route. I've been the victim of his shorter routes in the past so opted to go back the same way. On our way back Nannette and I were behind 3 men until one reached over a felt up on of the others ass. Quick veer off to the left passing lane and we were outa that view. Needless to say we did beat the boys back. A good 5 minutes ahead. They took a wrong turn. This is why I will not follow a drunk.

When we got back to our seats there were a few differend faces. Or may a few more drunken faces. There was a guy in front of us, I'd say maybe in his early 20's that struck up a conversation. He made note that I looked unhappy because my beer was empty and he wanted to find the beer guy so he could buy me a beer and make me happy. After he left my husband was joking around about my "flirting" with the young lad. I was then labeled "Mrs. Robinson". He thought it was funny (it was a little). I didn't think so at first. We all know what Mrs. Robinson was. Priceless was the look on his face when I said "Mrs. Robinson was a whore". I guess you could just say it was my way of getting back at the situation.

Speaking of drunkenstines, the man just got up. He looks like hell. This should be a good day. I'm off to watch my grandson's baseball practice.

Go Brewers

The boys pulled it off! I got to listen to the game on the way home from work due to the rain delay and then capped it off watching the last few innings at home. It was a bit of a nail biter but I had complete faith they'd pull it off. I did get to catch Braun's little slip on his way to first base and Weeks get hit twice while at bat. Oh yeah, and Prince's little mishap at first base. The scowl on his face showed he'd do something the next time at bat. Good game for what I saw of it.
Hopefully they will play well for our home opener Friday. Hopefully the weather will hold up enough that I won't have to chip the ice off my brat or hot dog while tailgating. Looking forward to Friday.

I have a friend at work that is a huge Cub's fan so we'll trade a little smack talk tomorrow. Actually he talks smack..I just extend my sympathy at the loss.

Snow is in the forecast for tonight. Nothing of measurable amounts but it shows we're not in the clear yet. It's 26 days before I leave for Arizona which is usually a weather shock for me. Getting on a plane when it's in the 40's here and landing in 85-90 degree weather there. A week of the same and it's back on the plane and back to maybe the 50's by then. I know that when I go there is usually a day or so of 70's up here so it's like a prelude to spring.

One of these times I'm going to plan a trip around when the Brewers play in Arizona so I can take my dad to a game. He's been there 15 years and not yet been to a baseball game. I blame that on my mother as she finds no fun in going to games. She'd probably be bitching at my dad the whole time for dropping his peanut shells on the ground. One would think she knows nothing of sports at all but she can tell you how the teams down there are doing. Know's the guys by name also. I guess that happens when you read 4 different papers on a daily basis and watch the news several times a day. She just never was one for going to any type of sporting event or allowing popcorn or peanuts to be eaten anywhere else but the kitchen table.

Not Seeing Eye to Eye

After spending a Friday night out with friends, Saturday was spent quietly. I'm such a bore that I was in bed by 10:30 watching a movie that I think I saw the opening credits on. I was up bright and early today and suggested we go to the Home & Garden Show for some ideas for the porch.

These shows kill me as maybe 30% of the exhibitors have something to do with remodeling. The rest range from cooking demos, sheets (??) lots of Asian guys selling sheets, the newest in mops and a few crafters. There were 3 places that actually had to do with sunrooms so we did manage to get some ideas.

After that we went to Southridge, or as my husband would put it "I dragged him to the mall". We had a few birthday gifts to purchase and rightfully so he should help with these things. Besides with the price of gas I wasn't about to take him home and go back. It was kind of a round trip thing. I did buy him lunch at the Red Robin which I found to be a bit over priced and over rated. My chicken sandwich was bland and dry. One of the basketball games was on while we were there and we sat right under a tv. I had to chuckle as almost every guy facing the tv was absorbed in the game rather then the family they were sitting with. The wife and kids would be chattering away and dad would be focused on the tv.

I made this kick butt dinner of chuck roast, taters and fresh mushrooms which was in the slow cooker from 9am until 5. I'm not a big beef eater but it was good. It was at that point that I could see trouble brewing. We began to discuss brick for the bottom half of the porch. I though it should match the siding. He thinks it should match the brick on the front of the house which is a peachy sandstone color. WAWAWA WHat?? was my response. There was complete silence. I then mentioned that I would be tagging along to the store for any purchases made. WHile I'm in Arizona I will be freezing the bank account and hiding any credit cards he has. There will be no peachy/pinky sandstone colored brick in my porch. He explained that it should match the house. The back and sides of the house are done in light gray and white. Someone help me!!!

