Thought this was pretty cool.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Weekend Update #17, Garage Sales, Card Games and a Basement
Friday was a typical Friday before a long weekend. Most of management was gone golfing, and the rest of us were left to hold down the fort...so to speak.
Robin stepped up to help cover the front desk reception area. I can only imagine the sacrifice she had to make. The pain, the tears........
....the paper cuts.
After work, she and I went to my sister's to start getting set up for the garage sale. Unloading our cars, and going back to my house to fill up the Jeep.
We also had Mot's enchiladas and a couple alcoholic beverages before we headed back to Inny's place. :-)
After everything was unloaded, the three of us set out to place signs around the neighborhoods and busy streets near her house.
We used the pieces of pallets, cut up the night before (while wearing flip flops) and attached large pieces of cardboard to them. We then took the printed garage sale signs I made on my computer, put them into page protectors, and taped those to the cardboard.
Rain was in the forecast, again, and we were determined to have signs that wouldn't melt. :-)
Armed with signs and hammers, we drove around, banging the planks into the ground. Let's just say the ground was softer in some places, than it was in either. While on the corner of 96th and Q, someone yelled at my sister "Nice Ass!" She was glowing about it the rest of the night! :-)
Saturday morning came very quickly. I headed to my sisters place and arrived just as she was opening the garage. I helped move the larger items out of the garage and into the driveway.
We started off the morning pretty well...with a large van full of dudes on their way to the construction site. Literally. They all swarmed the place, bought women's and children's clothing....my xbox...and some kitchen goods...then put on their bright orange construction vests before loading back into the van and leaving. :-)
Doug, my bro-in-law came out of the house about then, and said "Well...the rain this afternoon is going to arrive here in about 30 minutes."
Argh! that's 9:00 am, not afternoon! Meteorologists (sigh)
We loaded most of the stuff back into the garage (the thankfully very large and empty garage - so there was room for everything, and still room to walk around)...and covered the larger stuff with plastic I had brought with me.
No more had we covered it, when this hit.....
Rain, rain, rain. :-)
It last maybe 20 minutes or so, before blowing over. Just enough rain to make it HOTTER THAN HELL, AND MUGGY TO BOOT!!! :-)
We finally closed up shop at 4:00. We had a steady stream of people until 3:00. The holiday weekend sale surprised me, and exceeded my expectations. We had as many as 20 people at a time in that garage.....usually, no less than 5 or so people at any given time.
We loaded everything that was left into my Jeep and headed to Goodwill to drop it off. To be able to put everything left into my Jeep (and a few items in Inny's car) is saying allot. We started with allot of crap. :-) :-)
I tried to sleep in on Sunday. It didn't work. Mainly because I could hear this strange noise coming from our bathroom. I finally got up at about 6:30 to inspect.
This is what I found...
Morgan is addicted to shredding toilet paper. (sigh)
We tried to stay home and be lazy...but it just didn't work. Initially, we were supposed to drive to Western Nebraska with Mot's folks to get the grave tour of his relatives...but both of his parents were ill that week, and weren't up to it. (Unofficially, his mom single handedly shut down the school she teaches....as it was suspected she has swine flu - crazy eh?) She's fine, and so is his dad...so all is well.
Instead, we went to Cabela's to get Mot some pants that were on sale. Then we went to our favorite brewery for lunch.
After lunch we drove to the other side of town to a nursery...looking for a lime tree. Sadly all they had were Meyer Lemon trees.....no limes. :-)
The boys came over that night for dinner (Pizza Shoppe pizza) and cards. We played 2 games of Pinochle, then decided to run up to Target before they closed. A new board game was our mission.
UNO spin is what we came home with. I love UNO, but I'm also a traditionalist when it comes to games. Monopoly needs the Scottie and the Top Hat games pieces, boardwalk, railroads.
Not Animalopolgy, NASCARopoly, Strawberry Shortcakeopoly.....
OK...I made that last one up.
Maybe.
But, having said that....UNO Spin gets two thumbs up from me and the gang. It's the same game...just with one little twist thrown in. They merely improved upon a good thing...and didn't try to change it. Way to go UNO folks! :-)
Monday morning....I heard that sound again.
I'm going to kill that cat. :-)
I spent the day going back and forth between the back yard (to check on our ailing - and now gone) dog Rowan...and the basement.
I was in the basement for 3 reasons #1, it's a mess and is the last place that really needs some serious organizing in the house. #2, it's cool down there, and these 90 degree days are starting to wear on me already. #3, it kept me busy, and my mind off the dog.
My closet is in the basement. Mainly because that's where the laundry room is, and I was sick of hauling all my clean clothes back upstairs, only to throw them down the chute for washing again.
Who am I kidding?!?! I was going down stairs to dig through the piles of clean clothes, because I didn't WANT to haul them back upstairs. So my solution was to move my whole closet down there. :-)
Anyway, I spent a fair portion of the day moving where my closet was located, organizing the storage side of the basement....and doing laundry.
For being a holiday weekend...we didn't spend it doing any of the traditional things. BBQ's, family get togethers....riding around in the back of pickups playing music for anyone who wanted to listen...
Oh, that was Cowguy. By the way....BEST way to spend the weekend. I'm totally jealous!
If you don't read his blog, you should. Cracks me up every time I do!!! You can click here and here to read about his pickup truck, travelling band weekend. I love it!!! :-)
Robin stepped up to help cover the front desk reception area. I can only imagine the sacrifice she had to make. The pain, the tears........
....the paper cuts.
After work, she and I went to my sister's to start getting set up for the garage sale. Unloading our cars, and going back to my house to fill up the Jeep.
We also had Mot's enchiladas and a couple alcoholic beverages before we headed back to Inny's place. :-)
After everything was unloaded, the three of us set out to place signs around the neighborhoods and busy streets near her house.
We used the pieces of pallets, cut up the night before (while wearing flip flops) and attached large pieces of cardboard to them. We then took the printed garage sale signs I made on my computer, put them into page protectors, and taped those to the cardboard.
Rain was in the forecast, again, and we were determined to have signs that wouldn't melt. :-)
Armed with signs and hammers, we drove around, banging the planks into the ground. Let's just say the ground was softer in some places, than it was in either. While on the corner of 96th and Q, someone yelled at my sister "Nice Ass!" She was glowing about it the rest of the night! :-)
Saturday morning came very quickly. I headed to my sisters place and arrived just as she was opening the garage. I helped move the larger items out of the garage and into the driveway.
We started off the morning pretty well...with a large van full of dudes on their way to the construction site. Literally. They all swarmed the place, bought women's and children's clothing....my xbox...and some kitchen goods...then put on their bright orange construction vests before loading back into the van and leaving. :-)
Doug, my bro-in-law came out of the house about then, and said "Well...the rain this afternoon is going to arrive here in about 30 minutes."
Argh! that's 9:00 am, not afternoon! Meteorologists (sigh)
We loaded most of the stuff back into the garage (the thankfully very large and empty garage - so there was room for everything, and still room to walk around)...and covered the larger stuff with plastic I had brought with me.
No more had we covered it, when this hit.....
Rain, rain, rain. :-)
It last maybe 20 minutes or so, before blowing over. Just enough rain to make it HOTTER THAN HELL, AND MUGGY TO BOOT!!! :-)
We finally closed up shop at 4:00. We had a steady stream of people until 3:00. The holiday weekend sale surprised me, and exceeded my expectations. We had as many as 20 people at a time in that garage.....usually, no less than 5 or so people at any given time.
We loaded everything that was left into my Jeep and headed to Goodwill to drop it off. To be able to put everything left into my Jeep (and a few items in Inny's car) is saying allot. We started with allot of crap. :-) :-)
I tried to sleep in on Sunday. It didn't work. Mainly because I could hear this strange noise coming from our bathroom. I finally got up at about 6:30 to inspect.
This is what I found...
Morgan is addicted to shredding toilet paper. (sigh)
We tried to stay home and be lazy...but it just didn't work. Initially, we were supposed to drive to Western Nebraska with Mot's folks to get the grave tour of his relatives...but both of his parents were ill that week, and weren't up to it. (Unofficially, his mom single handedly shut down the school she teaches....as it was suspected she has swine flu - crazy eh?) She's fine, and so is his dad...so all is well.
Instead, we went to Cabela's to get Mot some pants that were on sale. Then we went to our favorite brewery for lunch.
After lunch we drove to the other side of town to a nursery...looking for a lime tree. Sadly all they had were Meyer Lemon trees.....no limes. :-)
The boys came over that night for dinner (Pizza Shoppe pizza) and cards. We played 2 games of Pinochle, then decided to run up to Target before they closed. A new board game was our mission.
