Okay, so in my previous post I went on about how I was going to get in the habit of being healthier starting now so as to get those good habits going for during Christmas. While I see that as a very good thing, it's also very much doody. *giggles* I said it...doody!
I've been looking at the Pillsbury website for a while along with a couple other websites getting recipes for things I want to try making for D and I. Well, along with those websites comes emails with scores of recipes for Christmas goodies. *sigh*
In addition to that, one girl's blog I read had a recipe for T.B.P.B.F.K.T.M. (The Best Peanut Butter Fudge Known To Man). The only ingredients are flour, butter, peanut butter, sugar, milk, and marshmallow creme. So, that said, it's probably one of THE most unhealthy things in the world. There's no way that, just because it has milk and peanut butter in it, that you could even remotely pretend it's healthy. Nuh uh. Not a chance. But it looks sooooo good. *sob*
The girl also calls it "Badonkadonk Butt Fudge", which sounds like it'd be a good name for it, but not as tasty. And, since eating it would most definitely give me a badonkadonk butt, I better not make the fudge.
Still, I think I'll be getting some chocolate in my stocking this year. D's mom knows I'm addicted to chocolate so I usually get a little something on Christmas and my birthday. I may put D in charge of it and let him dole it out to me once in a while.
I have a feeling that these are gonna be the best stockings D's mom has ever given out since us adults aren't doing the present thing and even though she agreed to it, she just can't help but give presents. :-)
Oh, I'm not so sore today, but still a little too sore to do the Turbo Jam again so I went for a 45 min. walk instead. I think I walked about a 2 mile round trip. Go me.
Well, I think that's about it.
Ciao
Friday, December 19, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
News
Okay so I'm pretty much ready for the holidays to be over. I'm bummed I can't visit family, but with the construction market slowing down so much for winter, there's just no extra money for that sort of thing. Bah humbug.
So, on to more positive stuff...
I've started working out again. Okay, so I've only done it once (yesterday), but I'm planning on really getting back into it. When I moved down here I borrowed one of my mom's Turbo Jam dvds so that's what I'm gonna be using. I've tentatively scheduled my next workout for tomorrow, but we'll have to see how my muscles feel. I don't wanna overdo it and I'm really feeling it today. My back is a bit tight (but it usually is anyway), my shoulders and ab muscles are tight, and my *ahem* butt muscles are a bit sore. So, depending how I feel tomorrow, I may reschedule for Saturday.
I figure if I get into this now, then maybe I won't go overboard with the goodies on Christmas. I've also set a few goals for the rest of this week. 1. No eating at least 1 hour before bed (D and I have a tendency to eat dinner late and then pop off to bed) 2. Work out at least 3 times (which will be 2 times if I have to postpone til Saturday) 3. Take vitamins at least 4 times this week. I've also started a notebook where I'll log what I eat everyday so I can see where the improvements need to be made and such. We already do pretty well on that...we have some kind of protein with just about every meal, but too heavy on the carbs (what can I say, they're delish). I also need to get better about eating regularly. We usually have two meals a day, but I need to start eating something in the morning...probably fruit would be the best, but my body has gotten used to not eating breakfast and it's hard to make yourself eat when you're not hungry.
I know that by getting healthy again that my mood will improve, I'll have more energy when going out to help D with his work, and I'll definitely be able to fit into the clothes my mom is sending me for Christmas.
Well, I've babbled on long enough.
Ciao
p.s. the frame on my glasses broke the other day so I've had to get used to wearing contacts again. I swear, I look a little like a zombie. My eyes seems to be permanently red from all the poking at my eyeballs and rubbing the crap out of them when I take the contacts out at night. Oh, and flourescent lighting? Forget it, makes me look as pale as Michael Jackson. Ugh!
So, on to more positive stuff...
I've started working out again. Okay, so I've only done it once (yesterday), but I'm planning on really getting back into it. When I moved down here I borrowed one of my mom's Turbo Jam dvds so that's what I'm gonna be using. I've tentatively scheduled my next workout for tomorrow, but we'll have to see how my muscles feel. I don't wanna overdo it and I'm really feeling it today. My back is a bit tight (but it usually is anyway), my shoulders and ab muscles are tight, and my *ahem* butt muscles are a bit sore. So, depending how I feel tomorrow, I may reschedule for Saturday.
I figure if I get into this now, then maybe I won't go overboard with the goodies on Christmas. I've also set a few goals for the rest of this week. 1. No eating at least 1 hour before bed (D and I have a tendency to eat dinner late and then pop off to bed) 2. Work out at least 3 times (which will be 2 times if I have to postpone til Saturday) 3. Take vitamins at least 4 times this week. I've also started a notebook where I'll log what I eat everyday so I can see where the improvements need to be made and such. We already do pretty well on that...we have some kind of protein with just about every meal, but too heavy on the carbs (what can I say, they're delish). I also need to get better about eating regularly. We usually have two meals a day, but I need to start eating something in the morning...probably fruit would be the best, but my body has gotten used to not eating breakfast and it's hard to make yourself eat when you're not hungry.
I know that by getting healthy again that my mood will improve, I'll have more energy when going out to help D with his work, and I'll definitely be able to fit into the clothes my mom is sending me for Christmas.
Well, I've babbled on long enough.
Ciao
p.s. the frame on my glasses broke the other day so I've had to get used to wearing contacts again. I swear, I look a little like a zombie. My eyes seems to be permanently red from all the poking at my eyeballs and rubbing the crap out of them when I take the contacts out at night. Oh, and flourescent lighting? Forget it, makes me look as pale as Michael Jackson. Ugh!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
It be cold
It seems like only a couple days ago that it was hitting 90 degrees and I dreaded going out in anything other than capris, t-shirt, and flip flops. Right now, it's about 58 degrees and windy as all hell. (well, technically I don't think hell is windy and if it is then its blowing hot air, but I digress)
I think I teared up once I realized that I had to forgo my trusty flip flops in exchange for tennis shoes or boots. And, I had to bring up the long sleeve shirts, sweaters, and jackets that had been stored downstairs. :-(
Anyway, in other news, I have pictures.
1. The last couple times D and I have gone to the store, we've passed up our usual Southpaw beer brand for a mix 'n' match deal that Food City has. You pick six beers for $9 and change. It's been pretty cool. The first time I got a Dos Equis, Black Lager (sammy adams), and an Irish Red Lager (not sure what company). They were all pretty good, but I realized I liked the Dos Equis less than I used to.
Then, this last time we went, I got a Winter Lager (sammy adams), and 2 German beers. I've only had one so far and it was yummy good. Here's a picture of the label.
It tastes very similar, but milder, to what D and I brewed with his friend Taylor back in early March.
2. I have a crazy cat. Seems no matter what kinds of pets I get, they always turn out to be a little off in the head.
Please excuse the mess, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity for this picture. That's our cat Calli with her head inside an empty dog treat box. I think she was trying to get the few leftover crumbs that were still inside it.
Well, that's all for now.
Ciao
Monday, October 13, 2008
Still have my city-girl moments
So early last week, as D and I were headed out to the grocery store, I noticed his older niece picking up/peeling walnuts from the walnut tree in the yard. Going over there I jokingly asked, "So you gonna eat all those?" You may ask why it was jokingly that I asked that question, but after all, who eats walnuts that fall out of a tree? You buy them at the store, right? *smack upside the head*
She wasn't going to but was picking them for her family. To which I replied, "You can eat these things?" *shrugs* I say again, who eats walnuts that fall out of a tree? You buy them at the store, right?
I guess it never really occured to me where those prettily packaged walnuts at the store come from. I asked D's mom and she said they taste heavenly and they're the same you'd buy at Food City or Kroger. Huh, go figure.
So, a couple days later I decided to do the same thing. At first I was peeling them barehanded (very messy by the way), but my hands very quickly turned a puky shade of yellow/black. After putting gloves on I went about walking around the tree, peeling as I went, and dropping them in a small garbage can. The tree was all about mocking me as it kept dropping fresh walnuts every few minutes. Finally my back could no longer take the constant bending over so I brought the can back to the bottom of the deck stairs and proceeded to fill two plastic grocery bags with the rest of the unpeeled walnuts.
I've just finished peeling them all and now I've been told they need to sit and germinate and dry out a little bit before cracking them open. Ya see, freshly peeled walnuts have an enormous amount of black/yellow goopy stuff on the outside of the hard shell. Not to mention there are little greenish white worms that apparently eat that goopy stuff. There's a lot of scraping to get all the wormies off, which is quite difficult when wearing latex gloves.