The Wrecking Crew

As I'm sitting here typing I can hear the faint sound of the demolition of the screen porch. I'm a little nervous. The window treatments have come down and at last look the ceiling tiles and framing for the tiles were starting to come down also. This must be a spurt of energy on my husbands part as I didn't expect this to begin happening for a least another month. My questioning brough a stern look and the reply that he wanted to get this started while everything was dead. I assume he's talking about the possible wasp nest that may be between the walls.

He's just left to purchase "Industrial Bags" for the insulation. This may get farther than I thought. Earlier I assisted with carrying the chairs down to the basement. This was the first thoughts on how much I'm going to miss the porch. I vowed I would be patient but it may be difficult. I just picture this mud hole when it starts to rain. I think he's on a roll as he'll be renting a Bobcat to do some work and this excites him in a way only a man could relate to (so I'm told).

Yesterday he spent the afternoon at the book store and Best Buy for a program on drawing up plans. I noted a sketch pad was purchased and spralled out on the kitchen table with numerous "Self Help" books. I asked if he was going to need to purchase a drafting table and got a nasty look. I have complete faith that he can do this, but he has a habit of not finishing things as he gets bored with them. Two days before J's birthday party he painted the railing on the basement steps that he started two years ago. He may have no choice in the porch as my parents are coming this summer and he'll feel the need to complete it by then.

I don't usually write reviews on bars but I must mention that we stopped at the City Lounge last night for the basketball game. Nice place. Plenty of room, a lot of tv's, good service and a good crowd. A little more pricey then I'm used to but it was a step up from the corner bar. They have a good choice of beer and Jo tried some type of rasberry Ale that was a little to sweet for my liking. It would have to be a one shot deal or my stomach would be churning. Because I don't really like many types of beer I didn't really scan the list for what they actually had , so no review on beers here.

The demo has resumed so I must go see if I can be of any assistance.

A Dream or Wishful Thinking??

Every once in a while I have some really wacked out dreams. I don't eat before bed and other than the fact that I am a restless and light sleeper I see no cause for some of the crazy shit I dream.

We have a vacation planned in May to go to Rhode Island to visit Gambino's brother and family. On the way there we are driving straight through. The other night I dreamt that we arrived at their home and E (the sister-in-law) hugged everyone and then looked at me and said "God A you look like crap". I was so floored I woke up.

Last night was better. J & K, my husband and Dimmy M. took a ride in J's new car to 7 Mile Fair. Where this came from is beyond me as I hate 7 Mile Fair and haven't been there in years. Well somewhere along the way J purchased a new couch. There wasn't room in the car for this so the guys tied it to the back of the car and J proudly sat on her couch as it was being dragged on the freeway. I suggested that they drop me off first to make more room in the car. I stood at the end of my driveway waving to J as they pulled away. I then noticed that our garage door was open. I went into the house to make sure the house wasn't robbed and went back out to the garage to find the snowblower and lawnmower gone. The garage was also very clean. At this point my husband pulled in the driveway. I notified him of the missing items and he stated that it was no big deal. It was then that I noticed that his ancient snowmobile was gone. I turned to tell him and found him falling to his knees in the driveway with his hands covering his face. "Not my snowmobile...It was the only thing that mattered to me". In the dream I comforted him. In reality I was jumping for joy. Those of you who know us may find humor in this dream. This piece of crap snowmobile has followed us for 24 years. I have seen it run once. We have moved it 4 times in 24 years. There are rabbits living in it.

Now I ask you....Dream or Wishful Thinking?

The Egg Police

I went in to work early today to get out early enough to catch my Granddaughters school program. They had a wax museum. This consisted of picking a person from the past, writing a report, making a poster board and dressing as this person. She portrayed Debra Sampson. (dressed as a boy to get into the army during the Civil War and was booted out after being discovered, but later received a metal).

