Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Waaaay Back When-sday, Episode 1

What's with the weirdo spelling of Wednesday?? Well....after getting caught up on a number of the blogs I follow....(the last time I read any was last Tuesday - I'm still trying to get caught up! Good thing it's a holiday, and there were less posts because of it. whew!)...."Way Back When-sday" is my take on an idea I see allot of in other blogs. Where I take you "way back when" on Wednesdays. Catchy, eh?

No???? That's OK, I understand. Sometimes silly ideas just need to play themselves out. I mean, the first struggle is remembering to post a way back story on Wednesdays. It will probably last all of 1 month (if that)...but let's give it a shot!!!

If anyone has a question about my life (yeah right, like I'm sooo important!) or wants to know when/how I met someone....how prom went (and be specific, there were 6...count them 6 proms)....etc, etc.....throw me a comment, and I'll give you the scoop. :-)

So.....let's see....what moment do I replay in my head..to start this party??

OK...here's one...

When I was younger, I spent allot of time in St. Louis with my aunt and uncle. I love St. Louis, I really do. There's always something going on. And I've probably only seen 1% of the place.

But anyway...my grandma would drive me down for the summer. She's stay a few days, then drive home, and I'd live there for a month or so. Grandma was always really nervous about driving in the city. Now that I think about it, props to her for doing it as much as she did.

One year, we were on our way down...and we came to an 'Y' intersection. Do we go left? Do we go right? Hmmmmm.....so there she is, stopped, in the middle of traffic, trying to remember. Well....she picked the wrong way. And, about half way through the turn, figured it out. Did she continue straight so she could turn around somewhere and come back?? Nope, she stopped right there...and BACKED UP!!! Oh my gosh, I wasn't of driving age...but I was plenty old enough to be nervous about her decision!

Once we were heading in the right direction, she turned to me and said "Now, don't you tell your aunt about this!"

Yeah, yeah grandma, don't worry, I won't.......

......until you leave.

Yep, the most horrible granddaughter in the world, told her aunt about the traffic incident the minute grandma left the house for home.

Later, I found out why I wasn't to tell her. You see, it's very similar to how my hubby feels when he does something silly and I get to see it. He knows that I'll blog about it.

My aunt, was a news radio DJ on....well, I think it was KMOX. And, to my horror, my aunt went to work, and told the story to her listeners. Unfortunately, grandma wasn't out of town yet. She had stopped to do some shopping before heading out.

(sigh)

When she came back to pick me up later in the summer, I had forgotten about it. But she hadn't. She wasn't mad, angry, or upset...but when she brought it up, it was accompanied by those guilt-inducing grandma eyes. You know the ones!!!

Once we arrived at her house in Iowa (8 or so hours later)....I ran to the restroom....and spent the rest of the week with her sicker than a dog. Sick enough that, in hindsight, I probably should have been taken to the doctor. Food poisoning, big time. And I can point out the truck stop diner that did it to me! Yuck!

It was a karma payback...guaranteed. :-) :-)

Argh!!!

OK, something has been bugging me since Christmas day, and I can't shake it....so I'm going to vent about it really quick, and then it will be done, and I'll feel better.

DON'T PEOPLE WHO TELL THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS THEY ARE FAT, REALIZE THEY ARE THEN TEACHING THEIR CHILDREN THAT IT'S OK TO BE SO RUDE??? I mean, come on...what's with this????

If these family members have stumbled across this blog, fine...whatever...I don't care any more. Read this, and assume I'm a bitch. Big, fat, f*cking deal. What needs said is going to be said.

The Portland brother sent his parents a web cam for the holidays. On Xmas day, they "called" in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. It was a really cool idea. They get to see each other, instead of just talking. They get to see the grand kids, and how they are growing. His parents were truly excited.

When they called, Mot's dad just kept yelling his name, wanting him to come talk to his brother. The rest of us were in the den, watching one of Erin's' movies (and sleeping - it was a long - or rather short - night). And no one was hearing him yell.

Someone finally came back to wake us up...I mean, get our attention. :-)

They asked where Mot was (because he avoids cameras like the plague, we all know it)....so Mot walks over into view of the web cam to say hello.

The camera was pointed so that they could see his folks seated in front of the computer....and they couldn't see Mot's head as he was standing behind them.

Instead of saying "Tommy, all we see is your belly, crouch down for us!"....they say "All we can see is Tommy's fat belly."

{banging my head on the coffee table as I type this}

I just don't get it.

#1, can you be any more rude? I refused to step in front of the camera when they asked where I was. God, if they think my hubby is fat....what the hell do they think of me.

#2, who taught them this? Mot doesn't do it, his oldest brother doesn't do it. Where did this....complete disregard and lack of respect for family come from? Name calling? Are we in the 3rd grade again??? Is this textbook psychology? Does it make you feel better about YOUR inadequacies by calling someone else fat?? What a sad, depressing life you must live? I judge people by what they are in the inside, to hell with what they look like.

I just don't get it.

Well, anyway, I feel better getting that off of my chest. Call me fat, I just blow it off....call my loved ones fat...and it really pisses me off. I'm a bit defensive of those I care about. I can't help it, it's who I am.

Ok....it's not allllivvveeeeee :-(

That's right, the poor digital camera has come out of remission. The dreaded Error 99 screen showed up again this morning, as I was trying to take a picture of our Grinch waffle maker and it's funky spiral shaped waffles. (we're so cool, aren't we?)



Ugh!

Anyway, it did it again. So, back to the Internet, for more research. Damn!

Perms, Curtains and a Vivarium

I have this crazy, messed up hair. No really!! Up until college, it was straight as a board. Not an ounce of curl to speak of. Then, just out of college, a co-worker (ex-beautician) gave me a perm. It would seem that the perm brought out the natural curl. :-) Really, I can't grow it straight to save my soul now. :)

But, unlike my sister's hair, my new natural curl is not attractive. The top isn't curly at all, the middle section is really curly, and the end 3 or 4 inches is a strange, twisted, unattractive curl.

So, because of this unfortunate state of hair, I now have my hair stylist perm my hair every so often, to control the craziness. This happened on Monday night. It's now Wednesday morning.....and it's finally time to wash the mess. We had a million mile an hour winds yesterday, and while I was out and about running errands, it effectively blew my hair into a bozo the clown looking mess. :-)

After much consideration, I've decided to not take a picture so everyone can see. (sorry Sheila) :-)

Tuesday was a busy day. My body is getting used to this unpaid week off. It just doesn't seem to want to get up earlier than 8:00, even though I'm usually an early riser. It must understand the "enjoy it while you can" concept. :-)

I got up, picked at my newly curled hair, and met a buddy for lunch. Olive Garden...yummy. :-)

After lunch, I stopped by a fabric store. Yes, Nej in a fabric store...can you believe it? Talk about a fish out of water. I have no clue what to do in these places. But, you see, I had to go. The sewing machine I was about to use needed new bobbins, I needed thread, and also pins.

Why in the heck did I need these things? Well.....those darned curtains in the bedrooms weren't getting completed by little elves in the middle of the night....so I guess I'd better just break down and finish them....right?

To my surprise, I found all that I needed, and was out of the store quite quickly. I didn't have to ask for help or anything. It's a holiday miracle!!!! :-)

The curtains in the master bedroom needed completed.....let me give you a quick recap of what needed done. You see, I bought new curtains and bedspread, but they didn't go with the color of the walls as well as I'd hoped. So I was sewing a panel of fabric to them, that matched the walls. I completed one windows weeks and weeks ago, but the other two windows had been horribly neglected.

I also decided, that since I had the darned sewing machine out, I may as well hem the curtains from the upstairs bedroom. When we moved into this house, over a year ago, I bought new curtains for the guest bedroom. But, because of the placement of the windows in the wall...they were too long, and hung so low, they actually laid on the floor. The cats were most appreciative of the new beds, but it was driving me nuts!!!

When I got home, I decided to tackle those curtains from upstairs first (you see, they were going to be the easiest - I know what battles lie ahead of me for the master bedroom curtains, and I was flat out avoiding it at all costs).

With only a few little snags along the way (like measuring the length from the bottom of the curtain rod pocket, instead of the top - whoops) I got all 4 curtains completed and hung. I tried ironing them - didn't work. I tried putting them in the dryer with a wet towel to steam the wrinkles out - didn't work. So you know what? I have wrinkled curtains in the guest bedroom.....and I don't care. If anyone is going to see them, they are a guest sleeping in the room....and shouldn't complain. :-)

I then took to ironing the panels for the master bedroom. I got all 4 done, just about the time my quartet showed up for rehearsal, so the sewing will have to wait for another day. (like today - gulp!!)