Anyway, I've gotten about 1 1/2 plastic grocery bags full of peeled walnuts. Probably in another week or so here I'll try cracking a few of them to see how they taste. *crosses fingers*
She wasn't going to but was picking them for her family. To which I replied, "You can eat these things?" *shrugs* I say again, who eats walnuts that fall out of a tree? You buy them at the store, right?
I guess it never really occured to me where those prettily packaged walnuts at the store come from. I asked D's mom and she said they taste heavenly and they're the same you'd buy at Food City or Kroger. Huh, go figure.
So, a couple days later I decided to do the same thing. At first I was peeling them barehanded (very messy by the way), but my hands very quickly turned a puky shade of yellow/black. After putting gloves on I went about walking around the tree, peeling as I went, and dropping them in a small garbage can. The tree was all about mocking me as it kept dropping fresh walnuts every few minutes. Finally my back could no longer take the constant bending over so I brought the can back to the bottom of the deck stairs and proceeded to fill two plastic grocery bags with the rest of the unpeeled walnuts.
I've just finished peeling them all and now I've been told they need to sit and germinate and dry out a little bit before cracking them open. Ya see, freshly peeled walnuts have an enormous amount of black/yellow goopy stuff on the outside of the hard shell. Not to mention there are little greenish white worms that apparently eat that goopy stuff. There's a lot of scraping to get all the wormies off, which is quite difficult when wearing latex gloves.
Anyway, I've gotten about 1 1/2 plastic grocery bags full of peeled walnuts. Probably in another week or so here I'll try cracking a few of them to see how they taste. *crosses fingers*
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Made me giggle
For Trade
One 16 year old who knows everything.
Except:
How to cook.
How to clean.
How to manage money.
How to wipe up spilled water.
How to drive.
How to write a check.
How to answer a phone.
How to do math.
How to treat people.
How to be nice.
How to be polite.
How gas is paid for.
How cell phone bills are paid.
How to work the can opener.
How to take medication.
How to sweep, dust or vacuum.
How to make a bed.
How to do laundry.
How dictatorships work.
How to shut up.
How to get a job.
How important it is to finish high school.
How the world goes round.
She can text. And she can argue. What else does she *possibly* need to know in life??
I’d like to trade her in. For a puppy.
One 16 year old who knows everything.
Except:
How to cook.
How to clean.
How to manage money.
How to wipe up spilled water.
How to drive.
How to write a check.
How to answer a phone.
How to do math.
How to treat people.
How to be nice.
How to be polite.
How gas is paid for.
How cell phone bills are paid.
How to work the can opener.
How to take medication.
How to sweep, dust or vacuum.
How to make a bed.
How to do laundry.
How dictatorships work.
How to shut up.
How to get a job.
How important it is to finish high school.
How the world goes round.
She can text. And she can argue. What else does she *possibly* need to know in life??
I’d like to trade her in. For a puppy.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Updateness
I know it's been over a month since my last post, but I have my reasons.
I'm no longer working at Elavon. Due to the stress of the job that wasn't only affecting work, but D and me, he and I decided that it be best I not work there.
So, enough about that. I had an interview friday at a place called Digital Graphics. I think it went pretty well, but they still had a couple more people to interview so I'll just have to see. That's all I'll say for now since I don't wanna jinx it. :-)
In other news, things are going rather well. D has gotten bombarded with new projects over the last week so we've been quite busy. In fact, we're working later today just to make sure we stay caught up with everything. And, once the weather cools, I think we're gonna try for a camping trip before it turns too cold. It's been in the high 80s and 90s with humidity around 65-80%.
Um...what else. Oh, with all the work we've been having to do, I haven't had much time to read, but I did borrow a book from D's sister-in-law a couple days ago. It's called Death's Acre Inside the legendary forensic lab the Body Farm where the dead do tell tales. I found out that there's an actual place here in TN called The Body Farm. Dr. Bill Bass (who's like the #1 forensic anthropologist in the country) heads it up. Basically the whole place is dedicated to experimenting and documenting rates of decomposition based on various conditions. i.e. shallow graves, submerged in water, locked in a car trunk, etc. Yeah, I know it's a little gruesome, but it's very interesting. After all, once upon a time I wanted to study forensics.
Anyway, I'm about 1/4 of the way through the book and the sister-in-law has another one Dr. Bass wrote that I'll be borrowing when I'm done with this one.
Guess that's all for now.
I'm no longer working at Elavon. Due to the stress of the job that wasn't only affecting work, but D and me, he and I decided that it be best I not work there.
So, enough about that. I had an interview friday at a place called Digital Graphics. I think it went pretty well, but they still had a couple more people to interview so I'll just have to see. That's all I'll say for now since I don't wanna jinx it. :-)
In other news, things are going rather well. D has gotten bombarded with new projects over the last week so we've been quite busy. In fact, we're working later today just to make sure we stay caught up with everything. And, once the weather cools, I think we're gonna try for a camping trip before it turns too cold. It's been in the high 80s and 90s with humidity around 65-80%.
Um...what else. Oh, with all the work we've been having to do, I haven't had much time to read, but I did borrow a book from D's sister-in-law a couple days ago. It's called Death's Acre Inside the legendary forensic lab the Body Farm where the dead do tell tales. I found out that there's an actual place here in TN called The Body Farm. Dr. Bill Bass (who's like the #1 forensic anthropologist in the country) heads it up. Basically the whole place is dedicated to experimenting and documenting rates of decomposition based on various conditions. i.e. shallow graves, submerged in water, locked in a car trunk, etc. Yeah, I know it's a little gruesome, but it's very interesting. After all, once upon a time I wanted to study forensics.
Anyway, I'm about 1/4 of the way through the book and the sister-in-law has another one Dr. Bass wrote that I'll be borrowing when I'm done with this one.
Guess that's all for now.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Alrighty then
Yesterday went pretty fair. Paul (my partner on calls) and I did rock, paper, scissors to decide who was taking calls first. Even though I won, I could tell he REALLY didn't wanna go first. I also wanted to get mine out of the way so I took calls in the am portion of class. It was pretty cool...definitely a learning experience as I realized some things I messed up on. Nothing drastic thankfully.
I also got a call from a merchant that is requiring continued follow-up. My very first follow up call. :-)
So today, we were all taking calls on our own. No more partners. Yesterday I took a total of 11 calls and today I think I was at 14 calls. Oh, and I got my very first angry caller. It's cool because even though it rattled the hell outta me, I can't remember what she called about. Normally I'd stew over it for days at a time.
The lady ended up, after repeated attempts to offer solutions and try to help her, she asked for a supervisor so I just transferred the call. It was the third time she'd called in so I can't blame her. In explaining to said supervisor what the issue was and what I'd told her, the supervisor said I'd done everything right. I still needed to take a little personal break after that to pull myself together, but I got right back on the phones. No nervous breakdown for this girl. X-D
We had a class on a new service we're offering and then after lunch we got back on the phones. I was able to do a lot of calls without having to ask the trainers for help so I'm pretty proud of myself.
I did have another caller, the bank rep was actually calling in, but brought the merchant on in a three-way call. Sufficed to say, the merchant was pretty upset. She'd canceled her account, but was still getting billed. Someone else had already submitted a request for a refund so there was really nothing I could do. While I was still a bit un-nerved, it didn't affect me nearly as much as that first caller. Yay for me.
And...drumroll please...I get my own desk tomorrow! I'm a teensy bit nervous about not being in the same room with people that can help with me just raising my hand, but I'm sure it'll be alright.
On another note, I had a lot of people yesterday and today that thanked me profusely for my help and said I did a very good job. *insert excited squeal here*
I also got a call from a merchant that is requiring continued follow-up. My very first follow up call. :-)
So today, we were all taking calls on our own. No more partners. Yesterday I took a total of 11 calls and today I think I was at 14 calls. Oh, and I got my very first angry caller. It's cool because even though it rattled the hell outta me, I can't remember what she called about. Normally I'd stew over it for days at a time.
The lady ended up, after repeated attempts to offer solutions and try to help her, she asked for a supervisor so I just transferred the call. It was the third time she'd called in so I can't blame her. In explaining to said supervisor what the issue was and what I'd told her, the supervisor said I'd done everything right. I still needed to take a little personal break after that to pull myself together, but I got right back on the phones. No nervous breakdown for this girl. X-D
We had a class on a new service we're offering and then after lunch we got back on the phones. I was able to do a lot of calls without having to ask the trainers for help so I'm pretty proud of myself.