UNO spin is what we came home with. I love UNO, but I'm also a traditionalist when it comes to games. Monopoly needs the Scottie and the Top Hat games pieces, boardwalk, railroads.
Not Animalopolgy, NASCARopoly, Strawberry Shortcakeopoly.....
OK...I made that last one up.
Maybe.
But, having said that....UNO Spin gets two thumbs up from me and the gang. It's the same game...just with one little twist thrown in. They merely improved upon a good thing...and didn't try to change it. Way to go UNO folks! :-)
Monday morning....I heard that sound again.
I'm going to kill that cat. :-)
I spent the day going back and forth between the back yard (to check on our ailing - and now gone) dog Rowan...and the basement.
I was in the basement for 3 reasons #1, it's a mess and is the last place that really needs some serious organizing in the house. #2, it's cool down there, and these 90 degree days are starting to wear on me already. #3, it kept me busy, and my mind off the dog.
My closet is in the basement. Mainly because that's where the laundry room is, and I was sick of hauling all my clean clothes back upstairs, only to throw them down the chute for washing again.
Who am I kidding?!?! I was going down stairs to dig through the piles of clean clothes, because I didn't WANT to haul them back upstairs. So my solution was to move my whole closet down there. :-)
Anyway, I spent a fair portion of the day moving where my closet was located, organizing the storage side of the basement....and doing laundry.
For being a holiday weekend...we didn't spend it doing any of the traditional things. BBQ's, family get togethers....riding around in the back of pickups playing music for anyone who wanted to listen...
Oh, that was Cowguy. By the way....BEST way to spend the weekend. I'm totally jealous!
If you don't read his blog, you should. Cracks me up every time I do!!! You can click here and here to read about his pickup truck, travelling band weekend. I love it!!! :-)
Waaaay Back When-sday, Episode 7, Things I've done for a paycheck (part 2)
It occurred to me once that most of my waking hours are spent at work. I see the people I work with more than my own family (or so it seems sometimes). If those jobs are good for anything, it's something to blog about. :-)
Here are my previous posts on the topic, Part 1, babysitting
In high school, early high school.....my dad worked for a courier company in Omaha. One summer, I went to work with him everyday, to help out. My first job was accounts receivable. I was the thug...the person that called to collect on monies owed.
I'll give you all some time to laugh hysterically at the notion of introverted me strong-arming people over the phone for money.
(humming to herself)
OK...is everyone done? It's OK if you aren't....I'll wait a few more seconds.
(straightening her desk)
Done? Good...now, back to the story.
The courier company was smaller, and short staffed....so there were literally file cabinets (plural) full of invoices and monies due to them. I spent all day calling people...for weeks...and made little to no dent in the files.
One day, the offices flooded. It had been raining for days...and the offices were located in the older part of downtown Omaha. They had actually kinda sank below street level (isn't Chicago doing this as well...or is that just something I read somewhere?)....and as it rained...it literally filled up with water.
We spent the morning moving any office furniture we could up onto desks to keep it out of the water. I sat on top of one desk....with the phone cord taped to the wall out of the water....calling people collecting money. Now that's dedication. :-)
The company also had warehouse space. They stored materials for different clients...one being a very famous musician, even to this day. This musician puts on one heck of a Halloween show each year...so we stored all the set decorations used on his tours. It wasn't unusual to find a severed arm, or head, here and there in warehouse. Kinda creepy when I think about it.
The offices eventually moved, and that next summer, my dad wanted me to try my hand at dispatch.
Dispatch!
I don't know as that I even had my license yet...and he wanted me to tell drivers where to go?
I grew up in a town of maybe 3000 people. Omaha is a city.
(gulp)
Luckily the drivers were AWESOME. They'd call for a pickup, and I'd go down the board listing the addresses...and they'd tell me which ones were close to them.
One afternoon I got a call from someone, wanting to order pizza. I told them it was a wrong number...but the gentlemen with the suspicious southern accent tried to strike up a conversation. I was polite, but insisted he hang up and try a different number.
It was then I started hearing laughter from behind me.
The owner of the company was on his phone, with a couple other guys in his office.....prank calling me.
It turns out many of the drivers had been asking him what I looked like. They wanted to know who was on the other end of that sexy phone voice.
Me, with a sexy voice?
(giggling)
Kinda explains why they were being so nice, even though I had no clue what I was doing.
Image Source
Here are my previous posts on the topic, Part 1, babysitting
In high school, early high school.....my dad worked for a courier company in Omaha. One summer, I went to work with him everyday, to help out. My first job was accounts receivable. I was the thug...the person that called to collect on monies owed.
I'll give you all some time to laugh hysterically at the notion of introverted me strong-arming people over the phone for money.
(humming to herself)
OK...is everyone done? It's OK if you aren't....I'll wait a few more seconds.
(straightening her desk)
Done? Good...now, back to the story.
The courier company was smaller, and short staffed....so there were literally file cabinets (plural) full of invoices and monies due to them. I spent all day calling people...for weeks...and made little to no dent in the files.
One day, the offices flooded. It had been raining for days...and the offices were located in the older part of downtown Omaha. They had actually kinda sank below street level (isn't Chicago doing this as well...or is that just something I read somewhere?)....and as it rained...it literally filled up with water.
We spent the morning moving any office furniture we could up onto desks to keep it out of the water. I sat on top of one desk....with the phone cord taped to the wall out of the water....calling people collecting money. Now that's dedication. :-)
The company also had warehouse space. They stored materials for different clients...one being a very famous musician, even to this day. This musician puts on one heck of a Halloween show each year...so we stored all the set decorations used on his tours. It wasn't unusual to find a severed arm, or head, here and there in warehouse. Kinda creepy when I think about it.
The offices eventually moved, and that next summer, my dad wanted me to try my hand at dispatch.
Dispatch!
I don't know as that I even had my license yet...and he wanted me to tell drivers where to go?
I grew up in a town of maybe 3000 people. Omaha is a city.
(gulp)
Luckily the drivers were AWESOME. They'd call for a pickup, and I'd go down the board listing the addresses...and they'd tell me which ones were close to them.
One afternoon I got a call from someone, wanting to order pizza. I told them it was a wrong number...but the gentlemen with the suspicious southern accent tried to strike up a conversation. I was polite, but insisted he hang up and try a different number.
It was then I started hearing laughter from behind me.
The owner of the company was on his phone, with a couple other guys in his office.....prank calling me.
It turns out many of the drivers had been asking him what I looked like. They wanted to know who was on the other end of that sexy phone voice.
Me, with a sexy voice?
(giggling)
Kinda explains why they were being so nice, even though I had no clue what I was doing.
Image Source
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Post-it's and Freeze Pops
OK...so my post earlier this morning was a bit of a downer. I apologize for that. Life sucks sometimes. :-(
In return for bringing tears to some people's eyes (Brook and Emp #3699 - sorry about that)...I thought I'd share a dream I had last night.
Some days, my own mind scares me!
So...I'm at work. It's not my actual real life work building....it's a dream work building. 3 stories tall....and a least 2 city blocks long. And narrow.
Anyway, I'm in a meeting with co-workers. The co-workers are all people from my life, that I don't see anymore. We're on the 3rd floor, at the very end of the building.
I look up at the window, just in time to see the underside of an airplane going over the building. But it's not going over, it's going to hit it!!!!
I yell, and everyone ducks. The plane hits the building...but we're all OK. You wanna know why?
Because, the office we're in isn't at the end of the building any more. Nope, we're in the middle.
(physics don't apply in my dreams...neither do chemistry or meteorology, just so you know)
We all get up off the floor, dust ourselves off....and go to the kitchen.
From the freezer I pull out a box of Freeze Pops and start handing them out to everyone in the meeting.
We take our freeze pops, and walk out the door (we're no longer on the 3rd floor either - don't ask). We all wanted to see what the end of the building looked like after the plane hit it.
The building was in tatters. Dust, brick and plane bits everywhere.
There were also people. People missing appendages and heads and such. No blood...just random body parts and dead people.
I get my camera out to start taking pictures because "this will make a great blog entry."
(sigh)
After I finish taking pictures, we are led to the parking lot for safety. As I'm looking through my pics, I realize they aren't pictures. They are videos. My camera was left on video mode from the last time I'd used it. So I had nothing for my blog!!! (I guess video on my blog wasn't an option?)
So...what did we all do next? We started walking back to the site, to get me more pictures. Duh!