Another project in our house right now, is the transformation of Puffer's (may he rest in peace) tank. Instead of keeping it as a fish aquarium (making hauling buckets of water up and down the stairs a necessity), we are going to make it into a Vivarium. With poison arrow dart frogs. I can't wait!!! This is going to be soooo cool!

Mot and I went to Home Depot on Monday (before the perm) to start purchasing the supplies. You see, once it's all put together, it will need to run for a month or better before we can put wildlife into it....so the sooner we get it started the better. Plus, with it being winter and all....shipping the poor little beasties is risky and expensive.

Don't you just love going to the hardware store, with that list of supplies that makes the employees wonder if you're making a bomb...or time machine...or something? The combinations of items in your hands...it really has to make them wonder.

Our Home Depot people usually get into the fun of it though. They are always curious what we're up to....and love helping find things that will work. On this last trip, our HD employee was excited to suggest using screened gutter guards in place of some materials we were looking for. I can't wait to get started and see if it works!!!!

I'm guessing we'll work on it a little today. Or, at least, I hope we do!! I really don't want to have bought all the supplies, and then have them sit (as a number of our projects seem to do). The tank still has water in it, although you couldn't tell with all the green slime on the glass. :-)

Well....I'm off! I gotta wash this hair, gotta motivate Mot to get this fish tank transformation going, and gotta maybe start on those darned bedroom curtains.

It's New Year's Eve today, isn't it? Holy crap!!!! I think we're doing dinner with mom and dad....but no big plans besides that. We might even stay up to ring in the new year, for the second year in a row...can you believe that??? :-) :-) :-)

Christmas, part deux

Last time I posted, I was getting violently ill on a snow drift in front of my inlaw's house. )I still blame all of those chewy Sweettarts.)

Friday was fairly uneventful.

Saturday was xmas with my side of the family. It was a small (thank god!) get together. Just grandma, mom and dad, Inny and her family, Mot and I.


Good lookin' crew, aren't we? :-)


Avoiding cameras seems to run in the family!!!





Yet, the kids, enjoyed taking pictures of each other with their new digital cameras.



See what a good actress grandma is? She told me on Black Friday that she wanted a new, lighter weight vacuum for the holiday. But she still acted surprised when she opened it. :-)



It was a good day of family, presents, and food. My sister and I played some Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS....the boys did some Guitar Hero playing on the Playstation.....then we finished the day by watching the holiday episodes of the "Big Bang Theory" television show. (if you haven't seen any of them, check them out.....I laugh out loud during every one)

Friday, December 26, 2008

A Christmas we're not likely to forget (no matter how hard we try)!

OK, admittedly, it wasn't THAT bad....but, it could have been a little better. It started with the annual "fight with my hubby, because I went to a movie with sister, at the last minute, and didn't make it to the grocery store to get the key lime cheesecake ingredients for the cheesecake I said I'd make for his family's xmas dinner, because all the stores closed at 6:00, and I got there at 6:15" argument.

(over the phone, none the less - he was at work)

Then, the 20 text messages back and forth. Me telling him I was a worthless wife, and would stay home on xmas if he liked. Him apologizing for being a complete prick about the honest cheesecake mistake.

Then, the phone call at 10:00 pm from Mot, telling me they had taken his oldest brother to the emergency room. We usually do xmas eve at his parent's house, but because he had to work, we weren't participating in the oyster stew meal - which was fine by me!!!!!!! Although, his great aunt brings homemade chicken and noodle soup for the two of us, because she doesn't like it either.

Anyway, I asked Mot what hospital, so I could meet him there. It turns out he was the acting captain at the firehouse right down the street, so he came and picked me up. His brother was experiencing some pretty hefty chest pains. He's a doc, and just as stubborn as the other males in the family, so the fact he let them bring him in, alone, had me worried.

We were there for a couple hours, and left around midnight. He was going to have blood drawn and more tests done at 4:30....so we decided to go home and get some rest. His dad went back home...and we told him we'd pick his brother and wife up at the hospital when they released him....instead of him driving all the way back into town to get them himself. It was on our way.

4 hours later, we were back at the hospital picking them up. But, rewind back to getting up and ready to leave the house. I woke up, with some heart burn (of which I've never experienced, and hope I never have to again)....and also with that....well, "the tummy gurgling, bad things are happening" feeling.

I was hoping it was the pound of chewy Sweettarts my sister and I had shared at the movie the day before....in combination with getting 3 hours of sleep.

Once we picked the family up from the hospital, I realized that the pain and unsettling feeling in my tummy was worse than I'd originally thought. Oh yes....this was going to be a problem. I spent the 30 minute ride to his parents in agony. I was breathing like I was in labor, and wishing the roads were just a little less bumpy. I was pretty sure that if I made it to his parents house, we would just turn around and take me back home.

We pulled into their driveway, and every one got out of the jeep....well, everyone but me. I couldn't move. If I was to move, I was going to revisit anything left in my belly from the day before.

The time came when I NEEDED to get out. I walked (stumbled) to the nearest snowbank....and voila! Merry Christmas!

Mot was trying to hold my hair for me, rub my back, and be supportive. I was really only concerned with staying alive. The human body is most vile....let me just say. :-(

I went inside, cleaned up, and determined that I felt a heck of a lot better. In fact, I felt quite normal. It HAD to have been those chewy Sweettarts.....ugh!

So really, the title of this post in unfair....after the heart attack scare, and the Christmas morning upchucking, things we quite smashingly. We exchanged gifts, ate dinner, watched a move that Mot's niece received from Santa, while the rest of us slept on the floor around her.


Bob (Mot's oldest brother) sporting his new welding hat gift


Erin and I making picture taking difficut for Uncle Tom :-)


Erin without the silly posing...isn't she a sweety???

With his parent's two dogs, and the two dogs belonging to his brother, we had a house full of canines. But, they all behaved very well together.


Drake, the oldest (his brother's)


Sweetie (the second oldest, again his brother's)


Mot's Dad, Walt, and his dog Jake


And, last but not least, Bo (the most photogenic dog I know!)

We laughed, we hung out, we had a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy my camera's rebirth on Christmas. I, honestly, wasn't feeling quite right. So, I don't have many pics of the festivities this year. :-(

Mot's brother and family left at about the same time we did. They had a 4 hour drive home, we had 30 minutes. But, by then Mot was starting to feel a little cruddy himself. Uh oh!

Once home, we changed into the most comfortable clothing we could find, watched some TV (did some more napping), played Mot's new xbox game a little (I suck at first person shooters...and that's not an exaggeration...in fact, people that suck at them are better than I am. Ugh!)

Then we went to bed.

Monday, December 22, 2008

It's aaallllliiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

My beloved DLSR is alive once again. The poor thing had contracted the dreaded "Error 99" Canon digital camera disease. It caught it the weekend of taking RAGBRAI pictures this summer, and was brought back from the dead tonight, 12/22/08.

I can't tell you how excited I am....I can't put it into words. I'm doing a happy dance, I'm doing the "oh my god, my camera works again" boogie woogie, I'm elated!!!!!!!!!!!

My camera is a born again. (hehe)

Morgan, although, does not share my excitement.

The poor cat.

I followed her around the house, for quite some time....trying to test my recently resurrected toy on a live subject.



She reminds me of Falkor from The Nevending Story. (with maybe a little less of a smile) What do you think?




I'd like to formally thank the website where I found the instructions used to make this all possible....

Richard on Richard's Notes blog....Thank you!!!! I couldn't have asked for a better holiday gift. I can't tell you how much I needed this kind of good news. Aside from wishing I'd found this article BEFORE our Portland trip, this is the best timing!!!! My life needed a little mental pick me up!

And, if any of you have a Canon suffering from the same horrible disease, please read this post, and hopefully it will help you as it helped me.



Well, I'm off!! It's snowing mad dog crazy again. This weather is insane. The 3 inches of ice, with 4 inches of snow, has now had another couple of inches piled on top of it tonight.

It's snowing, my camera is working, I have food in my cupboards, my family is healthy (speaking of family, I have awesome news to announce, but can't until after Saturday), I'm surrounded by wonderful friends, and I have a husband that loves me like no other. What could possibly be better????

Last weekend before Christmas....

To all of you thinking "Holy Cow - it's almost Christmas already??" - I completely had that same thought this weekend.

My sister and I did the Black Friday madness (as usual) this year....but anything we didn't buy that day, didn't get purchased until this weekend.

It's the same old thing...you know what you're going to get for people, but you keep thinking "I can pick that up anytime." And then, anytime hits...and you don't do it, don't do it, don't do it.

Luckily, I can now officially say I've completed the shopping. All items are in our possession......well......I take that back.....