I did have another caller, the bank rep was actually calling in, but brought the merchant on in a three-way call. Sufficed to say, the merchant was pretty upset. She'd canceled her account, but was still getting billed. Someone else had already submitted a request for a refund so there was really nothing I could do. While I was still a bit un-nerved, it didn't affect me nearly as much as that first caller. Yay for me.
And...drumroll please...I get my own desk tomorrow! I'm a teensy bit nervous about not being in the same room with people that can help with me just raising my hand, but I'm sure it'll be alright.
On another note, I had a lot of people yesterday and today that thanked me profusely for my help and said I did a very good job. *insert excited squeal here*
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
today and tomorrow
Today, from 11am until noon, we all took test calls from various trainers outside the classroom. It was rather nervwracking at first, but by the end I'd decided that it hadn't been as bad as I thought it'd be.
I got three calls total. Two of 'em I kinda messed up on, but the other I did pretty well. I also found out that I say "alright" a lot when I'm confirming information. On the first call...well, I'd have to give a ton of background info, but mainly, I filled out a form requesting equipment pick-up when I didn't need to. I filled out the form perfectly, but in that specific case, the form wasn't needed.
But, tomorrow, we take real calls from real merchants. I'm pretty nervous. They've paired us up with another person in the training class, so one will take the calls in the morning while the other helps and then after lunch we'll switch out. Come Friday, though, we'll be on the floor taking calls like everyone else, with the exception that our "managers" will be the transition trainers instead of the actual floor managers.
Other than that, I've got about 5 more weeks of an 8am-4:30pm shift and then I move to my 10am-6:30pm shift. I'm DEFINITELY looking forward to that. No more 6am wake-ups for this chickie.
One cool thing, though, the only real anxiety I felt today was about 5 min. before we started taking practice calls. I seriously felt like breaking down in tears and running to the bathroom to throw up. Other than that, it was just general nervousness. *grins* We'll see how I do tomorrow.
In other news, my back has been doing pretty well. No real pain except for some tightness when I wake up in the morning and lingering tightness when it's been a couple days between chiropractic visits.
Also, I heard on the news yesterday that Morgan Freeman was in a car accident. Last I'd heard, he was driving home and allegedly ran off the road. He had a broken arm and shoulder, but I haven't heard anything further.
I hope he's alright since he's one of my favorite actors.
I got three calls total. Two of 'em I kinda messed up on, but the other I did pretty well. I also found out that I say "alright" a lot when I'm confirming information. On the first call...well, I'd have to give a ton of background info, but mainly, I filled out a form requesting equipment pick-up when I didn't need to. I filled out the form perfectly, but in that specific case, the form wasn't needed.
But, tomorrow, we take real calls from real merchants. I'm pretty nervous. They've paired us up with another person in the training class, so one will take the calls in the morning while the other helps and then after lunch we'll switch out. Come Friday, though, we'll be on the floor taking calls like everyone else, with the exception that our "managers" will be the transition trainers instead of the actual floor managers.
Other than that, I've got about 5 more weeks of an 8am-4:30pm shift and then I move to my 10am-6:30pm shift. I'm DEFINITELY looking forward to that. No more 6am wake-ups for this chickie.
One cool thing, though, the only real anxiety I felt today was about 5 min. before we started taking practice calls. I seriously felt like breaking down in tears and running to the bathroom to throw up. Other than that, it was just general nervousness. *grins* We'll see how I do tomorrow.
In other news, my back has been doing pretty well. No real pain except for some tightness when I wake up in the morning and lingering tightness when it's been a couple days between chiropractic visits.
Also, I heard on the news yesterday that Morgan Freeman was in a car accident. Last I'd heard, he was driving home and allegedly ran off the road. He had a broken arm and shoulder, but I haven't heard anything further.
I hope he's alright since he's one of my favorite actors.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Last test
We had our last test today for the classroom portion of training. I was kinda nervous about it just because of how much they played up the difficulty of it and the fact that the last two systems we learned were quite complicated.
I was ready to walk out of there on Thursday because I just couldn't seem to grasp that last system. But towards the end of class that day it was much better. The last half of class (after lunch), we mainly did review and then practice calls again. This time the trainer took turns calling us with "problems" he needed resolved. It wasn't too bad, until one of my co-workers got an actual call from an actual merchant. I think everyone was pretty freaked out after that. We were sent on break after that thankfully...I think us smokers all needed a cigarette. *grins* I wasn't event the one taking the call and my heart was pounding. We did some more practice calls after break, but I don't think any of us wanted to on the off chance we got a real call.
I think the instructor realized we were really over it all because we played "Who am I?" for the last 45 minutes.
So, test day. We got in this morning to a smorgasboard of Panera Bread bagels and cream cheese and started the test around 8:45. Again, not as bad as I thought it'd be. There were a couple things I struggled with, but skipped over them and came back later after figuring out what it was I needed to find in answering other questions.
I got done around 10am, but the two instructors were grading a couple other tests so I had to wait a few minutes. I think that was the worst part. Finally I heard my name called and went up to the desk to take a look at how I did. Out of a possible 100 points........I scored a 98. X-D
WOOT!!
I think I was like the 3rd one done and a few more got done while I waiting for D to pick me up. But there were a good 6 people still taking the test when I left. There are a couple people in particular that I'm wondering if I'll see come Monday. I hope they passed.
But, now that the boring class-type stuff is over, I get the immense joy of being nervous all over again because I'll be taking live calls come Wednesday. I think Tuesday will be just managers and trainers calling in to our phones to give us a little more practice, but then it'll be real merchants, with real problems, and real chances to royally screw up. Oh joy!
Anyway, I'm gonna go relax a bit.
I was ready to walk out of there on Thursday because I just couldn't seem to grasp that last system. But towards the end of class that day it was much better. The last half of class (after lunch), we mainly did review and then practice calls again. This time the trainer took turns calling us with "problems" he needed resolved. It wasn't too bad, until one of my co-workers got an actual call from an actual merchant. I think everyone was pretty freaked out after that. We were sent on break after that thankfully...I think us smokers all needed a cigarette. *grins* I wasn't event the one taking the call and my heart was pounding. We did some more practice calls after break, but I don't think any of us wanted to on the off chance we got a real call.
I think the instructor realized we were really over it all because we played "Who am I?" for the last 45 minutes.
So, test day. We got in this morning to a smorgasboard of Panera Bread bagels and cream cheese and started the test around 8:45. Again, not as bad as I thought it'd be. There were a couple things I struggled with, but skipped over them and came back later after figuring out what it was I needed to find in answering other questions.
I got done around 10am, but the two instructors were grading a couple other tests so I had to wait a few minutes. I think that was the worst part. Finally I heard my name called and went up to the desk to take a look at how I did. Out of a possible 100 points........I scored a 98. X-D
WOOT!!
I think I was like the 3rd one done and a few more got done while I waiting for D to pick me up. But there were a good 6 people still taking the test when I left. There are a couple people in particular that I'm wondering if I'll see come Monday. I hope they passed.
But, now that the boring class-type stuff is over, I get the immense joy of being nervous all over again because I'll be taking live calls come Wednesday. I think Tuesday will be just managers and trainers calling in to our phones to give us a little more practice, but then it'll be real merchants, with real problems, and real chances to royally screw up. Oh joy!
Anyway, I'm gonna go relax a bit.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
*incoherent screams and laughter*
I had typed my post in, but stupid blogger disconnected and didn't save my post. *sigh*
I'll try and re-create it.
Today was rather interesting. The first thing we did was practice calling our classmates/coworkers, switching off being the merchant calling in and the CSR taking the calls. It was nervewracking to say the least. After I'd made my first call, I sat waiting for a call to come in. Terry, the instructor, ended up calling me pretending to be a cardholder (person instead of merchant) wanting to lodge a complaint with the merchant. It was funny because I had to put him on hold to ask him what to do. I knew the answer, but my mind went completely blank after saying, "Thank you for calling Merchant Services...." My hands were seriously shaking by the time I ended the call.
We were taught some other stuff and then during the last hour of class we did the phone call stuff again. It went a bit better, realizing that this is probably the only time I'll have to practice without it being a real merchant on the other end. Still, it was difficult.