We were almost to the building when someone tells me their freeze pop is gone. Oh no!!!
We decide to go back to our office for more....in lieu of taking replacement pictures.
Once at the office, I started handing out new freeze pops. I was almost done when someone complained that theirs was smaller than the first one.
I looked down to see I was handing out post-it notes and not freeze pops.
The post-its were indeed smaller than the freeze pops I'd handed out earlier....but I wasn't receiving complaints for handing out post-its. I was just getting complaints they were smaller than the freeze pops.
You just can't please some people. :-)
(ugh)
And that's when I woke up.
Image Source
In return for bringing tears to some people's eyes (Brook and Emp #3699 - sorry about that)...I thought I'd share a dream I had last night.
Some days, my own mind scares me!
So...I'm at work. It's not my actual real life work building....it's a dream work building. 3 stories tall....and a least 2 city blocks long. And narrow.
Anyway, I'm in a meeting with co-workers. The co-workers are all people from my life, that I don't see anymore. We're on the 3rd floor, at the very end of the building.
I look up at the window, just in time to see the underside of an airplane going over the building. But it's not going over, it's going to hit it!!!!
I yell, and everyone ducks. The plane hits the building...but we're all OK. You wanna know why?
Because, the office we're in isn't at the end of the building any more. Nope, we're in the middle.
(physics don't apply in my dreams...neither do chemistry or meteorology, just so you know)
We all get up off the floor, dust ourselves off....and go to the kitchen.
From the freezer I pull out a box of Freeze Pops and start handing them out to everyone in the meeting.
We take our freeze pops, and walk out the door (we're no longer on the 3rd floor either - don't ask). We all wanted to see what the end of the building looked like after the plane hit it.
The building was in tatters. Dust, brick and plane bits everywhere.
There were also people. People missing appendages and heads and such. No blood...just random body parts and dead people.
I get my camera out to start taking pictures because "this will make a great blog entry."
(sigh)
After I finish taking pictures, we are led to the parking lot for safety. As I'm looking through my pics, I realize they aren't pictures. They are videos. My camera was left on video mode from the last time I'd used it. So I had nothing for my blog!!! (I guess video on my blog wasn't an option?)
So...what did we all do next? We started walking back to the site, to get me more pictures. Duh!
We were almost to the building when someone tells me their freeze pop is gone. Oh no!!!
We decide to go back to our office for more....in lieu of taking replacement pictures.
Once at the office, I started handing out new freeze pops. I was almost done when someone complained that theirs was smaller than the first one.
I looked down to see I was handing out post-it notes and not freeze pops.
The post-its were indeed smaller than the freeze pops I'd handed out earlier....but I wasn't receiving complaints for handing out post-its. I was just getting complaints they were smaller than the freeze pops.
You just can't please some people. :-)
(ugh)
And that's when I woke up.
Image Source
Lady Rowan of the Loess
If you've read this blog for any time at all, you know I like to keep it as upbeat as I can. But, the original reason for creating it was to 1) have a place to permanently put all the journals I write while we're on vacations 2) to vent, to voice an opinion, and sometimes, to be sad.
Rowan, one of our Scottish Terriers, passed away this morning.
Actually...Mot had to put her down.
She loved us both, but Mot and Rowan had extra special places in each others hearts.
We found Rowan in a pet store about 10 years ago. I had my female Scottie, Penny, and we were looking for a playmate for her. Actually, we were on our way to the first Thanksgiving I'd spent at Mot's parents house. And the pet store we frequented was on the way.
We saw Rowan, and fell in love. She was extremely timid though, after having been just brought to the store the day before. We had them take her out, and let her run around on the floor. (She mostly just cowered around Mot.) And I think the bond between the two of them was sealed right there!!!
About 2 years ago, we'd noticed Rowan had lost an insane amount of weight in an incredibly short period of time. We took her to the vet, and she was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes.
Two shots a day.....every day.
About a year later, she went through the same thing again....with no warning. After another trip to the vet, her insulin dosage was doubled. Our vet had never seen an animal suffering from diabetes as bad as Rowan. (we're overachievers sometimes - sigh) In fact, it was so bad, her blood sugar maxed out his testing equipment. But, after three or four days, he had her back to herself again.
She's a fetch freak! She'll fetch a ball, a Frisbee, a stick.....whatever.....and she won't stop until you stop.
This second round of....well, the second round of diabetes attacking her body took her sight almost completely. Yet, she still fetched. She'd follow Isaac (our male), and when he found it, she'd take it from him. It got to where he knew it was his job to lead her around.
Pets never cease to amaze me sometimes!!!
On Saturday morning, we'd found that she'd peed in her kennel. I hoped (really hoped) it was just from her drinking too much water before bed. It's been warm out.
We threw her ball for her, and she ran after it, as usual. All systems go. (phew!)
Saturday night...I noticed she was drinking allot of water...but so was I....it was HOT!!!
Sunday am....peed in kennel again.
Crap.
Took her outside, she wanted almost nothing to do with her ball. I threw it...she walked to it...then stayed out in the yard.
Shit.
Over the course of the day, she just laid in the shade, near her water dish. She'd still perk her ears up when one of us came out....but she was not doing well. We increased her insulin dosage.
Monday am....we left them outside that night (they have a kennel and such they can get into). When I came out to feed them...she didn't come. I called and called...nothing.
Damn.
I found her lying on the other side of the deck, by her wading pool. (we keep a wading pool of water for them during the summer) She didn't really even acknowledge I was there. I sat with her for a long time. I put her bowl of food right beside her, so she didn't have to move to get to it. But I just knew.
Rowan and I had a bond of our own. It usually included her and I napping together on the couch. She knew she wasn't supposed to be on the furniture, so she'd wait until I fell asleep...then sneak up. I'd wake up, see her there, and go back to sleep. :-)
Even as of this weekend, if I was ever sitting anywhere near her, she wanted to be on my lap. I tried to get her to sit on my lap on Monday...but Rowan was gone. I mean, she was there physically, but the Rowan we loved was gone.
F*ck.
Mot came home this morning. She didn't even acknowledge he was there. Her breathing was very labored, and when she did try to sit up, her front legs just shook and shook...so she laid back down.
It was then we decided this was probably it. We'd seen her in bad shape, but never this bad.
Mot called me at work around 9:30 or this morning.
He put her down. He did it himself...and was about sick over having to do it.
She was bleeding from her nose, and her eyes were yellow. Her liver had shut down.
It was time.
I need another box of Kleenex.
Rowan, one of our Scottish Terriers, passed away this morning.
Actually...Mot had to put her down.
She loved us both, but Mot and Rowan had extra special places in each others hearts.
We found Rowan in a pet store about 10 years ago. I had my female Scottie, Penny, and we were looking for a playmate for her. Actually, we were on our way to the first Thanksgiving I'd spent at Mot's parents house. And the pet store we frequented was on the way.
We saw Rowan, and fell in love. She was extremely timid though, after having been just brought to the store the day before. We had them take her out, and let her run around on the floor. (She mostly just cowered around Mot.) And I think the bond between the two of them was sealed right there!!!
About 2 years ago, we'd noticed Rowan had lost an insane amount of weight in an incredibly short period of time. We took her to the vet, and she was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes.
Two shots a day.....every day.
About a year later, she went through the same thing again....with no warning. After another trip to the vet, her insulin dosage was doubled. Our vet had never seen an animal suffering from diabetes as bad as Rowan. (we're overachievers sometimes - sigh) In fact, it was so bad, her blood sugar maxed out his testing equipment. But, after three or four days, he had her back to herself again.
She's a fetch freak! She'll fetch a ball, a Frisbee, a stick.....whatever.....and she won't stop until you stop.
This second round of....well, the second round of diabetes attacking her body took her sight almost completely. Yet, she still fetched. She'd follow Isaac (our male), and when he found it, she'd take it from him. It got to where he knew it was his job to lead her around.
Pets never cease to amaze me sometimes!!!
On Saturday morning, we'd found that she'd peed in her kennel. I hoped (really hoped) it was just from her drinking too much water before bed. It's been warm out.
We threw her ball for her, and she ran after it, as usual. All systems go. (phew!)
Saturday night...I noticed she was drinking allot of water...but so was I....it was HOT!!!
Sunday am....peed in kennel again.
Crap.
Took her outside, she wanted almost nothing to do with her ball. I threw it...she walked to it...then stayed out in the yard.
Shit.
Over the course of the day, she just laid in the shade, near her water dish. She'd still perk her ears up when one of us came out....but she was not doing well. We increased her insulin dosage.