The Wax Museum opened at 2 and went for 45 minutes. I was amazed at how these kids (ages 9-11) sat, stood, and were able to pose for that long without moving. Her mother, my joking daughter, in trying to get her to flinch or crack a smile walked up to her and said "You smell like butt cheese". What a nice mom, but nothing..not even a flinch. She did really good.

The best part of this was seeing the kid dressed as Elvis. On the poster they had to have a time line. This kid's time line showed a date with the caption "His mom died cause she was old". I could not help but smile a bit. This is something I've never heard of being done in a school before and though all the kids did a great job.

On the way home I made a stop at a small Sentry store on the south side. I haven't been to this one in years and opted to stop there as ham was on sale and I figured the store wouldn't be to crowded. Got the ham. The aisles in the store are wide enough for just two small carts. This was no heavy duty shopping store. The deli cracked me up as I think they had maybe 10 different selections of meat and a handful of salads to choose from. I did find everything I needed. I even got the 2 dozen for $2.28 eggs. I picked up 4 dozen thinking I'd get the sale price for two and pay the regular price for the other two. WRONG!

I knew there would be some sort of trouble when I got to the checkout line. The cashier looked like someone pissed her off really bad. She saw my card and immediatly called for a bagger. I told her I could bag. Apparently I'm mute as she continued to call for a bagger before even checking anything out. I always save my eggs for last and as they were being rang up she announced loud enough for shoppers in aisle 3 to hear "There is a limit on these eggs". I told her that I was under the impression that I could purchase two at the sale price and the othersat regular price. A flat-out "NO" came from her mouth. "There is a limit" and she swiftly moved them off the belt and to the side of her register. It seemed as if she though I was going to dive for them. She then said that she'd had several customers today that she had to "pull" eggs from. I'm wondering if she got a badge at the end of the day.

So Long

Glancing through the obits this morning I saw that a former boss of mine had passed away. I graduated High School early and went to work for a medical supply company the day after I graduated. I remember the interview like it was yesterday. The co-owner was my friends mother. The place was in Franklin which at the time was like driving out to farm country. I went to the interview with basic office skills. At the time they didn't have a computer system so everything was done by good old fashioned electric typewriter and a big filing cabinet full of over-stuffed files. My job was to be taking care of billing Medicare/T19 patients and answering phones. I had no prior experience but remember thinking that things weren't very organized.
"Terry & Gene" made me feel very comfortable and welcome. They were both very dedicated to their company and put a lot of trust into employees. Some of which stole from them and had some pretty crap ass ways of dealing with customers. In the 7 years that I was there I watched the company boom...and then take a huge fall due to new competition. The owner attempted to start a Solar Heat company which may have been a bit to early for people to accept. That flopped horribly and he went on to rebuild and design boats. It was a small office with a total of about 12 employees so everyone was pretty close. Their daughter came to work for them also and then her boyfriend (soon to be husband) joined the "team". Needless to say things weren't working out as they were also friends of my ex-husband and mine. Wasn't much fun working with her all day and then having them hang around at night also.

When my divorce proceedings started I felt it was time to leave the coop. Terry was very caring and understanding and we remained in contact for several years. Gene passed away two years ago, and now she's joined him.My ex remained friends with this couple and visited Terry & Gene often in Reedsburg. My kids have been to visit them also and had a good relationship with them.

I called my son today to see if his dad knew. He called me back tonight a little upset as his dad was choosing not to attend the funeral as he has a problem with the "former friends". I have always been glad that I walked away from that friendship as it was all about money and who could buy more shit. But does someone want to tell me what that has to do with paying your respects to someone who was never more than kind to you?

He's Famous...kind of

I took the grandkids to the yearly Open House at Quality Candy/Buddy Squirrel today. This year was a little different. As we approached the building there was no line. This was a plus as it was a little chilly out today. Although they were dressed warm it just felt damp and cold out. So we were able to start our trek indoors. They have a line set up where you just walk through and can see how certain things are made. You then get to a point where you can take the "Bunny Bypass" and not see the Easter Bunny. They tried to act like they were old enough not to do that this year but I could tell by the looks on their faces that they may need another year yet. So this was about a 1/2 hour detour. It was around this point that we met up with my husband. He had the camera out and ready to film them. He then walked along with us for a bit which I think makes the kids feel special as Grandpa works at this place. They get an extra sucker and a few extra samples.