We delivered one present early this year....dropped it off in Portland while we were there in November. But besides that, all presents are in our possession.

Ummmmm.....

Yeah, that's right....there's one left. It's in the mail. It was supposed to arrive on Saturday. It's not that this person will be upset if the gift isn't in their hot little hands on Christmas day....but it will bug the crap out of me if it isn't. I mean, this is the gift that we had figured out in June - JUNE!!!!.....and just needed to order it sometime.

Sometimes came, sometimes went......and I finally ordered it like a week ago. Bad Nej!!!!

So, besides that....everything is in our possession. Except......

CRAP!!!

We decided not to exchange presents at home. If we want it or need it, we just buy it. But, after Mot got me my hockey jersey....I now need to think of something to get him.

He's the easiest person to shop for....I mean, there's allot of stuff out there that he wouldn't mind having. Now, I just need to go pick something up...."sometime". :-) :-)

My sister had quite a bit to buy this weekend, I really didn't have much at all. So, I mainly went just to hang out with her a little, and get out of the house.

We were pretty typical in our behaviors during the day. Traffic was crappy, but we didn't care. It just meant we could listen to more holiday music on the radio. The malls were packed, but we didn't care...it's just more opportunity to people watch (and laugh).

At one point, we were trying to find parking....at Toys R Us....the weekend before Christmas. (Mission Impossible theme playing in my head as I type this)

Anyway!!! Alvin and the Chipmunks come on the radio - singing their...well...er...finest??

So, in the true spirit of the holiday, we rolled down our windows (it's maybe 1 or 2 degrees above zero here in frigid Omaha, NE).....and turned the radio up as loud as we could stand. We circled the parking lot quite a few times (blaring the song of those annoying little mammals) waiting for a space to open up. All the while, we cheered the hearts of those walking to and from their cars.

More likely, it just annoyed the crap out of all the procrastinators....but that in itself cheered OUR hearts...so all is well!!!!





The good stuff starts about 1 minute into this video.

Friday, December 19, 2008

War of the Roses?????

The holidays are approaching.

What? You didn't already know that? Come on, every news report, blog and television station in the nation hasn't completed drilled that into your head yet? Well then....let me help.

The holidays are approaching!!!!!!

OK, that was just plain silly, wasn't it???

I'm a little slap happy today. Call it cabin fever, call it "I finally got some sleep last night", call it we got 3 inches of ice and 2 inches of snow on top of that ice last night....call it what you want.

But any way you slice it, I have two days left of work in the year 2008. And those two days (well, plus today, so, does that actually make it three days)...anyway, those 2+ days couldn't go fast enough!!!!

Yesterday afternoon, at about 2:30 or so.....I actually felt the motivation leave my body. I was working away at my computer...and all of a sudden....I didn't want to work any more. Maybe it was the holiday related emails I had been getting? Maybe it was the weather reports? But, I can tell you the exact moment all motivation left me.

I can't wait for the week and a half I have off for the holidays (never mind that I'm not getting paid for it). There are projects at home that can now be completed, at a leisurely pace.

I need to wrap gifts, finish cleaning out the closet in the spare bedroom, clean out the freezer, finish modifying the new curtains for the bedroom.

(No, I haven't finished that project yet!! I got one done....and used up all my patience - and cuss words - on the sewing machine. I'll do the other two windows next week. When no one is there to hear me.)

Best part of all....I have some days off, during the week...and Mot has to work. This never happens!!! He gets to stay home, while I go to work. All the time. And, to be completely honest, it's infuriating, and I'm jealous!!!! I admit it!

Speaking of infuriating.....there is a mini battle, war, dispute brewing at the Mot and Nej homestead.

(although Mot may not be aware of it - poor guy!!)

I'm not saying that I'm in the right on this one.....because I am the first one to admit I'm not always right. Not even close.

I am a snooze button hitting machine in the morning. My alarm goes off 1/2 hour before I want to get out of bed...so I can hit the snooze a minimum of 3 times. Those last little bits of 9 minutes of sleep at a time are pure heaven. It's like I'm stealing time....I can wake up gradually...I can mentally prepare for the day.

Mot thinks it's pure madness!!! (and I'm sure he's not alone in his beliefs)

But darn it, it's who I am...it's what I do. I can't change who I am, can I?? No way! :-)

This morning though, the snooze hitting REALLY didn't go over well.

I won't mention Mot waking me up at god knows what time, because he was up playing in a Quake online tournament late last night. I won't mention his snoring problem getting worse, and actually waking me up in the middle of the night (or keeping me from getting to sleep at night).

NO, because mentioning those things would be low, petty and childish.

(hehehehe)

I actually laughed when he tried to sneak into the bedroom quietly last night....I didn't yell or get mad. I laughed.

I actually giggled when I tried to snuggle up against him for the last block of nine minute snooze time I had before getting up. My head was on his chest, and he was snoring up a storm. That snore of his reverberated throughout his chest cavity....on which my head was placed. :-)

He has no where to go today....and no serious plans, that I know of. Yet, my snooze really ticked him off. Argh!

But, I got out of bed, and quickly forgot about it.

Then, he said I should take the Jeep...and take advantage of the AWD in this crazy weather we got last night.

(as I mentioned above, 3 inches of sleet, rain and ice....topped with 2 inches of snow)

I found out this morning, that I can't reach the darned windshield to scrape it all off. The ice was thick, and the defrosters weren't touching it. I poked, proded, scrapped, and cussed silently at the windows for awhile...then eventually gave up.

I grew up driving cars...we never had 4 wheel drive. I'm used to driving in crappy weather. Why am I scrapping these windows again????

I had spent the morning, scooping the patio in the back so the dogs had somewhere (outside of their dog house) without snow. I kicked and stepped on their water bowl, trying to free the ice...so I could give them fresh water. I played with them in the snow - oh how they love the snow!!!!

So, by the time it came to window scraping, I was done in....pooped, tired, and getting frustrated.

And when I went inside, he was snoring away. Argh!!!!!!!!!

I yelled something along the lines of "what the f*ck good is 4 wheel drive, if I can't drive the d*mn thing!!"....and slammed the door leading to the garage as I left.

(turns out, that is an AWESOME slamming door....man, that was loud!!!)

Childish of me? YES!!!! But, did it make me feel better? YES!!! :-) :-)

I hate asking for help, hate it with every fiber of my being. I was raised to be independent...and when I need help...it just plain bugs me. I can't drive my own vehicle because I can't reach the windshield to get the ice off. Argh!!!!!!! And my hubby is sleeping away, minding his own business...and didn't get the telepathic message I was sending him!!!!!

"Get out of bed and help your wife!"

Darn him. (hehehehehe)


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

I.......

......am still kicking, screaming and breathing. Yes folks, I'm alive. I'm just so friggin' busy I don't know which way is up.

The people here at work are keeping my days full of (gasp) work stuff. Can you believe the nerve? They think that all this (all this...hehe, that's funny...makes it sound like they are paying me piles of money, doesn't it?)....anyway, they think that all this money they are paying me, is for a full days worth of work!!!!!

I just don't know where they get these ideas!!!! :-) :-)

Plus, my going to the gym every day after work is added in.

I just haven't been keeping up on my blogging and blog reading. It's horrible.

And the ones that I do read....well, I just barely had time to read them, let alone leave a witty (or my normal retarded sounding) comments.

The holidays are soon upon us. I work on the 23rd of December...then not again until the 5th of January. You can bet your sweet bippy that I'll be getting caught up in my reading and writing during that time!!!!! :-)

So, I'll leave you with this.......

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Winter Wonderland

OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration.....but the weather this weekend is crazy!!! Yesterday, people were out riding their motorcycles and enjoying the nice warm (50 degree) day. This morning at 4 am it was still 50 degrees....and now, at 8:24, it's 12 degrees out. It's supposed to be sub-zero by lunch.....and the snow started up in the last 5 minutes. I don't mean little flakes of gently falling snow....I mean "holy hell, those flakes are bigger than my head....and they are coming down so hard they probably hurt when they hit you" snow.

I love winter. (And I'm not being sarcastic....I really do love it!!!!)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The new phone book is here! The new phone book is here!!!

Man, that movie is full of one liners!!!


Anyway.....focus Nej!!

The reason for my post......my new jersey is here, my new jersey is here!!! :-) :-)

Mot went and picked it up for me yesterday afternoon. I called him the minute I got the "your jersey has been washed and is ready to be picked up" email. Isn't he sweet????



Isn't it the most atrocious thing you've ever seen? It's so bad, it's wickedly awesome!!!! :-)

I am now going to officially be one of those ladies you see walking around at a hockey game...wearing a jersey that 10 times too big....with a man's name (that's not her hubby) on the back.