Monday am....we left them outside that night (they have a kennel and such they can get into). When I came out to feed them...she didn't come. I called and called...nothing.
Damn.
I found her lying on the other side of the deck, by her wading pool. (we keep a wading pool of water for them during the summer) She didn't really even acknowledge I was there. I sat with her for a long time. I put her bowl of food right beside her, so she didn't have to move to get to it. But I just knew.
Rowan and I had a bond of our own. It usually included her and I napping together on the couch. She knew she wasn't supposed to be on the furniture, so she'd wait until I fell asleep...then sneak up. I'd wake up, see her there, and go back to sleep. :-)
Even as of this weekend, if I was ever sitting anywhere near her, she wanted to be on my lap. I tried to get her to sit on my lap on Monday...but Rowan was gone. I mean, she was there physically, but the Rowan we loved was gone.
F*ck.
Mot came home this morning. She didn't even acknowledge he was there. Her breathing was very labored, and when she did try to sit up, her front legs just shook and shook...so she laid back down.
It was then we decided this was probably it. We'd seen her in bad shape, but never this bad.
Mot called me at work around 9:30 or this morning.
He put her down. He did it himself...and was about sick over having to do it.
She was bleeding from her nose, and her eyes were yellow. Her liver had shut down.
It was time.
I need another box of Kleenex.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Power tools? We don't need no stinkin' power tools. Well ok...maybe we do!!!
This weekend is the big garage sale. (fanfare)
I'm a garage sale junkie....but I have to say, putting them on is the pits. :-(
My sister is signing on a house next week, so she wanted to have a garage sale to get rid of the excess stuff you find when you're packing up those boxes.
(Granted, after talking to her last night, she's packed a total of maybe 4 boxes.....nothing like waiting till the last minute, eh?)
Love you, Inny!!!
The two of us used to do a garage sale every couple of years in our home town. They were legendary!!! But since moving to Omaha, we've not had the time (or the energy).
Believe it or not, I have everything I'm taking to her place all boxed up, priced and ready to go. In fact, my car currently contains the first load of items I'll drop off at her place after work. (I work almost right down the street from her house.)
We've got tarps and plastic drop cloths ready for the rain we're supposed to get. It's not Memorial Weekend without constant rain showers, is it? (They've been forecasting rain all week, and we've get to see it. I imagine it will ALL show up on Saturday...figures!) :-)
Robin and I have been trying to figure out what we're going to do for signs. You can't just tape or staple signs to posts like you can in a small town.
We've got the cardboard and such ready, but we were lacking stakes to put in the ground.
In a moment of genius (well, at the time we thought it was genius) Robin asked our shipping guys what they do with their old pallets. What better stakes could there be? I mean, it's like recycling...re-purposing, right?
We loaded three of them into the back of Switch's truck during work, and Robin arrived at my house a little before 7:00 to start dismantling them.
We started with crow bars, wonder bars, and hammers. After getting half way through the first pallet...I decided it just wasn't going to work. We'd be there all night.
o I set my tools down and walked into the garage in search of.....well.....tools more appropriate to the job.
After an evening of taking pallets apart, I'd like to give you a few pointers, should you decide to do the same thing.
#1 That smaller sized circular saw in your hubby's DeWalt set works PERFECTLY for taking apart pallets.
#2 Sunglasses may not be "safety glasses", but at least you're trying to protect your eyes.
#3 No matter what your father or shop teacher taught you....flip flops are approved power tool using apparel.
#4 A refreshing beverage, preferably alcoholic, makes a project move along that much more smoothly.
I'm a garage sale junkie....but I have to say, putting them on is the pits. :-(
My sister is signing on a house next week, so she wanted to have a garage sale to get rid of the excess stuff you find when you're packing up those boxes.
(Granted, after talking to her last night, she's packed a total of maybe 4 boxes.....nothing like waiting till the last minute, eh?)
Love you, Inny!!!
The two of us used to do a garage sale every couple of years in our home town. They were legendary!!! But since moving to Omaha, we've not had the time (or the energy).
Believe it or not, I have everything I'm taking to her place all boxed up, priced and ready to go. In fact, my car currently contains the first load of items I'll drop off at her place after work. (I work almost right down the street from her house.)
We've got tarps and plastic drop cloths ready for the rain we're supposed to get. It's not Memorial Weekend without constant rain showers, is it? (They've been forecasting rain all week, and we've get to see it. I imagine it will ALL show up on Saturday...figures!) :-)
Robin and I have been trying to figure out what we're going to do for signs. You can't just tape or staple signs to posts like you can in a small town.
We've got the cardboard and such ready, but we were lacking stakes to put in the ground.
In a moment of genius (well, at the time we thought it was genius) Robin asked our shipping guys what they do with their old pallets. What better stakes could there be? I mean, it's like recycling...re-purposing, right?
We loaded three of them into the back of Switch's truck during work, and Robin arrived at my house a little before 7:00 to start dismantling them.
We started with crow bars, wonder bars, and hammers. After getting half way through the first pallet...I decided it just wasn't going to work. We'd be there all night.
o I set my tools down and walked into the garage in search of.....well.....tools more appropriate to the job.
After an evening of taking pallets apart, I'd like to give you a few pointers, should you decide to do the same thing.
#1 That smaller sized circular saw in your hubby's DeWalt set works PERFECTLY for taking apart pallets.
#2 Sunglasses may not be "safety glasses", but at least you're trying to protect your eyes.
#3 No matter what your father or shop teacher taught you....flip flops are approved power tool using apparel.
#4 A refreshing beverage, preferably alcoholic, makes a project move along that much more smoothly.
It's the POO!
A phone conversation earlier this week.
Nej "Hey babe, what do you fireman call the place where a fire starts?"
Mot "The point of origin?"
Nej "Yeah, that's it."
Nej (sigh) "Hmmm...."
Mot "What?"
Nej "Well, that's not very distinguished. It's the P.O.O.....the poo. I was hoping for something much cooler sounding. More CSI, less first grade."
Mot "Well, you could call it the Point of Ignition, but that wouldn't be correct."
Nej "Hmmm...the POI....the poi....nah, that won't work either. Poi sounds disgusting, besides, it's already been taken by skydivers and the military. It might get confused with the point of impact. Poo it is. OK thanks babe, talk to you later!"
Mot "Uh....OK."
Poor guy doesn't know what to think of me sometimes. I can see him standing in the kitchen, staring at the phone. Wondering why he married me, and if he should be worried about my mental health.
BELLEVUE, Washington - Fire officials in the Seattle suburbs say a sunny day and a dog's glass water bowl combined to cause a blaze that charred the back of a home.
News Source
Image Source
Nej "Hey babe, what do you fireman call the place where a fire starts?"
Mot "The point of origin?"
Nej "Yeah, that's it."
Nej (sigh) "Hmmm...."
Mot "What?"
Nej "Well, that's not very distinguished. It's the P.O.O.....the poo. I was hoping for something much cooler sounding. More CSI, less first grade."
Mot "Well, you could call it the Point of Ignition, but that wouldn't be correct."
Nej "Hmmm...the POI....the poi....nah, that won't work either. Poi sounds disgusting, besides, it's already been taken by skydivers and the military. It might get confused with the point of impact. Poo it is. OK thanks babe, talk to you later!"
Mot "Uh....OK."
Poor guy doesn't know what to think of me sometimes. I can see him standing in the kitchen, staring at the phone. Wondering why he married me, and if he should be worried about my mental health.
BELLEVUE, Washington - Fire officials in the Seattle suburbs say a sunny day and a dog's glass water bowl combined to cause a blaze that charred the back of a home.
Bellevue Fire Department Lt. Eric Keenan says investigators determined the glass bowl of water focused sunlight enough to act like a magnifying glass and start the fire on the home's wood deck Sunday.
Investigators said there was no electrical wiring or other possible cause.
The homeowners were away, but neighbors noticed the smoke and flames. The family dog was rescued. Damage is estimated at $215,000.
News Source
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Thursday, May 21, 2009
Weekend Update #16, Demons, Angels, Garage Sales and Graduation
I went home on Friday, expecting a relaxing evening at home. But no more had we eaten dinner, did we call the boys to see if they wanted to go see a movie. Demons & Angels, the sequel to The DaVinci Code.
It was decent. I felt it was a little less than the first movie, but still not horrible. There was some drama, but it seemed a little smaller in urgency. There was code, but not much. Tom Hanks was there, but not as "there" as the first movie.
Again, I'll not say much, to prevent spoilers. I shall not spoil, so saith Nej.