Tim, one of my classmates, was being a butthead (in a slightly humorous way). He would play with the key pad during the call and ended up punching out a tune on it. He would also say stuff and break up like there was static on the line. I had to put him on hold just so I could laugh my butt off (which I've been told actually happens). Another thing...after I got back from having him on hold, he asked to be put back on hold because "the music was so nice."
*shakes head*
All in all it's been alright. Oh, but tomorrow, we'll be learning yet another system. *insert sarcastic "yay" here*
I keep asking myself why the hell I think I can do this. But, I just got my paycheck today and it's about a month's worth of shifts at Lowe's. I just need to keep reminding myself of that.
I'll try and re-create it.
Today was rather interesting. The first thing we did was practice calling our classmates/coworkers, switching off being the merchant calling in and the CSR taking the calls. It was nervewracking to say the least. After I'd made my first call, I sat waiting for a call to come in. Terry, the instructor, ended up calling me pretending to be a cardholder (person instead of merchant) wanting to lodge a complaint with the merchant. It was funny because I had to put him on hold to ask him what to do. I knew the answer, but my mind went completely blank after saying, "Thank you for calling Merchant Services...." My hands were seriously shaking by the time I ended the call.
We were taught some other stuff and then during the last hour of class we did the phone call stuff again. It went a bit better, realizing that this is probably the only time I'll have to practice without it being a real merchant on the other end. Still, it was difficult.
Tim, one of my classmates, was being a butthead (in a slightly humorous way). He would play with the key pad during the call and ended up punching out a tune on it. He would also say stuff and break up like there was static on the line. I had to put him on hold just so I could laugh my butt off (which I've been told actually happens). Another thing...after I got back from having him on hold, he asked to be put back on hold because "the music was so nice."
*shakes head*
Our last test is this Friday and the instructors are bringing in a continental breakfast (from Panera Bread I think).
All in all it's been alright. Oh, but tomorrow, we'll be learning yet another system. *insert sarcastic "yay" here*
I keep asking myself why the hell I think I can do this. But, I just got my paycheck today and it's about a month's worth of shifts at Lowe's. I just need to keep reminding myself of that.
Monday, July 28, 2008
In sadder news...
Yesterday (Sunday) morning a guy walked into a Unitarian with a 12-gauge shotgun and 76 shells hidden in a guitar case and started shooting.
There was a kids play going on and the guy I think originally came through a back door and was told (thinking he was part of the program) that he needed to go through another door, which he did. There was an usher that was right there when the guy came back in and took a shot right in the chest. The guy got two more shots off before a couple of the church people tackled him.
I heard this morning that 2 were killed and 7 have either been released or are still in critical condition. One scary thing is that one of my co-workers has an aunt and her family that go to the church. The niece was supposed to be in the kid's play, but woke up with a sore throat so they didn't go to church that morning.
Another scary thing, that church is only about 5 minutes away from where D and I used to live and we've driven by the place about a hundred times.
Apparently the guy had written a four page letter on why he was doing it. According to the letter he was pissed off over not being able to get a job and blamed the liberals and gays. As a result, he targeted the church because they had "liberal" beliefs in welcoming gays to their church, among other things. Also, I think, the letter said that he planned on killing everyone he could (except the children) until police showed up and killed him.
I think they're considering this a hate crime considering that in the videos I've seen of the police interviews, there's FBI all over the place.
The suck thing is that people are using this as a pulpit for their own agendas (i.e. gun bans, god's judgement, etc.) Nevermind that innocent people were killed and kids traumatized.
It's a sad, sad world we live in.
There was a kids play going on and the guy I think originally came through a back door and was told (thinking he was part of the program) that he needed to go through another door, which he did. There was an usher that was right there when the guy came back in and took a shot right in the chest. The guy got two more shots off before a couple of the church people tackled him.
I heard this morning that 2 were killed and 7 have either been released or are still in critical condition. One scary thing is that one of my co-workers has an aunt and her family that go to the church. The niece was supposed to be in the kid's play, but woke up with a sore throat so they didn't go to church that morning.
Another scary thing, that church is only about 5 minutes away from where D and I used to live and we've driven by the place about a hundred times.
Apparently the guy had written a four page letter on why he was doing it. According to the letter he was pissed off over not being able to get a job and blamed the liberals and gays. As a result, he targeted the church because they had "liberal" beliefs in welcoming gays to their church, among other things. Also, I think, the letter said that he planned on killing everyone he could (except the children) until police showed up and killed him.
I think they're considering this a hate crime considering that in the videos I've seen of the police interviews, there's FBI all over the place.
The suck thing is that people are using this as a pulpit for their own agendas (i.e. gun bans, god's judgement, etc.) Nevermind that innocent people were killed and kids traumatized.
It's a sad, sad world we live in.
Ugh
Today definitely felt like a Monday. I didn't feel all that tired when I went into work, but within a couple hours I was so over it.
We started learning yet another new system and, instead of teaching it like they normally do, our instructor had us pair up and go through some initial things. It was alright except for the fact that I couldn't take notes. I learn/remember best when I can write things down. So, I spent half of my first break going back through everything and making notations.
By lunch, I was so ready to go home. I've started bringing my Gevalia travel mug to work (probably about a 12oz. container) and had two of those full with Cappuchino by lunch. Thankfully, though I got to talk to D over lunch break so that made me smile quite a bit...I needed that.
I grabbed another Cappuchino on my way back to class, but by 2 o'clock I was dead tired. So much so that, when I leaned my head on my hand for a second, the next thing I knew, one of my co-workers nudged my leg to wake me up. I was still hearing the instructor, but it was like a low-level buzz in my ears. At that point I finished the Mt. Dew I'd brought and said co-worker gave me a few pieces of candy to help perk me up. :-) She's a sweetheart.
All in all it was an okay day. We learned some preliminaries of how to use the phone system, too. That was quite interesting. The instructor said that tomorrow, if we have time, he'll let us play around by calling each other in the classroom. That outta be hilarious.
Well, I'm out...still gotta make dinner, possibly put clothes in the dryer, and set up my lunch for tomorrow.
Peace out
We started learning yet another new system and, instead of teaching it like they normally do, our instructor had us pair up and go through some initial things. It was alright except for the fact that I couldn't take notes. I learn/remember best when I can write things down. So, I spent half of my first break going back through everything and making notations.
By lunch, I was so ready to go home. I've started bringing my Gevalia travel mug to work (probably about a 12oz. container) and had two of those full with Cappuchino by lunch. Thankfully, though I got to talk to D over lunch break so that made me smile quite a bit...I needed that.
I grabbed another Cappuchino on my way back to class, but by 2 o'clock I was dead tired. So much so that, when I leaned my head on my hand for a second, the next thing I knew, one of my co-workers nudged my leg to wake me up. I was still hearing the instructor, but it was like a low-level buzz in my ears. At that point I finished the Mt. Dew I'd brought and said co-worker gave me a few pieces of candy to help perk me up. :-) She's a sweetheart.
All in all it was an okay day. We learned some preliminaries of how to use the phone system, too. That was quite interesting. The instructor said that tomorrow, if we have time, he'll let us play around by calling each other in the classroom. That outta be hilarious.
Well, I'm out...still gotta make dinner, possibly put clothes in the dryer, and set up my lunch for tomorrow.
Peace out
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Finally Friday
Today was a very good day. We had representatives from different departments in the company come in to talk to us. Basically telling us what they do and such. I think, if I were to transfer to a department it would probably be Loss Prevention. That seemed the most intersting.
In other news...with all the people coming in, we didn't get to lunch until about 10 min. after our scheduled time, but it was no big deal. The company had Five Star come in and serve us lunch. BBQ chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, beans, and a drink for $4. Not bad price and VERY good food.
We also had our first test and, while I wasn't the first to turn it in, I was tied with the second to turn the test in and we first 3 all got 100%. So I'm definitely in for next week. And...it's now the weekend so double bonus. I actually get to sleep in tomorrow!
I'm still very excited about the job. So much so that I think D might be getting a little bored with hearing about it.
Anyway...hope y'all have a good weekend...I know I will. :-)
In other news...with all the people coming in, we didn't get to lunch until about 10 min. after our scheduled time, but it was no big deal. The company had Five Star come in and serve us lunch. BBQ chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, beans, and a drink for $4. Not bad price and VERY good food.
We also had our first test and, while I wasn't the first to turn it in, I was tied with the second to turn the test in and we first 3 all got 100%. So I'm definitely in for next week. And...it's now the weekend so double bonus. I actually get to sleep in tomorrow!