We walked into one area where they sell nut mixtures and different popcorns and I had a request from my daughter to purchase some cheese corn for her. I glanced through some of the bags of nut mixes when I saw it..."Arnie's Awesome Mix". What the &*(* !. The kids spotted it also. Grandpa has his own candy mix. Their faces were priceless. Their chests puffed up and you could see pride. I just looked at him and said "YOu have a mix named after you". Mr Humble just nods and says "Yep" I had to buy it. Not sure what I'm going to do with the contents as I remember when he brought some home for us to sample and I didn't care for it all that much. I recall saying "It needs something a little sweet". When we got home I looked at it again and noticed there were some chocolate covered peanuts in it. They weren't in there before. Did he take my advice? Should it now be re-named Arnie's Awesome Mix (with a little help from his wife)? Either way, I'm a little proud. I wondered if he gets anything from it? His answer "Just my name on a bag".

Wanted: 1 Quarterback

I heard the news at 9am this morning and it spread quickly on the line. I got to witness the expressions on everyone's faces. We had a customer in from out east and it was the first thing he said to me when he walked in. He, of course being somewhat of a Packer fan himself. I myself won't believe it until the first game of the season is played and I don't see #4 running out on the field. If it all holds true then "Thanks for the ride Brett".

I had to do an interesting Grandma chore last night. My son dropped my grandson off and asked a favor of me. "Would you please take him to his "God" class. My son had to do a tile installation quote and was not sure he'd make it back in time. Not a problem, we live about 4 blocks from his church. About 10 minutes before we had to leave it started...."I don't feel good Grandma" (didn't work) "I don't get to spend a lot of time with you and Grandpa" (didn't work either). " The class is boring" (made me smile but still didn't work). "Did my dad go to these classes" (yes). I then told him that I also did and I also argued with my parents about it. I went into lecture mode and explained that no one ever suffered taking these classes and that it was a parental duty to allow their children to learn these things. That when he was old enough he could make his own decisions but for now he needed to go and actually listen to what he was being taught. There was quite a pitiful little act going on but I wasn't buying it.
The whole incident brought back the memory of me at about 8 years old fighting with my father over learning the weekly assignment and how I didn't need to know that stuff. This turned into my first attempt at running away. Where did I go? I walked the 6 or so blocks to our church. I never said I was a smart kid.
His reasoning continued up until I walked him to his class room. I told him if he still felt sick to call me and I'd come and get him, but he would have to get his homework and class work and we'd do it at home. He told me that his dad said I was a tuff one.
On the way home I had a flashback to when my son was attending his classes and the constant arguing in getting him there. This boy is a spitting image of his father. When I got home I promptly called my son to "thank" him for this wonderful duty that he put on me.
About 2 hours later I received a call from Dylan telling me that he learned about Moses and it wasn't all that bad. There is truth in your parents telling you "What comes around goes around.

Bingo! (not)

I've probably only visited our local casino 4 times in the 17 years it's been here. Three for Bingo and once with my parents. The visit with them was okay. We went during the day when the casino was not at all crowded and there were no strange smells. We went this Friday to celebrate J's birthday with a round of Bingo.
I drove down alone which is a first. My first mistake was taking 16th street. It took me longer to get from 16th & Greenfield to the Casino then it took to get from my house to 16th & Greenfield. Then to walk through the casino to the Bingo hall took forever. Through the gapers who feel the need to stand behind people playing slots and watch their every spin. Unless you're playing it's just not that exciting.

Bingo was fun. Although we seemed to be at the unlucky table. One winner of $100.00 was all we could produce. Afterwards we opted to cut out rather than stick around and try to find some slots to play. Plus I was a little turned off by the whole thing when someone felt the need to drop their ass in a crowd. Guess that's one way to clear an aisle for retreat.

Not much more of an exciting weekend. I consumed a total of 3 beers on Friday and on Saturday roamed around my house looking for something to do. Today I think my husband finally got fed up with my comments about wanting to do something and broke into a lecture about how winter is always boring and I should more or less get over it. So I opted to go and sit with my sister-in-law at the hospital with her crabby husband who is still cooped up there. A few rounds of borrowed "Go Fish" cards later I was on my way out of there also.