After the movie, the four of us came back to casa de Mot and Nej to sit around the tomato and enjoy the evening. I think everyone was pretty tired though, so it didn't last long.
Saturday:
I forced myself to sleep in on Saturday morning. I swore I wouldn't get out of bed before 8:00, and darned if I didn't lay there, waiting for the clock to change to 8:00. I was ready to get up much earlier, but it was my duty to stay in bed until the pre-destined time.
Why?
Hell, I don't know. :-)
Robin came by a little after 9:00, and the two of us hung out in the basement for a few hours. the two of us, and my nearly a new home owner sister are holding a garage sale next weekend...and Robin, for some crazy reason, wanted to help me get my stuff ready.
Actually, it was just a good excuse to hang out a little...not at work, so I wasn't complaining!!! :-)
She left about noon, and Mot and I jumped in the shower to get ready for my cousin's graduation party.
Ricky is the middle son of my mom's youngest (and now departed) sister. He's the coolest kid ever!!!!!!!
(This pic is from his birthday party earlier this year. I scanned his graduation picture, but then left the file at home today. Figures!) :-)
The party was a relaxed family BBQ at my uncle's place. It still feels a little strange to be at his house for family functions, and not know anyone. I'm used to party's at his place being full of my family. But since Annette has passed, the dynamics have changed.
Not in a bad way...just in a "I don't know most of these people" way. I'll get used to it...eventually. It's only been just over a year....some changes take a while to wrap your brain around. You know?
(Lauren and Uncle Mot. They always seem to be picking on each other. Cracks me up!)
(I'm still having a hard time with how old Brandon is getting. I remember going into his room when he was a baby, to rock him to sleep....so my sister didn't have to get up. I remember coming home from a horrible day at work, and holding him in arms. There's nothing that couldn't be cured by seeing his eyes, and his smile.)
Sometimes it's hard to keep my super hero strength under control. Some people break the tines off their forks. Heck with that, I just snap them in half.
And then, when handed lemons (a broken fork), I make lemonade (by cutting the hot dog with the broken handle). I will not be defeated by the hot dog!!!
Here's Spike. He's a long hair Chihuahua. When walking, he looks like a miniature hyena. We called him Taquito and Chalupa all day. My uncle was amused (but wouldn't admit it). :-)
Sunday:
I tried the same trick on Sunday morning...but posted a will not get out of bed before 9:00 order. The 8:00 thing went so well, I thought I'd bump it up an hour. Why not! :-)
At 9:01 I rolled out of bed. It was a pretty lazy day. And it was wonderful. Although, the lazy only last a little while, then I got bored. So I went back to the basement to tackle what I lovingly call "the hunting corner." It's this corner we always end up throwing all our hunting gear. Kinda in a big pile. And then we can never find anything.
And Sunday was the day to take over and conquer that corner!!!!
I went downstairs with my trusty cordless drill (because Mot strong arms the bits into his DeWalt and I can never get them out, I deemed the old cordless drill as my own) in hand, I went down and won that battle...once and for all. And it looks mighty nice now, if I do say so myself.
Mot mowed the lawn...because the neighbor mowed his lawn. It's a thing with the two of them. Mot kept mumbling something about Zach mowing twice since he'd mowed last. And that just wasn't going to do.
(We have zoysia grass...so it grows much slower. Heck, allot of it is still brown. Although the warm temps we're been having probably greened it up nice by now. Probably time to mow again. (hehehehehe)
Sunday night Mot made this huge dinner, followed by a pan of brownies. We were both so uncomfortable we decided a walk would be imperative to our living through the night without heart attack caused my double chocolate uber brownies. :-)
It was decent. I felt it was a little less than the first movie, but still not horrible. There was some drama, but it seemed a little smaller in urgency. There was code, but not much. Tom Hanks was there, but not as "there" as the first movie.
Again, I'll not say much, to prevent spoilers. I shall not spoil, so saith Nej.
After the movie, the four of us came back to casa de Mot and Nej to sit around the tomato and enjoy the evening. I think everyone was pretty tired though, so it didn't last long.
Saturday:
I forced myself to sleep in on Saturday morning. I swore I wouldn't get out of bed before 8:00, and darned if I didn't lay there, waiting for the clock to change to 8:00. I was ready to get up much earlier, but it was my duty to stay in bed until the pre-destined time.
Why?
Hell, I don't know. :-)
Robin came by a little after 9:00, and the two of us hung out in the basement for a few hours. the two of us, and my nearly a new home owner sister are holding a garage sale next weekend...and Robin, for some crazy reason, wanted to help me get my stuff ready.
Actually, it was just a good excuse to hang out a little...not at work, so I wasn't complaining!!! :-)
She left about noon, and Mot and I jumped in the shower to get ready for my cousin's graduation party.
Ricky is the middle son of my mom's youngest (and now departed) sister. He's the coolest kid ever!!!!!!!
(This pic is from his birthday party earlier this year. I scanned his graduation picture, but then left the file at home today. Figures!) :-)
The party was a relaxed family BBQ at my uncle's place. It still feels a little strange to be at his house for family functions, and not know anyone. I'm used to party's at his place being full of my family. But since Annette has passed, the dynamics have changed.
Not in a bad way...just in a "I don't know most of these people" way. I'll get used to it...eventually. It's only been just over a year....some changes take a while to wrap your brain around. You know?
(Lauren and Uncle Mot. They always seem to be picking on each other. Cracks me up!)
(I'm still having a hard time with how old Brandon is getting. I remember going into his room when he was a baby, to rock him to sleep....so my sister didn't have to get up. I remember coming home from a horrible day at work, and holding him in arms. There's nothing that couldn't be cured by seeing his eyes, and his smile.)
Sometimes it's hard to keep my super hero strength under control. Some people break the tines off their forks. Heck with that, I just snap them in half.
And then, when handed lemons (a broken fork), I make lemonade (by cutting the hot dog with the broken handle). I will not be defeated by the hot dog!!!
Here's Spike. He's a long hair Chihuahua. When walking, he looks like a miniature hyena. We called him Taquito and Chalupa all day. My uncle was amused (but wouldn't admit it). :-)
Sunday:
I tried the same trick on Sunday morning...but posted a will not get out of bed before 9:00 order. The 8:00 thing went so well, I thought I'd bump it up an hour. Why not! :-)
At 9:01 I rolled out of bed. It was a pretty lazy day. And it was wonderful. Although, the lazy only last a little while, then I got bored. So I went back to the basement to tackle what I lovingly call "the hunting corner." It's this corner we always end up throwing all our hunting gear. Kinda in a big pile. And then we can never find anything.
And Sunday was the day to take over and conquer that corner!!!!
I went downstairs with my trusty cordless drill (because Mot strong arms the bits into his DeWalt and I can never get them out, I deemed the old cordless drill as my own) in hand, I went down and won that battle...once and for all. And it looks mighty nice now, if I do say so myself.
Mot mowed the lawn...because the neighbor mowed his lawn. It's a thing with the two of them. Mot kept mumbling something about Zach mowing twice since he'd mowed last. And that just wasn't going to do.
(We have zoysia grass...so it grows much slower. Heck, allot of it is still brown. Although the warm temps we're been having probably greened it up nice by now. Probably time to mow again. (hehehehehe)
Sunday night Mot made this huge dinner, followed by a pan of brownies. We were both so uncomfortable we decided a walk would be imperative to our living through the night without heart attack caused my double chocolate uber brownies. :-)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Waaaay Back When-sday, Episode 7, Things I've done for a paycheck (part 1)
I consider myself a Jill of all Trades, master of none.
And I'm still not satisfied with my current job. I want to get out there and experience everything. Why be tied down to one career??
Those who enjoy their job can fu.....I mean, good for you for getting paid to do something you love!!!!
I'm not bitterly jealous or anything.
Really.
Because I have no idea what job it is that will make me happy, I've not been shy about trying on different hats (so to speak) for a good fit.
Granted, my mortgage and utility bills have kept me grounded in one job for the past 6 years. 6 YEARS!!! That's a lifetime for me!!!
Damn you, Responsibility!!! :-)
My first official job was probably babysitting...if you consider that a job. (I consider it hell. Voluntary hell, none the less.) Babysitting is a pretty typical first job for many.
I once babysat Satan himself. Or maybe he was Satan's grandson?
Doesn't matter really.
I think he single-handedly insured I would never generate a parasite of my own.
One day I arrived for an afternoon watch at Satan's house. The garage door wasn't even all the way down from his mother leaving, when I heard a scream. A gut-wrenching scream. A scream that would make any babysitter crap her pants.