I'm still very excited about the job. So much so that I think D might be getting a little bored with hearing about it.
Anyway...hope y'all have a good weekend...I know I will. :-)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Long week...not over
A little background....
So remember when I posted about getting that job? Well, I showed up as a back-up for the training class on the 7th (didn't get in), but turned in my two-week notice since I was told I'd be in the class on the 21st instead. I was called around the 14th by the temp. agency and told that Elavon, the company, had decided not to use temp. agency people and instead were using direct hires. So sorry...can't be helped...sorry you're out of a job now. I fumed for a bit, but started looking for something else.
Well, not too long after, I had such bad back pain that I was pretty much bed-ridden for most of the rest of that week. Major suck!
But, I got a call again from the temp. agency around the 18th that they wanted me to show up as a back-up again. I didn't think much of it, but told 'em I'd be there.
Well, on the 21st, the temp. agency called to confirm that I'd be there that afternoon, but they weren't sure exactly of the time and would call me once they knew. About ten minutes later I got a call asking me to choose between two shifts. I got in!!
So that's where I've been all week. I went in from about noon-thirty until 5 on monday and it's been an 8-5 shift since then.
Right now, it's just classroom work...learning different systems and such. I honestly feel like my brain is about an inch from oozing out of my ears. I was a bit nervous at first and still feel a tad bit overwhelmed, but it's all good. It's like I'm back in school again, but getting paid for it.
D and I did some calculating and realized that in about 4 months of working there, I'll have made as much as if I'd worked a year at Lowe's. Pretty nifty, huh?
So, my first full-time work week is almost over. Cool thing is, we have casual fridays so I get to wear my Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt, jean capris, and tennis shoes tomorrow. I've spent the majority of the week in skirts or nice slacks. The slacks I don't mind so much, but while I'm getting used to sitting in a skirt, it's getting fairly old. I definitely look forward to changing clothes when I get home. Tomorrow is our first test day, though. I'm not really nervous about it. I've been fairly good at taking tests and when we do our daily reviews there are only a couple questions I'm hazy on. Cool thing is, it's open book/notes/computer programs.
So, next week is also classroom, 8-5 and then, while the 3rd week we'll be in classroom, we'll pretty much all be switching around shifts and actually taking some incoming calls from merchants. I'll be working 8-4:30 then with wed/thur off. And, while I'm not too thrilled about working both Sat. and Sun., at least the weekend shift is also casual wear so it'll be a little bonus.
I'm also getting to sleep in about a half-hour more than when I worked at Lowe's and it's a lot more fun. I think I get an average of about 10 people a day (that I don't know) saying hi/good morning to me. Also, since I'm technically employed there through a temp. agency, I'm not eligible for benefits yet, but I only have to work 400 hours (10 weeks) to be employed full-time by Elavon directly, which is less than the normal 90 days I've waited for benefits other places.
All in all, I'm pretty psyched about it. It's the first full-time job I've had in about 3 years. Plus, with my first paycheck I get to go shopping for new clothes. Granted, it'll be yuppy corporate america clothes (no offense to those of you corporate america types), but still, new clothes are always fun. :-)
Peace out and I'll let y'all know how the test goes tomorrow.
So remember when I posted about getting that job? Well, I showed up as a back-up for the training class on the 7th (didn't get in), but turned in my two-week notice since I was told I'd be in the class on the 21st instead. I was called around the 14th by the temp. agency and told that Elavon, the company, had decided not to use temp. agency people and instead were using direct hires. So sorry...can't be helped...sorry you're out of a job now. I fumed for a bit, but started looking for something else.
Well, not too long after, I had such bad back pain that I was pretty much bed-ridden for most of the rest of that week. Major suck!
But, I got a call again from the temp. agency around the 18th that they wanted me to show up as a back-up again. I didn't think much of it, but told 'em I'd be there.
Well, on the 21st, the temp. agency called to confirm that I'd be there that afternoon, but they weren't sure exactly of the time and would call me once they knew. About ten minutes later I got a call asking me to choose between two shifts. I got in!!
So that's where I've been all week. I went in from about noon-thirty until 5 on monday and it's been an 8-5 shift since then.
Right now, it's just classroom work...learning different systems and such. I honestly feel like my brain is about an inch from oozing out of my ears. I was a bit nervous at first and still feel a tad bit overwhelmed, but it's all good. It's like I'm back in school again, but getting paid for it.
D and I did some calculating and realized that in about 4 months of working there, I'll have made as much as if I'd worked a year at Lowe's. Pretty nifty, huh?
So, my first full-time work week is almost over. Cool thing is, we have casual fridays so I get to wear my Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt, jean capris, and tennis shoes tomorrow. I've spent the majority of the week in skirts or nice slacks. The slacks I don't mind so much, but while I'm getting used to sitting in a skirt, it's getting fairly old. I definitely look forward to changing clothes when I get home. Tomorrow is our first test day, though. I'm not really nervous about it. I've been fairly good at taking tests and when we do our daily reviews there are only a couple questions I'm hazy on. Cool thing is, it's open book/notes/computer programs.
So, next week is also classroom, 8-5 and then, while the 3rd week we'll be in classroom, we'll pretty much all be switching around shifts and actually taking some incoming calls from merchants. I'll be working 8-4:30 then with wed/thur off. And, while I'm not too thrilled about working both Sat. and Sun., at least the weekend shift is also casual wear so it'll be a little bonus.
I'm also getting to sleep in about a half-hour more than when I worked at Lowe's and it's a lot more fun. I think I get an average of about 10 people a day (that I don't know) saying hi/good morning to me. Also, since I'm technically employed there through a temp. agency, I'm not eligible for benefits yet, but I only have to work 400 hours (10 weeks) to be employed full-time by Elavon directly, which is less than the normal 90 days I've waited for benefits other places.
All in all, I'm pretty psyched about it. It's the first full-time job I've had in about 3 years. Plus, with my first paycheck I get to go shopping for new clothes. Granted, it'll be yuppy corporate america clothes (no offense to those of you corporate america types), but still, new clothes are always fun. :-)
Peace out and I'll let y'all know how the test goes tomorrow.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Nostalgia
In listening to music on Youtube.com (great site by the way), I recalled one of the best memories of my life.
My dad and I were at Mall of America. I don't remember if we went to Radio Shack (don't remember how old I was) before or after, but I do remember stopping at an icecream shop. It was one that had an old-fashioned juke box. Now don't get me wrong, I love The Beatles, but I asked my dad for a quarter (or whatever it cost) to play a song on the jukebox. I played "Chain Gang" by Sam Cooke.
D and I were playing "oldies" songs on youtube.com and I found Chain Gang. It almost made me cry with the rememberance. While those times were quite a bit difficult for me, I do appreciate the influence I've gotten from my father, music-wise.
So...thank you dad. My music tastes have changed over the years, but I'll always remember what I heard as a little kid and still, to this day, like what I heard back then.
I love the "oldies"
My dad and I were at Mall of America. I don't remember if we went to Radio Shack (don't remember how old I was) before or after, but I do remember stopping at an icecream shop. It was one that had an old-fashioned juke box. Now don't get me wrong, I love The Beatles, but I asked my dad for a quarter (or whatever it cost) to play a song on the jukebox. I played "Chain Gang" by Sam Cooke.
D and I were playing "oldies" songs on youtube.com and I found Chain Gang. It almost made me cry with the rememberance. While those times were quite a bit difficult for me, I do appreciate the influence I've gotten from my father, music-wise.
So...thank you dad. My music tastes have changed over the years, but I'll always remember what I heard as a little kid and still, to this day, like what I heard back then.
I love the "oldies"
Monday, July 07, 2008
News on the job
I've been meaning to post on this, but have been way too occupied with stuff to force myself to sit here and focus on it. But, I got a comment asking about it so I figured now is as good a time as any.
I got the job. :-)
Let me give a little info. on the company. They mainly handle payment processing for credit & debit cards, electronic checks, gift cards, etc. Y'know when you slide your debit card through the little card reader machine at the grocery store? Elavon (the company I'm gonna work for) handles the information from that machine and processes the card...much like a middle man between the merchant and the banks. I'll be starting out in their incoming call center. So as far as I understand it right now, it'll be mostly people with questions about statements, verifying their transactions went through, that sorta thing.