Some ice was chopped today which has allowed for the Roman River to flow down our driveway. Can't figure out why the porch is not leaking but there is a waterfall coming off the corner of it which I'm sure will be running under the wall within the next few hours.
That will then probably freeze tonigh when it's turns colder and we'll be holding skating lessons in our enclosed porch. The plan is in action to tear down and replace the entire thing in spring. I'm not really to excited about that as it's going to be a mess and of course we can't really start anything until early May. My only hope it that it will be done by fall. I'll miss my porch but will be happy when it's done. The old lady is pushing 32 years and needs work.

Taken Down

After 5 weeks of winning 1st place in Team Trivia, we were taken down to 3rd place last night. It was a good ride and I'm sure we'll be able to jump right back on. We just need to watch more movies as that's what usually stumps us. It's a nice mid-week break to what seems to be like the longest work weeks ever.

I've come to the conclusion that my job bores me and that's why I dislike it so much. We have 3 lines and I've worked on all three with various combinations of co-workers. There is not one line that I actually will say I like to work on. Every so often I'm given a different task which will keep me from being bored for a day or so. The problem is that every line does just about the same thing but with a different packaging option. So you're either packing a roll or into a box or into a huge roll. It's all basically the same fricken thing day in and day out. We've all become comfortable with each other and know the work habits. We know when to stay out of the way of someone who's having a bad day, or how to get them out of it. Right now we're slow so they will begin moving people around to cross-train. This could be the highlight of the month. A few different faces.

I have to say that right about now I am in the same mode that I was 7 years ago when I quit my last job. Pure and utter hatred of the job and boredom. I have more to loose at this job and that's what irks me. In 3 more years I can leave there with my health insurance benefits available at employee cost. We have excellent benefits, the pay is good (although who doesn't want to make more)and we're treated decent. Because we're slow, there are rumors floating around. In the 7 years I've been there I've made it through 2 major reductions in the work force. It was so slow that they didn't hire anyone for 3 years. I've never been laid off which to me is a plus. There are times we went in and did cleaning for a week at a time and wished we could have sat home and collected UE benefits for the week but our company prides itself in not laying off.

This week is annual review week. Mine is scheduled for tomorrow. I'm not real sure if I can sit through another "great job" review. I used to be in a position where I wrote reviews so I know the scoop. I don't know if it's worse being on the giving or receiving end of a review. I've given bad ones, but never received a bad one. It's one of those things that I just read and discuss for a minute and walk out feeling like somethings missing. I need a challange that's far above what they give me for the up coming year. One that's actually obtainable and not just written for the simple fact that they need to write something. Plus I hate the fact that we're given the reviews now and have no clue of the money we're getting until May 1st. It's usually a little over the amount that our health insurance premiums raise each year.

So, it may be time to start looking into something that I can start to do now that will pay off for me in 3 years. Some kind of class or part-time job that will help me to get out of there May 14, 2011.

I Shared My Germs

Nothing like keeping the illness in the family. On Friday morning when I left for work all was well. That is except for the fact that I still had the illness. The cough had subsided a little but I went in with my bag of cough drops and 4 cold tablets to be taken during the day. I had a busy day Friday and had to get right home from work to get some food items prepared for the 40th Birthday party for Gambino. I had limited time to do these things as we were also joining our fellow Trivia Champs for a few beers.
I walked in the door after work to a sorry looking man. The first words out of his mouth were "Thanks for sharing" followed by a fit of coughing. My whole weekend was now down the tubes. When I'm sick I try to keep it to myself. I wallow in my self pity alone. I may cough and swear silently afterwards but I try to put on that it doesn't really bother me that much. When "A" is sick it is known to all mankind. He will wince at every cough, he will grip his chest like the big one's coming and he will walk around with a snotty wad of kleenex.
I give him credit as he did still want to go out Friday night, although he made it clearly evident that he was ill. We were home by 9:45 and he was in bed shortly afterward. He did have some things to do for the party on Saturday and got them down slowly. Sunday was another story. The man slept from 1 am until 1:30 Sunday afternoon. Got up one hour before we were having the family birthday party at our house. Lifted not one finger and once again made it quite clear that he was sick. Sick enough to take cough medicine. That's how I know he's really ill. Usually I have to coax him to take something. He did try the shot remedy on Saturday night which I don't think helped him much although he did sleep pretty soundly.
This morning he moaned loudly when his alarm went off. Mr "I don't take sick days" actually took a sick day today. He went in to open the place up and was back home within an hour. I myself went in but left at 11 to go to the doctor. My doctor visit produced nothing but a script for antibiotics which I need to take because of my hip replacement. They still worry that any infection could cause some problems with the hip. I only have a few more months unti that's in the clear. I was also told to continue taking the cough medicine I have been taking. It is a viral infection that will run it's course. My worry is now that he has this I may take a little longer to get over it.
I came home from the doctor to find my poor little pitiful man wrapped up in his bankie still sniffeling but not sounding as bad. I was kind enough to make sure he took his medicine, had something to eat and got him fresh pillow cases. I commented on how he never asked me if I was okay when I was sick. "You didn't ask for anything" was the answer.