Yep, again, proof that I'm a nerd.

But......I'm a nerd with a tax deductible charitable contribution, that she can wear. Two birds, one stone!!!! :-) :-)

Can I pack any more punctuation in this post? (!!!????)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

You just can't help but laugh!!!!

My sister's kids had their holiday music concert Monday night.

I say "holiday" concert for two reasons.

#1 - isn't that what everyone is doing these days - we must be politically correct :-)
#2 - they sang equal parts Christmas and Hanukkah songs

There is something about sitting through a concert of K-6 graders trying to sing.

K - They walk on stage looking either terrified or like they own the world, no middle ground. The show usually includes one (if not all) of the following. Someone falls off the rises, someone pukes, and/or a girl hikes her skirt up to her armpits.

1st, 2nd and 3rd - They get gradually little better each year. They pay more attention, and actually sing, rather than scream, the words.

4th - For some reason, these guys are obviously the music teacher's favorites. They had fun songs and props. Props make everything more fun to watch, right??

5th and 6th - These guys seem to be the misfits. There were FAR more boys than girls in 6th grade. Takes me back to my K-2nd grade days. I was one of two girls. And it didn't go over well when I moved out of town....let me tell ya!

There was one grade with a particular girl in the front row. She was wearing a long gown, to the floor...make of this silvery-greyish material. Her hair was in a bun, and she was...well.....she was a little off. I mean, she kinda sang, you could kinda see her mouth moving....and she kinda did the choreography. But she was stoic. There was not one fiber of personality in her. She did the bare minimum of movement. I'd be surprised if teachers didn't put a mirror under her nose to see if she was, in fact, still breathing.

One class had a Sopranos wanna be. Totally Jersey-like. Attitude, the hand and head movements, the works.

The concert was surprisingly quick, and painfully funny. I don't want kids, but they are fun to watch from afar. :-)

Here are some pics of the munchkins before we left for the school.

Taking a compliment....

This is the one thing I think I do the worst!!! (and I do allot of things badly, so that's saying something)

Mot "You look really nice today!"
Nej "um....I.....no I don't"
Mot "Really, you do."
Nej "You crack me up...but...um...thanks."

Or there was this one at the hair stylist the other day.

Becci "Hey, part your hair for me, the way you had it when you came in, it looked really cool."
Nej (staring at Becci)
Becci "No really, here." (hands me a comb)
Nej "You're funny. It looks cool when you do it."
Becci "Seriously"
Nej "OK....well, thanks."

Or this one, at a vocal coaching session.

Coach "You have a great smile, and an infectious laugh."
Nej (laughs, without showing teeth, hiding smile) "No I don't"
Coach "Yeah, you do. It's great!"
Nej (laughs) "Nah"
Coach (doesn't know me, so probably thinks I'm the rudest person ever - changes topic)


I just can't do it. Do they have "how to take a compliment" school??

How hard is it to say "thanks!!!!" ?

What the hell is my problem?????

Bummed.....

If you'll all remember, I wrote a post not too long ago about the "funk" Mot has been in lately.

He went to North Platte to hunt with his brother, and came back in a better mood. Still not his usual self, but better than when he left.

Before he left, he was getting a little....how should I say this......over indulgent...in the WoW (video game) arena. He goes through stages, where his addiction gets a little out of control.

Like "I don't see him for days on end...because it's all he does" out of control. Seriously! :-)

I was hoping his trip west would help with the funk, and the video game playing. And, for the most part, it did.

-- He went back to work on Sunday - I was home.
-- He was home Monday - I had to work, then had a holiday music thing for my niece and nephew to attend. He was invited to go, but he gave me the "I would rather rip out my heart with a spoon" look. (Why a spoon? Because it will hurt more. - One of my favorite movie lines ever!)
-- He was at work Tuesday - I came home after the gym, and was there all evening.
-- He is home today - I have another Christmas thing to attend.

These periods in time, where our schedules don't match, occur once and a while. But this one came at a pretty good time.

It came just after he'd been in a funk, and then decided to leave me for three days to go hunting.
Our conversation this morning went as follows....

Mot "So, am I finally going to see you tonight...or do you have plans, again?"
Nej "Nope, I have a Christmas thing my grandma asked me to go to."
Mot "Oh, fine...leave me again. I see how you are." (with a dramatic flare..or is it flair?)
Nej "You're the one that left me for three days straight last week."
Mot "uh....well..........that's different"
Nej (eye roll)

Also, while I'm on the topic of Mot and his funk....I thought I'd update you on a little insight to said funk. :-)

It seems Mr. Mot isn't feeling well. He swears he'll go to the doc to get it checked out after the first of the year. His insurance provider is changing (the one we have now blows goats)....and I don't blame him for wanting to avoid dealing with them not paying for something they are supposed to pay for. It's getting really old!!

But....there's another reason for the funk. Snoring. Yes, I said it...snoring!!!!

The other boys at the fire station have had enough with the increase in his snoring.

(increase in both the activity itself...and the volume)

They have started throwing things at him to wake him up...pillows, etc. So, not only does he have to get up multiple times during the night to help people in need, he is now also being woke up by the dudes that AREN'T getting called out...and have been able to sleep the whole night. (Mot is a paramedic, on a squad. They make far more runs than the guys on the fire trucks.)

It's now so bad, that he's trying to find a new "home" to transfer to. Some of the fire stations in town have been remodeled, so that each person has a room of their own. It's only big enough for the bed, and space to walk around it...but it's still a room of your own, none the less.

Here are my issue with this.

He's been very happy at this house he's in now. He (up until now) gets sleep most nights, the guys there are good to work with, it's very close to home, etc, etc. It's annoying that he's thinking about switching because the guys are waking him up.

Instead of trying to find the cause of the increased snoring, and maybe fix it (which would require a doctor visit...and we just CAN'T do that - why are men like that?)...instead of trying to fix it....he's going to switch fire stations?

That's like fixing the symptoms but not the cause of the issue. It could go on forever!!!

So far, I'm not waking him up when it happens, right? But....I'm still being woken (is that a word) up by it, right? So...maybe he should go to the doctor? If the doc can help, it will fix his issue at the fire station as well as let his wife sleep. :-)

I know, that's carrrrazzzyyyy talk. :-)

This is just another attempt at telling, my typical man, that doctor's aren't evil. Before he does anything hasty, like switching stations, maybe he should see if he can fix the issue?

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

For my IT friends......

I'm sure anyone who has, or has ever held, a position in an IT department....or anyone that has ever had computer issues requiring the help of your friendly IT person will feel for me on this one.

First, a little background story.

About 4 months ago, our PC at home took a dive. Blue screen of death, the works. In a last-ditch effort to resurrect it, my IT guy said I should bring it in for him to look at. (He's such a sweety, but I think he's a masochist. I mean, not only does he deal with the issues pertaining to our office every day, he's also always telling people to bring in their personal computers if they have issues. He truly enjoys helping out.)

Mot brought ours in soon after.....took it downstairs to the "IT lair"....and came back up with it minutes later.

I was thinking to myself "well, that can't be good...that was way to fast."

Nope, when they plugged it in, it worked fine. Go friggin' figure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never fails. If you have a computer issue, you call the IT guy...and it stops doing it when he (or she) arrives. Everything works normally. He stands there, with that smile on his face, you know the one. The "why did they call me here, everything is fine, if people would just wait a few seconds and try again, it will work...why can't they figure this out themselves" look.

(sigh)

Do they teach this in IT person school? Do you have to show your new employer "the look" as part of the hiring process???

So, back to why I'm telling you this story in the first place.

I turned on my laptop this morning, to download some pics I took last night....and when the log on to Vista screen comes up....it automatically fills with characters. And when I try to delete them, to type in my password...it fills back up with characters.

I turn the darn thing off...because that's just not normal.

When I turn it back on a few minutes later....it goes to a black screen, flashing cursor....and starts SQUEALING as loud as the little speakers can handle.

Like "ear splitting, holy hell, shut it off, make it stop, oh the insanity" loud.

I turned off. Again, that's just not normal.

I wait a few minutes, turn it on. No dice, still sounds like Emergency Broadcast System tones - but 10 million times more annoying.

OK....this is ridiculous.

Out loud, I say to my computer, "Fine...if you want to play that game, I'll take you in to see Paul. I have pictures on you that haven't been backed up, and if I lose them because you're having a bad day, I'm going to scream."

(Yes, I talk to inanimate objects sometimes. If anything, it makes me feel better.)

I grab my laptop bag, and start loading up the power cord....and think (out loud) "OK, I'll give you one more chance."