I didn't though, let's make that clear. :-)
I ran to the source of the sound...the kitchen...expecting blood and gore...maybe loss of limb.
Instead I found a little boy with blue hands.
Blue SMOKING hands.
Yep, smoking!!!
The little sh....I mean, the child....had put his Gak in the microwave to make it more fun to play with.
After removing it from the microwave, he plunged his hands right into it.
(In hindsight, it reminded me of the first time I made marshmallow treats by myself. Putting my hands in the mixture to spread it out in the pan. Hot, sticky marshmallow. Not bright!)
It was the last time I babysat him. His mother was furious with me. (even though he'd obviously started the microwave while she was still home)
(sigh)
This child was evil, and his mother wore rose colored glasses when it came to his behavior.
Does anyone else have a babysitting nightmare to share?
And I'm still not satisfied with my current job. I want to get out there and experience everything. Why be tied down to one career??
Those who enjoy their job can fu.....I mean, good for you for getting paid to do something you love!!!!
I'm not bitterly jealous or anything.
Really.
Because I have no idea what job it is that will make me happy, I've not been shy about trying on different hats (so to speak) for a good fit.
Granted, my mortgage and utility bills have kept me grounded in one job for the past 6 years. 6 YEARS!!! That's a lifetime for me!!!
Damn you, Responsibility!!! :-)
My first official job was probably babysitting...if you consider that a job. (I consider it hell. Voluntary hell, none the less.) Babysitting is a pretty typical first job for many.
I once babysat Satan himself. Or maybe he was Satan's grandson?
Doesn't matter really.
I think he single-handedly insured I would never generate a parasite of my own.
One day I arrived for an afternoon watch at Satan's house. The garage door wasn't even all the way down from his mother leaving, when I heard a scream. A gut-wrenching scream. A scream that would make any babysitter crap her pants.
I didn't though, let's make that clear. :-)
I ran to the source of the sound...the kitchen...expecting blood and gore...maybe loss of limb.
Instead I found a little boy with blue hands.
Blue SMOKING hands.
Yep, smoking!!!
The little sh....I mean, the child....had put his Gak in the microwave to make it more fun to play with.
After removing it from the microwave, he plunged his hands right into it.
(In hindsight, it reminded me of the first time I made marshmallow treats by myself. Putting my hands in the mixture to spread it out in the pan. Hot, sticky marshmallow. Not bright!)
It was the last time I babysat him. His mother was furious with me. (even though he'd obviously started the microwave while she was still home)
(sigh)
This child was evil, and his mother wore rose colored glasses when it came to his behavior.
Does anyone else have a babysitting nightmare to share?
Monday, May 18, 2009
Is that a mushroom in your pocket?
You must grow like a tree, not like a mushroom.
Janet Erskine Stuart
Unless of course, your mushroom is like this one.........
Scott, an engineer here at work, found this while out mushroom hunting this weekend. :-)
(that container is 6 inches deep)
Janet Erskine Stuart
Unless of course, your mushroom is like this one.........
Scott, an engineer here at work, found this while out mushroom hunting this weekend. :-)
(that container is 6 inches deep)
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Big Brother is watching you!
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Two seasonal Yellowstone National Park concession workers have been fired after a live webcam caught them urinating into the Old Faithful geyser.
Park spokesman Al Nash said a 23-year-old man on Tuesday was fined $750 and placed on three years of unsupervised probation for urinating, being off trail in a restricted area and taking items from the area. The man also was banned from Yellowstone for two years.
The second employee's case is pending.
The park's dispatch center was called after someone watching a webcam on the geyser saw six employees leaving the trail and walking on Old Faithful on May 4.The geyser was not erupting at the time.
So Bill...what do you want to do over our lunch break today?
Well Bob, we could go pee into Old Faithful. How fun would that be??? The chicks will totally dig it.
But Bob, isn't there a webcam somewhere? What if someone sees us? And another thing...isn't this basically a volcano....won't it be really hot??
Bill, no one watches that thing. Ya' loser! And we'll make sure we go when "the Faith" isn't doing it's thing.
Genius!
Image Source
News Source
Friday, May 15, 2009
What's that smell??
SAN JOSE, Calif. - An office worker cleaning a fridge full of rotten food created a smell so noxious that it sent seven co-workers to the hospital and made many others ill.
News Source
Firefighters had to evacuate the AT&T building in downtown San Jose on Tuesday after the fumes led someone to call 911. A hazmat team was called in.
What crews found was an unplugged refrigerator crammed with moldy food.
Authorities say an enterprising office worker had decided to clean it out, placing the food in a conference room while using two cleaning chemicals to scrub down the mess.
The mixture of old lunches and disinfectant caused 28 people to need treatment for vomiting and nausea.
Authorities say the worker who cleaned the fridge didn't need treatment — she can't smell because of allergies.
I'm a big allergy sufferer....have been for quite some time. In fact, I once had a sinus infection for 6 years straight. For real. They'd give me drugs....I'd take them all. Things would seem good, and then a week or two later, BAM, another sinus infection.
I finally broke down and went to an allergist a number of years ago, and he said I most likely never got rid of it.
During those 6 years, my sense of smell was next to nothing. After the allergy shots my allergist put me on started working, and my sense of smell came back....I arrived at one conclusion.
I didn't miss it. Not one bit. Really....take it away again please.
There are some things I would love to smell forever....my hubby wearing Obsession, baking bread, and black permanent markers. But, for the most part, the world stinks.......er, smells. :-)
But, even having said all that, a smell that puts 7 people in the hospital, and has 28 treated for vomiting and nausea?? And she can't smell it because of allergies??
Whew doggie...them are some allergies. (hehe)
Image Source
News Source
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wicked
My buddy Laura and I went to see Wicked last night, at the Orpheum theater in Omaha.
Wow, wow, wow!!! That's all I can say.
Really! I mean...wow!!!
The costumes were beautiful, the sets were crazy good, the two lead actresses blew me away.
It was funny, it was sad, it was entertaining.
I got busted trying to take a picture of the stage before it started. Curtain was down, house lights still on....flashes were going off all over the place.....but they, of course, pick me to make an example out of. :-) :-)
Old guy who works there: Ma'am, have you already taken pictures?
Nej: What?
Old Guy: Pictures, have you taken some?
Nej: Eh? (leaning closer)
OG: You aren't permitted to take pictures.
Nej: OK.
OG: You were taking some.
Nej: No. Showing my friend here pictures of the deck we built this last weekend. She hasn't seen them yet.
OG: (looks at me suspiciously)
Nej: No really. See....look. (showing him pictures on my camera) This is a view of the whole deck. This is a close up shot of the corners. This is a shot of the other side. This is a....
OG: That's a nice deck.
Nej: It is, isn't it?? (flash from a camera appears just then)
Nej: Boy, it looks like you got the wrong gal. Where did that camera flash come from? (bats her eyes)
The old guy left. He said nothing, and he walked back to his post. He didn't bust any more people for flashes....but every time I lifted my camera to "show Laura pictures" I got the evil eye. (hehehe)
I decided using a camera might be a bit too obvious and got my phone out.
Still under the watchful eye of the old guy, I snapped this with my phone. I just wanted a picture of the stupid dragon. I wasn't taking pictures of the show, of the costumes.....just the darn dragon. That everyone could already see. Geeezzzz!!!!! :-)
If the show comes to a town near you, save you pennies and nickels...and go. Trust me on this one. It was wicked cool. :-)
Image #1 Source
Image #2 Source
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Waaaay Back When-sday, Episode 6...Pets of Years Past
Call me Ishmael,
Moby-Dick
When I was a kid, and living with my parents and younger sister, we had 2 fish.
I don't remember exactly where they came from...but I'm pretty sure they belonged to someone who didn't want them anymore.
Orphan fish.
Very sad.
One was white and one was black - with big, bulging eyes.
The white fish was Moby, the black one was Dick.
The names were cute............
................until Moby died.
It was death by golf ball.
The golf ball was in the tank for a reason.
(Mom - why was there a golf ball in their tank?????)
Anyway, one day, aforementioned golf ball came loose from it's moorings, dropping on poor unsuspecting Moby.
The impact was fatal.
It burst his swim bladder, propelling him into a life (albeit short) of floating on his side.
(sigh)
When CSI arrived on scene. All that was found was a floating, soon to be dead fish, and a golf ball at the bottom of the tank. We'll never truly know what happened that fateful evening.
From them on, we just had Dick the fish.