What The Hell??

I'm a pretty mild mannered person. I can keep my cool. I just become frustrated when I cannot fix something that is out of my means. Take for instance tonight. I'm tooling along cleaning out the fridge (a shopping day ritual) so mind you I am emptying out a lot of containers of left-overs and doing a general clean up of the kitchen and fridge. I then go to rinse out the containers before putting them in the dishwasher and find that the kitchen sink is not draining very fast. We do not have a garbage disposal, which I have to remind my husband of several times a week, so we need to scrape off any excess food prior to putting things in the sink. This story goes back to the weekend when I first noticed it and mentioned this little fact to him. The plunger, it seems, is in the back seat of his truck. Why? Well because last week the tragedy of the week was that his mothers toilet was flushing slow. He took our plunger over to her house to fix that problem. How many times has he gotten out of his truck at home since then? Hmmmm.
Naturally, he's at work tonight and I now have a double kitchen sink that will not drain. So when he made his usual "check In With The Wife call" and I nicely mentioned the problem it became very quiet on the other end. "Where is the plunger" I ask. " I'll take care of it when I get home" is the reply.
As I am typing this I can now hear the plunging of the kitchen sink in progress. Hopefully this will be a quick, non-messy job and won't entail taking any pipes off.
No swearing yet. All is quiet. Resume plunging....
I must add that I did find a plunger that was so small it didn't even fit over the drain properly and I was having trouble plunging one side and holding the drain down in the other. The dog didn't seem to interested in giving me a hand.
Something tells me this is more then a plunging job.

In This Case..Sharing Sucks

As a child I was always taught to share. "Share your toys" I really didn't have to share my toys to much as up until I was 14 I was the only girl. "Share food" ha, I never got a chance as my brother would grab it from me before I could get my own bite. "Share the last drop of milk" didn't matter, I never really liked milk. "Share the tv" Once again I was ousted on that as the boys usually got to watch whatever they wanted to while I was helping mom with dinner or something.

Sharing can be somewhat over-rated. Take for instance the sick management people at work. Some of them rarely come out to the floor, however last week it was like they all had to come out and show us just how miserable they were. Come out and hack all over us and blow you nose's in front of us and then touch everything. They would leave and I would spray down things with alcohol. I would wear gloves to empty the garbage so as not to touch their snot rags.

On Sunday I started feeling a little bit of a scratchy throat. Took the NyQuil and headed off to bed a little early. Yesterday I felt good but had developed a cough. Not a bad one, enough that I could slip a cough drop in my mouth and I was fine. All hell broke loose today. I have developed the cold I hate the worst. The hacking, my chest is going to explode, my head is pounding and I have to constantly have a cough drop in my mouth so I don't bust into this hacking, dry cough. I blame them all. For the past week I took my vitamins, drank plenty of water, got extra vitamin C and washed my hands after touching anything these sick people touched.

One boss was out on the line today and was nice enough to tell me I looked like crap and wondered what day I'd be calling in sick this week. I told him I was going to drag myself in on my elbows and cough all over the office just to give this back to them. He said he thought I should stay home one day rather then spread it any further. "Okay, I'll do that and you pay me and don't ding me for it. I'll put an end to what you guys started."

What irks me the most is that I can usually go all winter with one major cold. One that I have to actually purchase medication for. This is number 3 this season. I know some of it may have to be due to the crazy weather but I dress for that. I WILL NOT LET THIS TAKE OVER!!!!!