I turned it on, stuck my fingers in my ears and waited.

It worked fine. No issues.

What have I learned from this?

There was probably a stuck shift key or something?

NO!!! That would make sense. I prefer to go with the "crazy lady who threatens her computer" theory.

My laptop hasn't even met my IT guy. I bet the PC upstairs and my laptop have been talking while I'm not around. :-)

Monday, December 8, 2008

I'm Intrigued

So, I'm strolling around the Internet this morning, waiting for my Monday motivation to kick in here at work.

I notice that author of a blog I read (Lyvvie), has a second blog about Bento. I have to admit, I've been intrigued by concept of these things before.

I'm not sure how best describe a Bento. It's a very popular method of transporting (or in some cases, having it delivered) lunch meals. I've always investigated it, then stopped. Why do I stop? Well, because what I would with these boxes is very different than the intended purpose.

Yes, I'd bring my lunch in them....but......well......per tradition, the custom seems to be....well, time consuming. You don't just slop a pbj and some chips in them and walk out the door. The process is much more than that....it's almost an art form. The idea is to put quite a bit of effort into the preparation and presentation.

I, on the other hand, just think they are cool looking, and want to use them to slap my turkey sandwich and granola bar into...and walk out the door. :-) :-)


Photos courtesy of.....
http://bentocrazy.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=2262719
http://buckeye-vintage.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=1884165



I mean, look what people do with these things! It's like art.....I'd feel funny putting my boring chicken breast and Jello cup in these things!!!





Photos courtesy of...
http://obentobaby.blogspot.com/
http://hubpages.com/hub/Bento_Box_Recipes
http://mybentolunch.com/


Hockey, and the rest of my weekend

After finally escaping the longest week at work, I drove home with traffic on my side. Seriously, no red lights, no trouble merging, and I could exceed the speed limit the whole way home...it was awesome!!!!

Mot had arrived home from North Platte during the afternoon, so he was home (playing WoW, of course) when I got there. :-)

Because of Mot's schedule we bought hockey season tickets again this year, but split them with my folks. They do Friday and we go Saturday. Mom had her company xmas party Friday night, so we got the tickets. Thanks goodness for company xmas parties. :-) :-)

We left early for downtown, and ate at our usual pre-hockey spot...Michael's Mexican Cuisine. Yummy! A few margaritas later, we set off for the arena.



Dave Weber, a local TV news dude sang the National Anthem...not too shabby.

Our boys were wearing different jerseys this weekend. They were basically camo (red, white, black and grey)...in honor of the Military Appreciation week, and......they were going to auction them off at the end of the weekend......uh oh!!!! :-)

Our opponent was from Alaska this week, the Nanooks. It was a pretty exciting game and they were very evenly matched. So much so, that after the 3rd period was complete, the score was still tied at zero.



Into overtime we went......still tied at zero. Then into the shoot out we went.

After going back and forth for what seemed like forever (it was actually about 7 shots each), the Mavs won!!!!!! :-)

There used to be two dudes that sat in front of us at all the games. They were a hoot to sit around, we all got along pretty well. Because we hadn't seen them at all this year, we assumed they moved their seats to the lower bowl. Turns out, they just haven't been able to make a Saturday night game....and thought we'd changed our seats...because they hadn't seen us on Friday nights when they were there. Funny, eh? Anyway.....seeing them Friday night was nice. Just like old times. :-)

Saturday was a pretty quiet day. Woke up early, watched a couple dvr'd episodes of Ghost Hunter while Mot was on the computer. Then we both showered and left to run some errands. Nothing special....bookstore, library, stuff like that.

We came back home.....did a few things around the house....then got ready for more hockey. Saturday was Aaric's bday, so we asked Robin and him to come along with us, our treat. We went down to the arena a little earlier than usual, so we could get tickets for them, near our seats.

Robin and Aaric were late....which is very unlike them.....we'll have to give them crap about that one for a while. :-) (I didn't that night, because it was his birthday. )

A group of elementary kids sang the National Anthem. They had me giggling when they sang a line incorrectly "...gave proof to the knights, that our flag was still there."



This dude is a very loyal fan. He's been sitting a few rows in front of us, every game...for as long as we've been getting tickets. I don't know his name though...you know me, too shy to ask. :-)

Saturday was a repeat of Friday, it was eerie. After the 3rd period was complete, the score was still tied at zero. Into overtime we went......still tied at zero. Into a shoot out we went. After going back and forth for what seemed like forever (a few shots less than the night before though), the Nanoocks won. :-(

Near the end of the 3nd period, Danny (one of the dudes that sits in front of us) and Mot headed down towards the jersey auction table. Mot and I had decided on our way in, that we probably weren't going to bid on my favorite player's jersey. There is so much more we could do with that money. Well.....we are a bad influence on Danny and Steve.....and they are a horrible influence on us. :-) :-) :-)

When the horn sounded for end of the 3rd period....Steve and I looked down towards the auction tables (we had an awesome view of them from our seats). Danny and Mot were jumping up and down, trying to get our attention. Danny was doing the jumping when I first looked down...so I told Steve they won a jersey. Then Danny starting pointing at Mot....who then starting jumping up and down and waving his arms.

He called me, and told me that he needed my purse, so we could pay. :-)


(Here's photographic proof that Robin does, indeed, own a coat. She refuses to wear one, because winter coats are "too puffy." I couldn't believe it, when she walked up to the seats wearing one.)

My Sunday was pretty anti-climactic. Woke up early again, and headed upstairs. The WoW lair was getting a little gross, and needed cleaning. Plus, the walk in closet in the guest bedroom has been calling my name for a while now. It REALLY needs cleaned out, as it's become a catch all.

After working on it, here and there, over the course of the day..........it's now about half way done. (I had a movie playing in the den...and would get sucked into it every once and a while. After about 30 minutes, I'd realize that I had gone from standing and watching, to sitting with my feet up and watching. Darn evil electronic device!)

Everything from inside the closet is currently piled in the bedroom. I threw out a ton, and put a ton more in the goodwill/garage sale pile. Now, I just need to load it all back in......in an orderly and organized fashion.

We have sooo much extra bedding in that closet, that was just piled up. It's all dusty, so now I'll have to wash it all. I think I need to find some of those vacuum bags to put it all in....so I don't have to wash the dustiness off of it again. It's going to take me a while. :-)

The quartet showed up about 7:30 for rehearsal, so I had to stop cleaning. I'll get to it again - maybe this weekend, if not sooner. Just glad to have it almost done. It really, really needed it!

"...gave proof to the knights, that our flag was still there." Sorry, it still has me chuckling. :-)

Friday, December 5, 2008

Update...

To those of you wondering.....

My sister arrived last night, to help with the burial. We planted him under the trumpet vine along the fence behind our house.

It took a little bit to dig a hole in our frozen tundra. I'm sure the neighbors were scratching their heads over what the crazy girl next door was doing with a shovel in her backyard last night. :-)

I like to keep them guessing.

1st Mental Note: Dead fish......in water for 1.5 days.......does not smell pleasant when removed.

2nd Mental Note: Bring sister for all burials, she's a hoot, and will get you laughing at the most inconvenient times!!!!

Stories behind 2nd mental note.......

1) My cat, Skunk, passed away in the dead of winter. He was an inside cat, that refused to stay inside...so we were constantly chasing him when he escaped. One time, he escaped and we didn't know it. When I found him, he was outside.....frozen. Ugh! I called for Mot, and he came to the rescue...snow shovel in hand. He scooped up poor Skunk and put him in a copy paper box I had in the trunk of my car.

Skunk was a big cat. Not fat...but LLOOONNNGGG. He didn't fit in the box....he kinda hung over the side....sticking straight out (still frozen). Not pleasant...but we (my sister was there), of course, still got the giggles when Mot plunked him in the box, and he didn't fit.

Mot, trying not to laugh himself, went inside the house to look for something closer to the correct size. As he was walking towards the house, Skunk fell out of the box. Neither my sister or I were looking in that direction when it happened...so after we heard the noise, we looked to see what caused it. There was Skunk, staring right at us, out of the box.

I admit it, we both screamed like girls, and were at the end of the driveway in Olympic sprinter's time.

2) My aunt's funeral in April. We were standing in the back of the room, during the viewing the day before the funeral. Depressing music is playing, people are crying, we're trying to be strong. Well, it all finally overwhelms us. I'm sniveling, and Inny (my sis) starts in. I give her a hug, and she cries on my shoulder. It's all very "lifetime movie" like.

When she gets herself under control, she pulls away from my shoulder. I look down and say (not so quietly) "Ew, you snotted on me."

And that was that......