So, after the initial interview with the temp. agency, I went in to Elavon and had like a 10 minute interview. I got asked a few standard questions and they had me listen to a phone call, and that was it for the day.
I got called back a couple days later to come in for fingerprinting. I guess because their affiliated with US Bank that their background check is a little more stringent than most. Again, I was there for about 10 minutes and was out the door. And then, a couple days later, I went to a separate facility for the drug test.
And now...I'm headed there today for training. Well, sort of. Officially I'm scheduled to start training on the 21st, but they're wanting me to come in today as a back-up in case someone doesn't show.
So...in a nutshell...I got the job. :-)
I got the job. :-)
Let me give a little info. on the company. They mainly handle payment processing for credit & debit cards, electronic checks, gift cards, etc. Y'know when you slide your debit card through the little card reader machine at the grocery store? Elavon (the company I'm gonna work for) handles the information from that machine and processes the card...much like a middle man between the merchant and the banks. I'll be starting out in their incoming call center. So as far as I understand it right now, it'll be mostly people with questions about statements, verifying their transactions went through, that sorta thing.
So, after the initial interview with the temp. agency, I went in to Elavon and had like a 10 minute interview. I got asked a few standard questions and they had me listen to a phone call, and that was it for the day.
I got called back a couple days later to come in for fingerprinting. I guess because their affiliated with US Bank that their background check is a little more stringent than most. Again, I was there for about 10 minutes and was out the door. And then, a couple days later, I went to a separate facility for the drug test.
And now...I'm headed there today for training. Well, sort of. Officially I'm scheduled to start training on the 21st, but they're wanting me to come in today as a back-up in case someone doesn't show.
So...in a nutshell...I got the job. :-)
Friday, June 20, 2008
Various thingies
So, my sister-in-law (yeah, she's D's, but I'm just gonna start calling her that) and I went to a sort of job interview today. She'd found an ad in the classifieds for a call-center (in-bound only) and we found out that it's actually a temp. agency hiring for a company. So, we got down there aobut 9:35 this morning and started filling out the paperwork. The lady in charge took us back to two cubicle-type rooms to do some testing and said we could finish up the paperstuffs after.
I took a test on call-center skills, 10-key, data entry, MS Outlook, MS Windows 2000, and general typing. It was alright...fairly easy for the most part, but those who know me will understand when I say that my palms were pretty sweaty the whole time and my heart was chuggin' along at a fair pace due to anxiety. But I made it through and obviously didn't die.
Tangent here, but it all ties in:
Yesterday morning, I got up in order to get ready for the original appointment to go to this temp. agency. Due to things with the sister-in-law and what she's been having to deal with, we had to postpone it. As a positive result, though, I was able to go out and help D on a 4 acre project. Unfortunately, about an hour after I got up I started feeling some pain in my back up where my shoulderblade is. It just got worse as the day went on. Then this morning, I realized that it was still a tad sore, but not very bad.
Tie in:
Midway through the testing I was doing this morning, I started feeling the pain coming back with a vengeance. By the time I was on the last couple questions of the last test I could hardly concentrate (though still think I did well on those). When we finally got done with the end interview and out to the car, I was ready to bawl my eyes out it hurt so bad.
Still, stubborn as I am, I went to work tonight....and lasted about 1 hour and 5 minutes before I was asking to go home. Thankfully they had plenty of people to close so I didn't have to feel so guilty.
It's now about 3 hours later and the pain hasn't lessened at all. I'm mainly just trying to ignore it and shift every once in a while to find a less painful position to sit in.
At first I was wondering what the hell could be wrong, but the consensus that I've gotten from some people I've talked to and from my own history, it's most likely just stress. I spent about 6 months feeling like I was dying from intense stomach pain that turned out to be stress. So...try telling someone prone to anxiety and all sorts of the same to not stress....go ahead...try it. *grins*
Anyway, I just hope I get this job. I don't wanna jinx it by explaining how great it will be yet. I'm gonna wait until (fingers crossed) I get the job.
In other news, I'm starting to feel like I've developed multiple personality disorder with this whole two-name thing. So, for those of you who might read this, I'm no longer going by Nikki. All my emails and calls will be from Danielle. Unfortunately it's not so easy at Lowe's, but (again fingers crossed) I won't be working there much longer.
So I guess that's about it for now.
Hope everyone in my state of birth is all well and good.
Danielle
I took a test on call-center skills, 10-key, data entry, MS Outlook, MS Windows 2000, and general typing. It was alright...fairly easy for the most part, but those who know me will understand when I say that my palms were pretty sweaty the whole time and my heart was chuggin' along at a fair pace due to anxiety. But I made it through and obviously didn't die.
Tangent here, but it all ties in:
Yesterday morning, I got up in order to get ready for the original appointment to go to this temp. agency. Due to things with the sister-in-law and what she's been having to deal with, we had to postpone it. As a positive result, though, I was able to go out and help D on a 4 acre project. Unfortunately, about an hour after I got up I started feeling some pain in my back up where my shoulderblade is. It just got worse as the day went on. Then this morning, I realized that it was still a tad sore, but not very bad.
Tie in:
Midway through the testing I was doing this morning, I started feeling the pain coming back with a vengeance. By the time I was on the last couple questions of the last test I could hardly concentrate (though still think I did well on those). When we finally got done with the end interview and out to the car, I was ready to bawl my eyes out it hurt so bad.
Still, stubborn as I am, I went to work tonight....and lasted about 1 hour and 5 minutes before I was asking to go home. Thankfully they had plenty of people to close so I didn't have to feel so guilty.
It's now about 3 hours later and the pain hasn't lessened at all. I'm mainly just trying to ignore it and shift every once in a while to find a less painful position to sit in.
At first I was wondering what the hell could be wrong, but the consensus that I've gotten from some people I've talked to and from my own history, it's most likely just stress. I spent about 6 months feeling like I was dying from intense stomach pain that turned out to be stress. So...try telling someone prone to anxiety and all sorts of the same to not stress....go ahead...try it. *grins*
Anyway, I just hope I get this job. I don't wanna jinx it by explaining how great it will be yet. I'm gonna wait until (fingers crossed) I get the job.
In other news, I'm starting to feel like I've developed multiple personality disorder with this whole two-name thing. So, for those of you who might read this, I'm no longer going by Nikki. All my emails and calls will be from Danielle. Unfortunately it's not so easy at Lowe's, but (again fingers crossed) I won't be working there much longer.
So I guess that's about it for now.
Hope everyone in my state of birth is all well and good.
Danielle
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Ganked from a livejournal I read
Close your eyes....And go back....
Before the Internet or the MAC
Before semi automatics and crack
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo...
Way back.......
I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.
Red light, Green light.
Playing kickball & dodgeball until your porch light came on.
Mother May I?
Red Rover
Hula Hoops
Running through the sprinkler
Happy Meals
Wait......
Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons
Fat Albert, Road Runner, Smurfs, Picture Pages,
G-Force & He-Man, Wonder Woman & Super Man Underoos
Playing Dukes of Hazard
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar
Christmas morning.......
Your first day of school
Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses
Climbing trees
Getting an Ice Cream off the Ice Cream Truck
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers
Jumpin down the steps
Jumpin on the bed.
Pillow fights
Runnin till you were out of breath
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Being tired from playin'....
Your first crush......
Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7Up"in the class room.
Remember that?
I'm not finished yet....
Kool-aid was the drink of summer
Toting your friends on your handle bars
Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school
Class Field Trips
When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got there.
When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance,and another quarter a miracle.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When your parents took you to McDonalds and you were so cool.
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
And some of us are still afraid of em!!!
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say,Yeah, I remember that!
There's nothing like the good old days!
They were good then, and they're good now when we think about them.
Share some of these thoughts with a friend who can relate,
then share it with someonethat missed out on them.
I want to go back to the time when............
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race issue"; meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handledby whoever was the banker in "Monopoly"
Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old, referred to anyone over 20.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sexwas cooties.
Nobody was prettier than Mom.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Abilities were discoveredbecause of a "double-dog-dare"
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling downwas cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate ultimate weapon.
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!!
Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life...I DOUBLE DOG DARE YA!
Gosh that felt good! It is nice to go backand I wish we had the same for our children.
Before the Internet or the MAC
Before semi automatics and crack
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo...
Way back.......
I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.
Red light, Green light.
Playing kickball & dodgeball until your porch light came on.
Mother May I?
Red Rover
Hula Hoops
Running through the sprinkler
Happy Meals
Wait......
Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons
Fat Albert, Road Runner, Smurfs, Picture Pages,
G-Force & He-Man, Wonder Woman & Super Man Underoos
Playing Dukes of Hazard
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar
Christmas morning.......
Your first day of school
Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses
Climbing trees
Getting an Ice Cream off the Ice Cream Truck
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers
Jumpin down the steps
Jumpin on the bed.
Pillow fights
Runnin till you were out of breath
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Being tired from playin'....
Your first crush......
Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7Up"in the class room.
Remember that?
I'm not finished yet....
Kool-aid was the drink of summer
Toting your friends on your handle bars
Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school
Class Field Trips
When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got there.
When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance,and another quarter a miracle.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When your parents took you to McDonalds and you were so cool.
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
And some of us are still afraid of em!!!
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say,Yeah, I remember that!
There's nothing like the good old days!
They were good then, and they're good now when we think about them.
Share some of these thoughts with a friend who can relate,
then share it with someonethat missed out on them.
I want to go back to the time when............
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race issue"; meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handledby whoever was the banker in "Monopoly"
Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old, referred to anyone over 20.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sexwas cooties.
Nobody was prettier than Mom.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Abilities were discoveredbecause of a "double-dog-dare"
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling downwas cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate ultimate weapon.
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!!
Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life...I DOUBLE DOG DARE YA!
Gosh that felt good! It is nice to go backand I wish we had the same for our children.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Seven
Seven things to do before I die
1. Accept who and what i am
2. Decide what i want to be when i grow up
3. Learn how to snowboard
4. Visit Ireland and Scotland
5. Stop biting the inside of my cheeks
6. Write a book
7. Be able to wear a bikini
Seven things I cannot do
1. Trigonometry
2. Sleep straight through the night for a whole week
3. Keep a plant alive for more than a couple weeks
4. Read music
5. Give good directions
6. Play the piano
7. Drive in a nail with only 3 hits of the hammer
Seven things that attracted me to my other half
1. His strength of character
2. His sense of humor
3. His ability to make me feel special
4. His intelligence
5. His ability to make me weak in the knees
6. His patience
7. His ability to make me smile when it's the furthest thing from my mind
Seven things I say most often
1. Nice
2. Whatever you wanna do
3. I love You
4. I'm just in a weird mood
5. I'm sorry
6. Yeah, that's cool
7. Dammit, i knew i forgot something
Seven books I love
1. Interview with the Vampire
2. Beauty's Punishment
3. Watership Down
4. Eragon
5. Harry Potter (any of them)
6. Wizard's First Rule
7. Dragon's Blood
Seven movies I would watch over and over
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Under Siege
4. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
5. The Princess Bride
6. 300
7. Pirates of the Carribean
Seven people I want to join in... I'm not tagging anyone specific, so if you've read it, consider yourself tagged. *winks*
1. Accept who and what i am
2. Decide what i want to be when i grow up
3. Learn how to snowboard
4. Visit Ireland and Scotland
5. Stop biting the inside of my cheeks
6. Write a book
7. Be able to wear a bikini
Seven things I cannot do
1. Trigonometry
2. Sleep straight through the night for a whole week
3. Keep a plant alive for more than a couple weeks
4. Read music
5. Give good directions
6. Play the piano
7. Drive in a nail with only 3 hits of the hammer
Seven things that attracted me to my other half
1. His strength of character
2. His sense of humor
3. His ability to make me feel special
4. His intelligence
5. His ability to make me weak in the knees
6. His patience
7. His ability to make me smile when it's the furthest thing from my mind
Seven things I say most often
1. Nice
2. Whatever you wanna do
3. I love You
4. I'm just in a weird mood
5. I'm sorry
6. Yeah, that's cool
7. Dammit, i knew i forgot something
Seven books I love
1. Interview with the Vampire
2. Beauty's Punishment
3. Watership Down
4. Eragon
5. Harry Potter (any of them)
6. Wizard's First Rule
7. Dragon's Blood
Seven movies I would watch over and over
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Under Siege
4. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
5. The Princess Bride
6. 300
7. Pirates of the Carribean
Seven people I want to join in... I'm not tagging anyone specific, so if you've read it, consider yourself tagged. *winks*
Funny
Q: How many women with PMS does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One!!! ONLY ONE!!!!
And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They'd sit there in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out!! And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the light bulbs despite the fact they've been in the SAME CUPBOARD for the past 13 YEARS! But if they did, by some miracle of God, actually find the bulbs, 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE STUPID LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS DARN HOUSE!
I'm sorry. What was your question?
A: One!!! ONLY ONE!!!!
And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They'd sit there in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out!! And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the light bulbs despite the fact they've been in the SAME CUPBOARD for the past 13 YEARS! But if they did, by some miracle of God, actually find the bulbs, 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE STUPID LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS DARN HOUSE!
I'm sorry. What was your question?
Monday, June 09, 2008
new job
No, I haven't gotten a new job yet, but I dropped off an application today for a place called Brookhaven Retreat. As far as I know, it's a place that houses women who have been victims of abusive relationships and right down the road from there is another place (can't remember the name) that has a connection with Brookhaven, but deals more with housing children. I've applied for a housekeeping job that's supposed to pay like $10.50 an hour plus benefits. So keep your fingers crossed for me.
If I don't get that, it's probably off to Food City or some such thing. But, I heard that they start at around $7.50 an hour which is a pretty big pay cut from what I'm making now...although, it would be full time and I'd still get benefits.
I'd just rather have the housekeeping position.
If I don't get that, it's probably off to Food City or some such thing. But, I heard that they start at around $7.50 an hour which is a pretty big pay cut from what I'm making now...although, it would be full time and I'd still get benefits.
I'd just rather have the housekeeping position.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Camping
Well, camping was interesting, to say the least.
D and I left around 2pm or so and got to the campsite around 3:30. It only took us about 30 minutes to set everything up and then we went driving down the road to look for some more wood. We'd brought some with, but knew we'd need more. D was able to bring his dad's small chainsaw so that made it tons better than the other times we've gone.
We got back with around 7 big logs and a bunch of smaller stuff to fuel the fire. Basically the rest of the day was just sitting around drinking beers and playing with the fire. We weren't really motivated to do anything major for dinner so we just put together a cold sandwich and had cheetos with them. A little bit later D decided that we should go driving so he tossed me the keys. I was a bit nervous, but it was pretty late by then so it was almost guaranteed there'd be no other cars on the road. I drove us around for close to an hour and then headed back to the campsite for bed.
The next morning we got up and stoked the fire again. We'd brought some breakfast-type food (even though neither of us really eat breakfast). While D toasted bread and Cajun roast beef on the griddle, I mixed up bacon in scrambled eggs (with some of the camping spice he made). We made sandwiches out of everything using the toast and put some cheese on it...and again had cheetos with it. :-)
Probably around 10am or so we decided to take a short nap, but ended up not waking up until close to 4pm. We sat around for a couple more hours and decided that we'd need some more smaller stuff to keep the fire going. It was getting close to dark so we put together hobo dinners and stuck them in the cooler while we headed out. I drove again and it was quite different in the daylight. Still didn't meet any other vehicles so that was good.
We cooked up hobo dinners close to 9pm or so and they were oh so delish.
I don't know if I've mentioned what hobo dinners are, but they're really easy to make. It's ground it's around 1/3 lb. ground beef, one apple, 1-1/2 small potatoes, about 1/2 of a large onion, like 1-2 handfulls of sliced carrots, and a very small amount of butter. You wrap all that in aluminum foil and cook over the embers (or coals) for around 25 minutes each side. So that was our dinner that night.
I wanna say we crashed close to 11pm, but I just couldn't fall asleep. It was really stuffy in the tent and I just couldn't get comfortable. I think I'd just fallen asleep for maybe a half hour or so when I was woken up by some idiots driving by our camp and honking their horn. We'd left the puppy off her lead for the night so D worried she was in the road and not moving. When he went to check on her, she was laying by the back of our truck so it turned out they were just being stupid (probably drunk). They drove by like 2 more times and the last time actually started pulling into the campsite. D grabbed his pistol and got dressed, but by the time he got out there they were gone. He thinks they were some locals that decided to camp last minute on a Saturday night and were pissed to find someone in "their" usual camp spot. Needless to say neither of us felt much like trying to go back to sleep. When D checked the time it was 3am.