Dick wasn't young when we got him...and he lived at least 8 or so years at our house.
Dick was a couch potato? Aquarium potato?? Ah, hell....Dick liked to watch TV.
It's true. We noticed he always hung out in one corner in his tank. After careful observation, we found that corner was always the one closest to the TV.
Every time we rearranged the living room furniture....Dick would find a new favorite place to swim. And it was always, always, the corner closest to the TV.
If the TV was on.....he just sat and watched....and watched.
He was an addict.
"Hello, I'm Dick the fish. And I'm a TV addict."
"Hello Dick!"
An orphaned fish, survived the loss of his tank mate, and an addict.
Poor little fella.
Photo Source
Moby-Dick
When I was a kid, and living with my parents and younger sister, we had 2 fish.
I don't remember exactly where they came from...but I'm pretty sure they belonged to someone who didn't want them anymore.
Orphan fish.
Very sad.
One was white and one was black - with big, bulging eyes.
The white fish was Moby, the black one was Dick.
The names were cute............
................until Moby died.
It was death by golf ball.
The golf ball was in the tank for a reason.
(Mom - why was there a golf ball in their tank?????)
Anyway, one day, aforementioned golf ball came loose from it's moorings, dropping on poor unsuspecting Moby.
The impact was fatal.
It burst his swim bladder, propelling him into a life (albeit short) of floating on his side.
(sigh)
When CSI arrived on scene. All that was found was a floating, soon to be dead fish, and a golf ball at the bottom of the tank. We'll never truly know what happened that fateful evening.
From them on, we just had Dick the fish.
Dick wasn't young when we got him...and he lived at least 8 or so years at our house.
Dick was a couch potato? Aquarium potato?? Ah, hell....Dick liked to watch TV.
It's true. We noticed he always hung out in one corner in his tank. After careful observation, we found that corner was always the one closest to the TV.
Every time we rearranged the living room furniture....Dick would find a new favorite place to swim. And it was always, always, the corner closest to the TV.
If the TV was on.....he just sat and watched....and watched.
He was an addict.
"Hello, I'm Dick the fish. And I'm a TV addict."
"Hello Dick!"
An orphaned fish, survived the loss of his tank mate, and an addict.
Poor little fella.
Photo Source
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Ignorance is the parent of fear.....
Fears...we all have them.
Some of them have reasons...stories....memories.
A spider once had babies in my room, under my bed. It, and it's babies, feasted on my back one night while I was sleeping. My entire back was covered in hundreds of spider bites. It was swollen, itchy, and painful. I didn't tell my mom....figured she'd say something about me needing to clean under my bed more often! :-) The school sent me home that day, after my gym teacher saw my back while I was changing for class. To this day, I'm not fond of spiders. Go figure! :-)
Some are caused by overactive imaginations.
I once wouldn't go into my bedroom, because a red stain on the carpet, in the middle of my room (that had been there forever) was, in my mind.....going to spontaneously combust. Trapping me in my room to burn and perish in gruesome ways.
Some fears make sense.
Drowning, burning, torture......it makes sense to be afraid of these things.
And some fears are irrational....they make no sense what so ever.
Eyelash curlers....just the very idea of using one scares the crap out of me. It's silly really, I mean, people all over the world use them. What harm could come of such a simple device?
Does anyone out there have a fear that makes no sense? Irrational with a capital 'I'??
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Monday, May 11, 2009
Soap Operas
Natalie threw out a challenge last week on her blog Curly Wurly Gurly...so I thought it would be fun to participate.
Theme posting.
This weeks' theme, Soap Operas.
I've never been much of a soap opera watching gal. I remember my mom watching General Hospital, and my sister got into Days of Our Lives during the summer when school was out. But for some reason, I could never drag myself into the club.
I mainly think the reason was I had no one to watch them with....that knew what was going on.
How was I to know that the leading lady had just come back from the dead, only to find that her son was actually her brother?
What do you mean the leading man is playing a doctor, but his character is actually a spy sent to watch and eventually kill the millionaire's daughter?
In high school, I dated a guy 2 years older than I was. I dated him all 4 years of high school actually, believe it or not.
During the summer, I'd notice his dad watching TV in the afternoon...for an hour. No matter what he was doing, no matter what he was working on....when it came to 1:00 (or was it noon? I forget)...he's sneak away without warning.
Nej: Where is it he goes for an hour every afternoon?
Ex: He's watching his show.
Nej: What show is that?
Ex: All My Children
Nej: (giggling) I'm sorry...it's just I can't help it. He's a dude, as much of a dude as a dude can get. Works on cars, owns his own auto glass company, provides for his family so his wife can stay at home to cook and clean and take care of the kids. HE watches a soap?
Ex: Yep, he has for as long as I can remember.
Nej: Well...I've gotta see this for myself.
I sat down on the couch in the living room.....and watched with him one day. The next day, at 1:00, he left the room....then came back and asked if I was coming? He seemed almost frustrated that I dare forget what time it was.
Without warning, I was a part of the soap watching ritual. :-)
For 4 months, I watched that soap with him almost every day. I never asked a question. Somehow, he knew when I'd need a little backstory for that day's episode to make sense. He'd fill me in on what I needed to know (over the commercial break, of course). He never told me too much, and never told me too little.
I guess you could say he was very efficient when it came to filling me in on what was going on.
I tried watching the soap the next summer, after I'd broken up with the ex...but it just wasn't the same as watching it with his dad.
I know....it sounds strange now that I type it out.
I used to watch soaps with my boyfriend's dad. :-) :-)
Theme posting.
This weeks' theme, Soap Operas.
I've never been much of a soap opera watching gal. I remember my mom watching General Hospital, and my sister got into Days of Our Lives during the summer when school was out. But for some reason, I could never drag myself into the club.
I mainly think the reason was I had no one to watch them with....that knew what was going on.
How was I to know that the leading lady had just come back from the dead, only to find that her son was actually her brother?
What do you mean the leading man is playing a doctor, but his character is actually a spy sent to watch and eventually kill the millionaire's daughter?
In high school, I dated a guy 2 years older than I was. I dated him all 4 years of high school actually, believe it or not.
During the summer, I'd notice his dad watching TV in the afternoon...for an hour. No matter what he was doing, no matter what he was working on....when it came to 1:00 (or was it noon? I forget)...he's sneak away without warning.
Nej: Where is it he goes for an hour every afternoon?
Ex: He's watching his show.
Nej: What show is that?
Ex: All My Children
Nej: (giggling) I'm sorry...it's just I can't help it. He's a dude, as much of a dude as a dude can get. Works on cars, owns his own auto glass company, provides for his family so his wife can stay at home to cook and clean and take care of the kids. HE watches a soap?
Ex: Yep, he has for as long as I can remember.
Nej: Well...I've gotta see this for myself.
I sat down on the couch in the living room.....and watched with him one day. The next day, at 1:00, he left the room....then came back and asked if I was coming? He seemed almost frustrated that I dare forget what time it was.
Without warning, I was a part of the soap watching ritual. :-)
For 4 months, I watched that soap with him almost every day. I never asked a question. Somehow, he knew when I'd need a little backstory for that day's episode to make sense. He'd fill me in on what I needed to know (over the commercial break, of course). He never told me too much, and never told me too little.
I guess you could say he was very efficient when it came to filling me in on what was going on.
I tried watching the soap the next summer, after I'd broken up with the ex...but it just wasn't the same as watching it with his dad.
I know....it sounds strange now that I type it out.
I used to watch soaps with my boyfriend's dad. :-) :-)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Weekend Update #15, Star Trek, Pottery, and MRI's
Busy weekend! It's Sunday night already, I can't believe it!!!!
Friday night was going to be rest and relaxation at home. Our first night at home, together, without some sort of construction project looming or needing completed.
That rest and relaxation at home lasted until about 8:00 when we got a call from some friends....who wanted to meet to see the new Star Trek movie.
We agreed to meet them for the 9:00 pm showing....and I'm glad we did! Great, great, great movie. It really was. They did an awesome job casting the roles, it was entertaining, funny, and enjoyable. I went in not knowing what to expect. And, because it's a new movie, I'll stop talking now. No spoilers from me (unless you ask really nice). :-)
Saturday morning we got up early (thanks to the cats), and jumped into cleaning the house. Tom's folks were coming by to see the work we've done around the house, so we took an hour to do a quick top to bottom cleaning.
From there we left to pick up Steve, to go pottery shopping. While building the deck last weekend, he told me about an awesome Mexican pottery place in South Omaha.....and I squealed with delight (literally, it was embarrassing actually!). So, Saturday was the day we decided to get together and head over to check it out.