We were both holding back the giggles....until we could no longer fight it. We were all out laughing....and everyone in the room is looking at us.

Our red, puffy eyes must have given us free reign to laugh...because everyone went back to what they were doing soon after. On that note, we left.

3) Last night's burial starts with "I don't have to touch him, do I?"

I made her no promises.

I use the fish net, scoop him out of the tank, and put him in a soon to be thrown away dish towel she's holding. Inny spends the whole time with this look of complete and total disgust on her face. It's awesome.

As we're getting ready to walk down stairs......the smell hits us. Oh my god!!!! 2 days in a fish tank, dead. There are no words.

I take the towel (containing dead fish) and go running down the stairs and outside.....hoping to keep as little of the smell from lingering as possible.

(sidenote : running through the house didn't help)

Once outside, we pick a spot and I try to dig a hole. We throw him in it...and he lands upside down. Well....that's just not going to work for me. I reach down to flip him over and Inny lets out a squeal. Heck, she wasn't even touching him, and she was grossed out.

Fish have no eyelids.....so my dead 10+ year old puffer fish was in a hole in the ground - staring at me. How I didn't have nightmares last night, I'll never know!

I get him flipped over, quickly we say "Love you Puff" and put the frozen mound of dirt back down...and run inside.

(It's colder than heck out - single digits - and we both had just gotten done at the gym. I was in shorts and a tshirt - we made the burial quick...to say the least.)

If you ever need comic relief at a funeral....call on us. If you want tact, decorum, and good behavior, make sure we're not in attendance!!!!

Writer's block and the onset of Winter

Yep, the title pretty much says it all.

I'm without blog fodder. It's bad. Nothing going on in my life that's even somewhat funny.....just day by day stuff. It's time to pick up a new hobby....or maybe dust off an old, under-used one???

I'm hoping the hockey games this weekend will help provide something to beat this block away!

During our hockey game two weeks ago, we found ourselves sitting next to a lady.....not so strange, I know....but she professed to know everything about the sport.

No, she didn't actually exclaim "I know all about hockey!"....but she was still a hockey know it all....you can spot them miles away.

At one point, the official blew his whistle and threw both of his arms straight up in the air. After the call is announced over the sound system, our little know it all says, (quite loudly, thank goodness, or I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to giggle!!!), "I thought that call meant touchdown? He got a touchdown, why hasn't the scoreboard changed?"

(shaking my head)

I love these people!!!! Without them, sports arenas are seriously lacking on humor. :-) :-)

I actually wore a winter coat today...can you believe it?? 9 degrees (a million below due to the wind chill) and I finally pulled the ole' Columbia coat out of the closet. If only we'd get more snow. So far this year, it's just been dustings. A foot of snow right now would rock!!!!!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Weight Loss (WL #1)

I have a tendency to be a typical woman. Shoes and purses have become a hobby. Makeup is worn, dead animal removal is never a voluntary thing, bath towels have a certain way they should be folded, and most fart jokes don't amuse me. I admit it!!!!!

Another womanly thing about me.......I hate how I look, and wish I could change it. So begins this series of "WL" posts.

A number of years ago, I tried an advancement in the medical industry.......here's a little short synapses.

Anyway.....amongst all of the weight gain, I also had a shoulder that would dislocat a minimum of once a month. (a basketball injury from 8th grade, that was mis-diagnosed) So...most physcial activities in my life had already been tabled.

What this meant was not only did I gain all the weight, but I couldn't do anything physical to get it off. I tried the starvation thing, and as any medical doctor will tell you, it doesn't work, it's not healthy, and sometimes it can actually make the problem worse.

So, fast forward to the present day. I had shoulder surgery two years ago....so, for one year now I've been able to resume my hobbies. Hiking, kayaking, camping, hunting, shooting, racquetball, biking...you get the picture.

I've joined and left gyms.....I've signed up for and completed boot camps.....and I've lost...well, I'm not sure how much weight I've lost. I tend to measure by my clothes sizes.

Pre-surgery....size 5/6 to size 18 (due to the medical issues) in 9 months. Ugh!!!

Post-surgery...size 18 to size 12 (due to working out.....oh, and the pain killers - they really helped!!!)

In fact, maybe I'll find another body part that needs work....and have surgery for it. I've got a bum knee...maybe I can get that repaired?? Size 18 to size 12 with one shoulder...imagine what I can do with a knee surgery!!!!

OK, just kidding! (maybe)

So.....Robin has moved back to Omaha. She and I used to be workout partners before she moved. Our company has starting offering to pay for a gym membership, and we're taking advantage of it!!!

The first night (Tuesday), we stuck to the cardio machines (recumbent bike and treadmill to be exact). Last night (Wednesday), we hit the group fitness classes by storm.

The deal is this....she motivates me to go every night...and I keep her there once we arrive.

(and not let her go home after the first 10 minutes on the bike, right Robin!!!???!!!??) :-)

I've also made a deal with myself....but I haven't told Mot yet. :-)

My sister is a department head at the big-dog gym in town. It's nowhere near my home or my work (and the counters in the ladies locker room are marble = expensive membership). Anyway....since she's a department head, she can now offer me a reduced rate...that will be locked in for life.

We play racquetball at her club here and there. Now that it's cold out, we want to start meeting more often. But, the club (as I stated above) is expensive!!! I've been going as a guest, but they are cracking down on the guest policy. Starting Jan 1, she can still bring guests...but not the same one, over and over. Darn it!!! :-)

So...our racquetball sessions are going to cost me $15 a pop. OUCH!!!! Now, with this reduced rate membership she can offer me...I can go for $35 a month....full access to everything in the club.

Why would I consider it? a) $15 each time we play racquetball without it- ugh b) My club doesn't have racquetball, or a pool, or a climbing wall - say it with me "Yeah, climbing wall!!" c) Tisha teaches the step class there (she used to teach the step class at my old gym, I stopped going when she left, because the new instructor blew goats).

So, here's the deal.....my sister can take me as her guest for the month of December, as usual. Then........

One month of 4 days a week at my new "work provided "gym
* I'll treat myself to the CHEAP membership at the other place - which shouldn't even count as a reward - it just makes money sense!!! If we play racquetball twice a month, it's payed for itself. Right??????

Two months of 4 days a week at my new "work provided" gym, and at least 10 pounds lost (that's right, I have to weight 171 before this one counts - cat's out of the bag, you know what I weigh now- ugh!)
* An iPod classic...one that holds all my music...so I don't have to keep dumping songs and loading new ones. My current Nano doesn't hold nearly everything...and with what currently IS on it, I have no room for Podrunner tracks.

I'll figure out the rewards after that...but I'm thinking new clothes will be a given. I'll have lost weight and need them by then. :-)

That's not like me.....

I have another blog out there in blogland. It was created for 3 reasons....

1) I thought family members (besides Mot) had found this one...and the fun thing about a blog, is that you can vent...and not worry about the people reading it getting upset.

2) I thought it better to have a blog where I can bitch and whine...while sparing the readers of this blog the annoying timbre to my online voice!

3) Weight loss. Yes folks, it's true. Nej needs to loose weight. Mainly because of this.

Then it hit me...my blog, in general, probably isn't the most interesting thing anyway, so maybe I will continue to post my grievances here. I mean, it's easier than remembering the password and such to my other account. :-) Plus, when have I ever censored myself in real life? If it needs said, just say it.

If those family members read this blog and have an issue with my opinions and play by play of events, well....what do you do? Maybe offense needs to be taken? I only write it if it happens, and is true. And I usually only write things I would also say to their face...unless I think it's going to make my hubby's life more difficult. That's the one thing I don't want to do.

So.....I'll start labeling the posts you may not have an interest in reading...as a warning and a service to you all.

Weight loss...will have....let's see......"WL".....in the title. :-)

I'll save the other blog for those times that I just need to vent.....anonymously. You know those days!!

R.I.P. Puffer

I'm sorry to say....but my beloved puffer fish "Puffer" has died.

(I'm usually more imaginative with the naming of my pets, I swear!!!)

I found him swimming belly up along the bottom of his tank last night.

Cause of death, old age. We've had him for 10 years, and he wasn't a new fish when we purchased him....so he's lived a good life.

The poor thing has lived through countless aquarium movings, power outages and cat attacks. He was a fighter, but I guess it was just his time.

Services will be held at my house tonight. (which basically means Mot is still out of town, so I'll have to fish his body out of the tank myself - squealing "eww, yuck, eww" as I do it)

I have a hard time with the idea of flushing him....should I dig a little whole in the backyard? How long do you wait before getting new fish for the tank?

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Silver Lining Lunch

Because of my rushed morning....I had another stupid (nerd-like) Wednesday am. It's becoming a trend, actually.

Join me on nerdy Wednesdays. Hilarity will ensue.

Basically, my morning went like this. Nej gets up early, Nej gets ready for work, Nej remembers it's garbage day and Mot isn't home to do it for her (again), Nej goes outside to put the garbage out and discovers freezing rain and snow on the ground, Nej tries to not fall on her way to the curb with garbage can and recyclables, Nej gets into car and remembers that she drove home on fumes yesterday and doesn't have enough fuel to get her to work, Nej follows the slowest freezing rain drivers of all times to the gas station, Nej remembers she didn't pack herself a lunch.

(sigh)

No worries!!! I have a few things in my desk drawer that I can heat up. Canned soup and such, for just such occasions.

Today's pick, Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers, Sesame Teriyaki Chicken.

Oh holy hell!!!! Should you ever decide to eat this, just lick your shoe or something. Really, it has to taste better!!!!!

Gross, disgusting, vile, putrid, nastiness!! ( I should know better, never trust meals boasting they contain meat...and don't need refrigerated.) :-)

After one bite, I threw it away, and headed out to Blimpies' for a sub. Buffalo chicken, on marbled rye....heaven.

There's this lady in line. Let me start describing, it won't take long before you know EXACTLY what kind of lady this was.

1) Long, floor length, white, puffy fake down, dirty coat.
2) Knit stocking cap, dirty.
3) Drew Cary glasses.
4) Constantly sniffling her nose.
5) Bitching about the new menus. "I can't find anything on them, they're ugly, why did they change them, they're so hard to read, I don't know what I want."
6) She's too busy bitching about the menu, and has YET to actually read it.
7) The person behind the counter isn't helping, she's answering her every comment (some people need ignored!!)
8) It turns out this lady is there every day. EVERY DAY!! Who cares if you can't read the menus, you should have it memorized by now. Order what you normally get and shut the f*ck up!

By now, I'm just staring at her....with one of those "are you f*cking kidding me" looks.

She eventually looks at me. (the snickering probably attracted her attention) I raise my eyebrows in my best "for the love of god, are you done bitching? can you order now?" look.

She glares at me...."well, if you know what you want, YOU can order"....and she walks over...stands in front of me (maybe 1 foot between me and the counter)..."so, are you going to order?"

The whole world centers around this chick (or chick type thing - the jury is still out). She's there everyday, so she obviously owns the store, and all the oxygen in it!!!

You know what, I'm not in the mood. If I say something, I might actually hit her.....and the law frowns upon that kind of thing. Drat!!!! I continue with the snickering, but keep from saying anything more than my order.

She huffed when the person behind the counter and I shared an eye roll. :-)

I bring my sandwich back to work, and sit down to finally sort through the blogs I haven't read since Wednesday last week.

It's not that I feel guilty if I don't read them...it's just, well...you miss allot of interesting, entertaining, and useless information if you don't keep current!!!

This was one I'd missed.....

Thank you Dr Zibbs @ That Blue Yak...I needed this!!!!!! :-)

Silver lining for a Wednesday afternoon lunch.

Funk

Mot's been in a funk for a week or so now. And somehow, he puts me in funk wondering why he's in a funk.. You know the drill. It's in a marriage handbook somewhere, right??

In my attempts to cure the funk, I've tried the following....

1) I haven't been asking him to help with household chores, there is a list of 2 things I'd like him to do on the board in the kitchen. It's been there for 2 weeks...so I'm assuming he'd rather I clean the nasty meatloaf pan. I did all the other dishes...but left it for him...it's disgusting...doesn't he know what aluminum foil is for crying out loud????

2) I've done the grocery shopping alone so he wouldn't have to go with me. And on said grocery trip I bought him a jar of zesty dill pickles (his new favorite) and a caffeine in a can drink he loves so well. You know, the ones that taste like liquid metal when you drink them??



3) Bills are paid, Christmas shopping is almost done (and he's had to participate in it very little), everyone is healthy.

Basically, life is not hard for him right now......so I can't figure out the funk.

He's able to come home from work in the morning and plays WoW all day (he's a fireman, 24 hour shifts)...or he can go to his folks' house to hunt THEN comes home to play WoW. Then, he stops playing for long enough to say hi and eat supper, then go back up to play more WoW.
Yesterday was day we hit the top of my "funk threshold." The point where I just can't take it anymore...and honestly stop caring if my little things make the funk worse. If I try to help it out, it gets worse, so why not just be myself and let it get worse. It's easier for me that way. :-)

The night before, he'd done a "WoW, then hunt, then WoW...then NOT help me unload the groceries when I got home...even though he knew I was home" day. (He said he didn't know I was there....but him yelling "hi honey" down the stairs gave it away!!!!) Then continued playing WoW all evening...without worrying where I was....if, in fact, he yells "hi honey" every so often, and really didn't know I was home yet...shouldn't he then be wondering why I'm not home yet???

I digress......

I went upstairs, after everything was put away, and I'd eaten dinner. It was about 8:30, and I'd had enough. I gave him the "you're cheating on me with the computer again, and I don' t appreciate it" look...and walked back downstairs. Words are not unnecessary in marriage!!!!

Then, yesterday am, I told him something I thought would cheer him up (and I thought this, because he'd been asking me when our next trip East was going to be) that the weekend of the 19th-21st might be a good time to go to Des Moines. Do I get smiles???

NOOOO!!!

I get a big sigh, and then male adult pouting.

For crying out loud!!!!!!

(sigh) "What's wrong now?" (probably not the best choice of words for me, I admit it)

"No, that's fine...you don't want to hunt that weekend."

Where the f*ck did that come from??? I say "Honey, did you want to go hunting that weekend? If so, you need to tell me....and not pretend that I have magical mind reading powers."

(I probably didn't actually say the magical mind reading powers thing....but I really wish I would have....although, I'm sure Mot can tell you that the look on my face probably came really close)

"No, we'll go to Des Moines" and he opens his book to start reading.

Somehow this is supposed to make me understand the conversation is over...but he should know better....right? You can't just open a book and get me to stop a conversation that is furthering the funk...no how, no way!!!!!

He wants to spend time with me, he wants to hunt with me....OK, I get that part. But if he wants to spend time with me....try spending SOME of the 24/7 he's currently on the computer playing with strangers (except Pool, we met him, so now I can't call him a stranger), and come say hi.

I mean, if he doesn't want to join me TV watching, there's nothing saying he can't say "Hey Nej, let's go {insert activity here}."

Mel, take you mind out the gutter. :-)

The guy is going to go to North Platte to hunt with his brother...then the next thing I know, he's not going.....then during the day yesterday, his brother calls my cell phone. I didn't answer it...you know why??? Because I can guarantee you that the only reason brother is calling is because Mot didn't tell him he wasn't coming...and they're wondering where the heck he is. NO WAY I'm going to be the bearer of that bad news. Nuh uh!

OK, as crazy as it seems, his brother calling my phone (and me not answering) made me feel better though? Why? Because he's jerking around with someone else too. It means his funk isn't personal towards me. Yippeee!!!! :-)

I'm normally an advocate for communication. Everyone who knows me, knows this about me. But when Mot gets really funky, I just shut up. The silent treatment seems to be the preferred method. He'll eventually get over it, or tell me what's up...sooner or later.

It kills me the whole time....not talking about it.....but I just get worn and beaten down sometimes. :-)

So....as I'm leaving the gym last night (yeah Nej) he calls.....all happy, smiley and such. Thank goodness.....that is, thank goodness until I found out why he was all happy and smiley.

He's packing up his stuff to go to North Platte hunting.

I'll admit it, it bums me out when strangers are the ones to cheer my Mot up. Shouldn't that job be mine? So, when I can't do it....I feel as though I've failed in my marriage vows or something. :-)

He's been there all day today, and I've heard nothing from him. Hope he's having fun. And he BETTER be in a good mood when he gets back!!! Damn it!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Let the craziness begin!!!!! (Black Friday, part 2)

OK, where did I leave off??

Ah yes, from Toys R Us we drove to Target. In years past, this has been one of our first stops, and we were usually in line near the front. We arrived at Target just as they were opening the doors (thanks Toys R Us!).

The line rivaled Best Best in length and shear number of people. Last year, the employees of Target lines up outside the store and held hands (picture a game of Red Rover with adults wearing red shirts) to block the line jumpers. This year, the store had lined up rows of shopping carts (that's Target for you, always one step ahead)....and they had security monitoring the line jumpers waiting on the other side of the carts. We had time to park our car and join the end of the line....which was just nearing the doors when we arrived. We got in tons earlier than the line jumpers, still waiting by the carts before they can enter. If they'd just hauled their lazy butts to the end of the line, they would have gotten in MUCH earlier.