I'm in love. It's my new favorite store....truly!!! :-) The World of Mexican Pottery. The place is two stories of nothing but pottery. Floor to ceiling. All colors, shapes, sizes....and cheap. I'm in love!!!!!!!!
I can promise you that will not be my last visit!!!! :-)
We walked across the street to pay, the checkout is located in the boot shop across the street.
Brook...I think I found the boots you've been looking for!!! :-) :-) :-)
What, you don't like those? Well, how about these? The had them in every color of the rainbow...literally. :-)
From there, we came home to unload our purchase. We've lovingly dubbed it "the tomato."
I then took Steve back to his vehicle and Mot ran to the store for groceries. By the time we both got back, Mot's parents were waiting in the driveway. We made a "small" lunch (it was HUGE!), showed them everything we've done around the hosue....and then they left.
We puttered around the house a little, then started a fire in the tomato....to christen it (and make my key lime cheesecake for mother's day the next day).
Sunday started off with a bang. Mot went to get dressed and found the cat had....well..peed in the laundry basket holding his clean clothes. (Isn't pet ownership fun sometimes?)
So, he left for work, commando (good thing he has to keep spare clothes in his locker at the fire station), while I jumped into re-doing all the laundry. :-)
At one point in the morning, I heard two car doors close in the driveway....when I went to investigate, I caught Danny and Steve getting ready to leave.
When I went out to see what they were doing....Steve jumped out of the car....big grin on his face.
The boys: Hey, you're home.
Nej: Yeah (suspiciously)...what's up?
Boys: Nothing, what's up with you? We brought you a present.
Nej: A present? Where?
Boys: On your deck.
We have furniture now!!!!! Aren't they sweet!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
I was shocked....and didn't know what to say. And I owe them both a big hug next time I see them. Dummy me just stared at the table and chairs like a goof! :-) (I try to reel in the over-the-top Nej that is brewing just below the surface. Must not look silly. It's the introverted shy girl in me! Damn her!!!!)
My sister and hubby picked me up about 12:30, and the three of us headed to Wilson Island State Park. Mom fell a few months ago and broke her elbow. The elbow is healed, but her shoulder is messed up....so she had an MRI scheduled for 1:45.
She was terrified.....
...but felt much better when it was all done! :-)
While Inny and I were waiting for her, we found the vending machines, finally found dollar bills the ()$*^&##@)$(*@-ing machine would take, and then scoped out an empty waiting room. We munched on our healthy snacks (ugh) and watched a ballroom dancing competition. :-)
(The MRI truck. Pretty cool, huh?)
When it was all over, we took her back to the campsite to meet up with my brother in law, niece, nephew and grandma, for a mother's day small scale potluck meal.
We played games, talked, ate, and just hung out. It was really, really nice!!!!!
(The tree they tried to burn down. OK, OK,they didn't try.....an ember jumped from the fire they thought was completely out, into the wood pile, which then caught the tree on fire. Mom is going to kill me for putting this pic on here. Luckily a drunk wandered by their site at about 3:00 am, discovered the fire, put it out....then went back to bed. They had no idea what had happened, until Brandon asked "Grandma, where did our pile of wood go?" :-)
(The only way to get cellphone reception in the park. On top of a table. And even then, it's iffy.)
(Inny and my bro in law. They just bought a house - close at the end of the month. They are soooo excited!!)
(Brandon ridding the area of dandelions, one smack at a time.)
(Lauren in braided pigtails. Love it!!!)
(We played a game of Sorry Express.)
(Never, I repeat, NEVER buy these! Mozzarella stick Pringles. I tried one, against my better judgement. I was right....should always trust the inner judgement!!!) :-)~
From there, I came home, did some more laundry, watched a little Top Gun....and then headed to bed.
Not too bad a weekend if I do say so myself!!!
Friday night was going to be rest and relaxation at home. Our first night at home, together, without some sort of construction project looming or needing completed.
That rest and relaxation at home lasted until about 8:00 when we got a call from some friends....who wanted to meet to see the new Star Trek movie.
We agreed to meet them for the 9:00 pm showing....and I'm glad we did! Great, great, great movie. It really was. They did an awesome job casting the roles, it was entertaining, funny, and enjoyable. I went in not knowing what to expect. And, because it's a new movie, I'll stop talking now. No spoilers from me (unless you ask really nice). :-)
Saturday morning we got up early (thanks to the cats), and jumped into cleaning the house. Tom's folks were coming by to see the work we've done around the house, so we took an hour to do a quick top to bottom cleaning.
From there we left to pick up Steve, to go pottery shopping. While building the deck last weekend, he told me about an awesome Mexican pottery place in South Omaha.....and I squealed with delight (literally, it was embarrassing actually!). So, Saturday was the day we decided to get together and head over to check it out.
I'm in love. It's my new favorite store....truly!!! :-) The World of Mexican Pottery. The place is two stories of nothing but pottery. Floor to ceiling. All colors, shapes, sizes....and cheap. I'm in love!!!!!!!!
I can promise you that will not be my last visit!!!! :-)
We walked across the street to pay, the checkout is located in the boot shop across the street.
Brook...I think I found the boots you've been looking for!!! :-) :-) :-)
What, you don't like those? Well, how about these? The had them in every color of the rainbow...literally. :-)
From there, we came home to unload our purchase. We've lovingly dubbed it "the tomato."
I then took Steve back to his vehicle and Mot ran to the store for groceries. By the time we both got back, Mot's parents were waiting in the driveway. We made a "small" lunch (it was HUGE!), showed them everything we've done around the hosue....and then they left.
We puttered around the house a little, then started a fire in the tomato....to christen it (and make my key lime cheesecake for mother's day the next day).
Sunday started off with a bang. Mot went to get dressed and found the cat had....well..peed in the laundry basket holding his clean clothes. (Isn't pet ownership fun sometimes?)
So, he left for work, commando (good thing he has to keep spare clothes in his locker at the fire station), while I jumped into re-doing all the laundry. :-)
At one point in the morning, I heard two car doors close in the driveway....when I went to investigate, I caught Danny and Steve getting ready to leave.
When I went out to see what they were doing....Steve jumped out of the car....big grin on his face.
The boys: Hey, you're home.
Nej: Yeah (suspiciously)...what's up?
Boys: Nothing, what's up with you? We brought you a present.
Nej: A present? Where?
Boys: On your deck.
We have furniture now!!!!! Aren't they sweet!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
I was shocked....and didn't know what to say. And I owe them both a big hug next time I see them. Dummy me just stared at the table and chairs like a goof! :-) (I try to reel in the over-the-top Nej that is brewing just below the surface. Must not look silly. It's the introverted shy girl in me! Damn her!!!!)
My sister and hubby picked me up about 12:30, and the three of us headed to Wilson Island State Park. Mom fell a few months ago and broke her elbow. The elbow is healed, but her shoulder is messed up....so she had an MRI scheduled for 1:45.
She was terrified.....
...but felt much better when it was all done! :-)
While Inny and I were waiting for her, we found the vending machines, finally found dollar bills the ()$*^&##@)$(*@-ing machine would take, and then scoped out an empty waiting room. We munched on our healthy snacks (ugh) and watched a ballroom dancing competition. :-)
(The MRI truck. Pretty cool, huh?)
When it was all over, we took her back to the campsite to meet up with my brother in law, niece, nephew and grandma, for a mother's day small scale potluck meal.
We played games, talked, ate, and just hung out. It was really, really nice!!!!!
(The tree they tried to burn down. OK, OK,they didn't try.....an ember jumped from the fire they thought was completely out, into the wood pile, which then caught the tree on fire. Mom is going to kill me for putting this pic on here. Luckily a drunk wandered by their site at about 3:00 am, discovered the fire, put it out....then went back to bed. They had no idea what had happened, until Brandon asked "Grandma, where did our pile of wood go?" :-)
(The only way to get cellphone reception in the park. On top of a table. And even then, it's iffy.)
(Inny and my bro in law. They just bought a house - close at the end of the month. They are soooo excited!!)
(Brandon ridding the area of dandelions, one smack at a time.)
(Lauren in braided pigtails. Love it!!!)
(We played a game of Sorry Express.)
(Never, I repeat, NEVER buy these! Mozzarella stick Pringles. I tried one, against my better judgement. I was right....should always trust the inner judgement!!!) :-)~
From there, I came home, did some more laundry, watched a little Top Gun....and then headed to bed.
Not too bad a weekend if I do say so myself!!!
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