It's amazing how the people that run and kick to get in line, and the biggest, most unhealthy people out there. They are too lazy to walk to the end of the line, but aren't too lazy to run and jump to beat out those that have been there for much longer. Makes me giggle..and shake my head...at the same time. (well, maybe not the same time, that could be dangerous)

Once inside the store, we split again. We'd had time to talk to mom and see if she was comfortable with trying again. We gave her the ad, with the things she was supposed to find circled. If all else fails, ask a salesperson. She seemed OK with it, so off we went.

My items were the big ones, of course, so I needed a cart. Pushing that cart, through thousands of people, near the electronics and toy areas....ugh! I felt like a salmon swimming upstream. That is, if that salmon had a large shopping cart it was also trying to maneuver around. Crazy!!!!

I found mom, on accident. Her arms were loaded with the items she was supposed to get. She had to ask someone to help her find something, I was so proud!!!! My next items were still nestled deep in electronics hell, so she took the cart, and started to head towards the front of the store, to get in line.

I got to electronics and found out my item (GPS) was being kept up at the jewelry counter...at the front of the friggin' store!!! Argh! I just came from there!!!! So back up I went. About them Inny calls me to find out where I am. I told her where I was headed, and she said that she was near jewelry, and we'd meet there. I tried calling mom....no answer. Hmmmm.....

I met Inny at jewelry, and the GPS's were gone (no surprise).....and she told me she couldn't get ahold of mom. We had all of our stuff....but no mother. Hmmmmm.....

Well, that's not good....so the two of us split up, to find a needle in a haystack. I happened to walk almost right into mom.....somewhere near household goods. She was just smiling and pushing her cart. Seems her cell phone doesn't get good reception in the store...and it never rang.

Well....at least we found her. Dad would kill me if we had to call and tell him we lost mom. :-)

From there we went back to jewelry....why you ask???? Well...there was a register there, and cashier there....and no line. The line to check out in the store was wrapped all the way around the inside of the building...but that register at jewelry was in 'no line, no wait' status. Well heck.....carpe diem, and all that jazz!!!!

We got checked out and left, before the first people in line were able to check out....not too shabby!!!!! :-)

From there we went to Cabela's, WalMart (not as crazy as you'd think it would be), Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Bass Pro Shops, Ulta, another WalMart (don't ask), and then back to my sisters.

We unloaded the loot, and I took off for home. It was noon, and I was bushed!!!!! :-)

I had no idea what I was going to buy people as gifts this year, so figured my purchases would be mostly for ourselves (things at a rockin' good price), or little things I'd find here and there.

Heck, I got almost all of our shopping done. And the people I didn't buy for, I now know what I'm going to get. I feel SOOOO much better about the holidays this year....with the gift buying almost done and out of the way. Sweeeeeeet!!!

Let the craziness begin!!!!! (Black Friday, part 1)

OK, so this post is a few days late.....it's been busy at work and home again...and I haven't had the time to write (or read) any of my usual blogs.

Every year my sister and I brave the Black Friday crowds. Neither of us enjoy shopping normally, but something about the crowds, the cold and the atmosphere door buster ads provide makes us down right giddy about the black Friday craziness. :-)

Thanksgiving was held at Inny's house (sis) this year. It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.

Her in-laws were pretty mellow...and they know the drill. We all show up, eat dinner, clean up the mess....and then Inny and I escape to her bedroom with the sale ads in hand. Behind closed doors, we flip through the ads, not once...but three times.

1) Just to see what there is.
2) To actually pick out what we want.
3) To make sure we missed nothing. :-)

This year we took a break after the third time through, to take my niece to the holiday lights lighting downtown. She really enjoyed it, and the weather was gorgeous for it!!!!!

This creepy looking dude in strange clothes and limp walked over to where the three of us were standing and stopped. It was somewhat dark where we were, so I didn't notice the makeup right away. Once I did though, I relaxed and just sat back to watch and see what Lauren would do.

She just stared at him....with this "don't come any closer, and I won't have to kick you in the shins" look. I was so proud. He finally broke eye contact with Lauren and asked me (in his best 'I'm a dead Ebenezer Scrooge voice')..."do you like haunted houses. I told him of my love...and he grinned from ear to ear. Well, at least as best as he could...under the mask and makeup. Turns out one of my favorite haunted houses in town does a haunted holiday house. That coming weekend was to be the last weekend it was running though (which I thought strange) so we won't be able to make it this year. :-(

Anyway....he was tickled pink that we thought it was a good idea (is this the first year?)...he handed us a flyer, and limped off to scare other unsuspecting 6 year olds waiting for the lights to "light already."

Once back at Inny's house, we went through the ads one final time. This time, to plan our route through town. Logistics is very important when it comes to Black Friday. What stores open when...what stores are near others...etc, etc.

This year, mom asked if she could go along. No, I take that back...she just told us she was coming...no asking about it. Mom hates shopping and crowds worse than anyone I know...so it came as quite the surprise, to say the least.

We all hit the sack around 9:30....and woke up what seemed like 5 minutes later (2:30 am).

The three of us got up, got ready, and got out the door at 3:03 am. First stop...the one coffee place we found open this early last year.

IT WASN'T OPEN THIS YEAR!!!!!

After a small freak out, and maybe a few tears....we just headed to our first store.

(uncaffeinated - can you believe it?)

We were first in line....how fun is that?!?! After about 3 minutes, other people started showing up...and the line grew pretty large. At 3:50 we noticed the line jumpers starting to get out of their cars. You know the ones! They wait in their cars, where it's warm, until the door are about to open...then they cut in front of the wackos (us) that have been there for an hour (or more in some cases). The items we were going for at the first store (Younkers) weren't the most important to us, so I didn't make a big deal about them being there.

There was an employee in the store, walking around with Starbucks cups, handing them out to other employees. If it wasn't for the fact that I know they were going to need it more than us, I would have been jealous.

OK, I admit, I was jealous anyway! Where did they find a Starbucks open that early, in that neck of the woods??? :-)

One woman (wearing a red shirt) walked from the right side of the store to the left. Then, I kid you not, she'd walk by again....from the right to the left. We all thought we must have missed seeing her return to the right side....so we watched for her.

(give us a break, it was cold and we were bored)

I swear to you, there is a teleportation device on the left side of their store......because she NEVER walked back to the other side. Yet, next thing we know....she walks by again...from the right to the left.

At 3:55, mom took the keys to my Jeep and drove to Toys R Us to get a place in line. Inny and I got our shopping done by 4:10 and walked across the mall parking lot and across the street to Toys R Us to join mom. She had secured a spot near the front of the line. I don't know if she was enjoying her participation in Black Friday this year, but I can say that Inny and I were enjoying the benefits of having a third person. :-)

The manager of Toys R Us was new, young, and must have a mother or sister that goes Black Friday shopping...because the guy had done his research. They had one employee, whose only job, was to stand at the end of the check out line with 20 helium balloons in his hand. Then, the shoppers know where to go to find the end of the line. Smart thinking.

Also, they had a map of the store showing where the sale items were going to be...cross referenced with the ad, and a printed list of the sale items. It seems, in previous years, shoppers' biggest complaints were that the seasonal workers didn't know where the items were located within the store. Jason, the store manager fixed the issue for this year.

At about 4:50 - ten minutes to the doors opening - the line jumpers started arriving. The ingenious (and fed up) people at the front of this line decided to take matters into their own hands. This Toys R Us stores is excess shopping carts outside the front door, lined up along the front of the store. So, we all started taking line after line of carts...and well...we created a barrier of sorts. Worked quite nicely actually.

(I've been to a Best Buy "Black Friday, mad dash, people actually got trampled" occurrence. And it was the line jumpers that did the trampling. Ever since then, I've had harsh feelings for them. Call it stereotyping, that's fine by me.)

The people in line aren't the ones running...they've been patiently waiting for hours, what's a few more minutes? But the line jumpers run, jump, push, shove and kick their way into the store. It's quite ridiculous actually.

Anyway....the three of us divided when entering the store. Mom got a little shell shocked, and did the deer in headlights thing...but I found her and rescued her from the madness. We met up with Inny in the electronics department. THE WORST LINE EVER!!

I kid you not! There were only two registers in there, and if you bought electronics, you HAD to use those two registers. Plus, on top of that, the people running the registers were trying to sell us protection plans for EVERYTHING. She bought a $5 wooden train, and they tried to sell her a $3.99 protection plan for it. After they rang up each item, they offered the protection plan. On EVERYTHING!!!! That line was destined to be slow. Ugh! :-(

(to be continued)