We again stoked up the fire, made some coffee, and sat around trying to wake up. We'd decided that once it got light out we'd made burgers, but probably close to 5:45-6:00 we noticed flashing in the sky. We watched it for a bit, thinking it might be just heat lightning, but when the thunder started we figured that at the very least we could pack up the tent (since we were leaving later that day anyways) and be ready in case it did start raining. It was a good thing because pretty much just as we got the tent loaded it started lightly sprinkling and the thunder was getting louder.
Everything was packed up and we were on the road by 6:30...and got to laugh at all the other poor saps who hadn't been up for 3 hours already and had to pack up in the rain.
We got back home close to 7:30, took showers, stayed up for a couple more hours and ate, then crashed until about 4pm.
Overall it was a fun experience. I didn't get to operate the chainsaw (which was fine by me), but I got pretty damn adept at using the axe and machetes. It was good cuz it gave D more of a chance to relax and not have to get up every few minutes to tend the fire.
I'm definitely looking forward to the next trip, but I'll be fine if it doesn't happen for a little while at least. :-)
D and I left around 2pm or so and got to the campsite around 3:30. It only took us about 30 minutes to set everything up and then we went driving down the road to look for some more wood. We'd brought some with, but knew we'd need more. D was able to bring his dad's small chainsaw so that made it tons better than the other times we've gone.
We got back with around 7 big logs and a bunch of smaller stuff to fuel the fire. Basically the rest of the day was just sitting around drinking beers and playing with the fire. We weren't really motivated to do anything major for dinner so we just put together a cold sandwich and had cheetos with them. A little bit later D decided that we should go driving so he tossed me the keys. I was a bit nervous, but it was pretty late by then so it was almost guaranteed there'd be no other cars on the road. I drove us around for close to an hour and then headed back to the campsite for bed.
The next morning we got up and stoked the fire again. We'd brought some breakfast-type food (even though neither of us really eat breakfast). While D toasted bread and Cajun roast beef on the griddle, I mixed up bacon in scrambled eggs (with some of the camping spice he made). We made sandwiches out of everything using the toast and put some cheese on it...and again had cheetos with it. :-)
Probably around 10am or so we decided to take a short nap, but ended up not waking up until close to 4pm. We sat around for a couple more hours and decided that we'd need some more smaller stuff to keep the fire going. It was getting close to dark so we put together hobo dinners and stuck them in the cooler while we headed out. I drove again and it was quite different in the daylight. Still didn't meet any other vehicles so that was good.
We cooked up hobo dinners close to 9pm or so and they were oh so delish.
I don't know if I've mentioned what hobo dinners are, but they're really easy to make. It's ground it's around 1/3 lb. ground beef, one apple, 1-1/2 small potatoes, about 1/2 of a large onion, like 1-2 handfulls of sliced carrots, and a very small amount of butter. You wrap all that in aluminum foil and cook over the embers (or coals) for around 25 minutes each side. So that was our dinner that night.
I wanna say we crashed close to 11pm, but I just couldn't fall asleep. It was really stuffy in the tent and I just couldn't get comfortable. I think I'd just fallen asleep for maybe a half hour or so when I was woken up by some idiots driving by our camp and honking their horn. We'd left the puppy off her lead for the night so D worried she was in the road and not moving. When he went to check on her, she was laying by the back of our truck so it turned out they were just being stupid (probably drunk). They drove by like 2 more times and the last time actually started pulling into the campsite. D grabbed his pistol and got dressed, but by the time he got out there they were gone. He thinks they were some locals that decided to camp last minute on a Saturday night and were pissed to find someone in "their" usual camp spot. Needless to say neither of us felt much like trying to go back to sleep. When D checked the time it was 3am.
We again stoked up the fire, made some coffee, and sat around trying to wake up. We'd decided that once it got light out we'd made burgers, but probably close to 5:45-6:00 we noticed flashing in the sky. We watched it for a bit, thinking it might be just heat lightning, but when the thunder started we figured that at the very least we could pack up the tent (since we were leaving later that day anyways) and be ready in case it did start raining. It was a good thing because pretty much just as we got the tent loaded it started lightly sprinkling and the thunder was getting louder.
Everything was packed up and we were on the road by 6:30...and got to laugh at all the other poor saps who hadn't been up for 3 hours already and had to pack up in the rain.
We got back home close to 7:30, took showers, stayed up for a couple more hours and ate, then crashed until about 4pm.
Overall it was a fun experience. I didn't get to operate the chainsaw (which was fine by me), but I got pretty damn adept at using the axe and machetes. It was good cuz it gave D more of a chance to relax and not have to get up every few minutes to tend the fire.
I'm definitely looking forward to the next trip, but I'll be fine if it doesn't happen for a little while at least. :-)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
One more thing
Something I forgot to mention in my last post...
One of the things my mom got D and I for Christmas was a food smoker. I can't remember the brand off the top of my head, but it's very cool.
Last night D and I used it for the first time and made Salmon steaks in it. We added a little bit of salt, pepper, and dill weed and it only took about 15 minutes to cook. It was oh so tasty...the best fish I've ever had I dare say. We made brown rice and a vegetable medley with sugar snap peas, red pepper, and potatoes as go withs.
So...yeah...thanks mom! :-)
One of the things my mom got D and I for Christmas was a food smoker. I can't remember the brand off the top of my head, but it's very cool.
Last night D and I used it for the first time and made Salmon steaks in it. We added a little bit of salt, pepper, and dill weed and it only took about 15 minutes to cook. It was oh so tasty...the best fish I've ever had I dare say. We made brown rice and a vegetable medley with sugar snap peas, red pepper, and potatoes as go withs.
So...yeah...thanks mom! :-)
New things
Well, it's been over a month since I last posted, but not too many things have been going on. The main thing has been that D and I have gotten our downstairs "kitchen" useable.
After getting all of his dad's stuff out of there we brought down our microwave, toaster oven, and other odds and ends. We cleaned out the dresser we've been storing down there, put contact paper down and that's now our dishes/dry goods "cabinet" and it works pretty dang well. After that, D got our new sink hooked up in the bathroom down there. It's very big and very deep...more like a sink you'd find in a workshop or something, but it's awesome and we've been doing a fairly good job of keeping it dish free.
After all that it was time to get the oven hooked up. D's dad helped A LOT. What was supposed to be a 2 hour job, though, turned into a 7 hour job. We just kept hitting roadblock after roadblock. But, 7 hours and 3 trips to Lowe's later, we got it in (and had baked potatoes that night). And the very next day made homemade pizza (on a premade crust).
So, after doing all of that, D and I realized that we were fast running out of freezer space for meat and leftovers and such and decided that, instead of setting up office space down there, we moved the desk out that we'd been using and moved our old deep freeze in. Now we've got about 10+ pounds of meat in it, frozen vegetables, a frozen pizza, extra bread, etc. etc.
I guess the next step is to get the leak fixed in our upstairs shower.
Change of topic:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D has decided to get rid of his land surveying business. The housing market is steadily dropping off and there just isn't enough work to be had for one person trying to build a business. So he's been looking at getting a full-time job somewhere. Nothing is for sure yet, but he's been looking on Monster.com and so far has found about 9 different jobs (using his surveying license in some form or other) in Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Las Vegas, and Colorado. So the ways it's looking, if that's the route he decides to go, it'll involve us moving.
I'm looking to find a new job as well in the meantime. I'm just so over Lowe's and there's no chance of me getting full-time work there and I'm needing the hours and benefits. It would've been nice since, y'know, I already work there. But it's not happening.
Um...what else...oh, we're going camping tomorrow! Yay!! We were gonna go last weekend, but being Memorial weekend we would've likely had to drive all the way into NC to find a spot and D's truck is still acting up. But, surprise surprise, I was given a morning shift tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday off so he's gonna try and get the truck all loaded and ready while I'm at work and then we'll grab a quick bite for lunch and we're off. It's supposed to be around 80 degrees tomorrow so I see some river swimming in the plans.
That reminds me, I need to finish washing dishes and getting the laundry ready to pack. And I'm already starting to feel like a new mom leaving the baby with a sitter for the first time. I tried to convince D to let us take the Calli kitten with and get a harness for her, but she's still too young and scared of the outdoors. But, his sister-in-law has four cats so she's gonna feed Calli while we're gone.
That's all for now.
Ciao
After getting all of his dad's stuff out of there we brought down our microwave, toaster oven, and other odds and ends. We cleaned out the dresser we've been storing down there, put contact paper down and that's now our dishes/dry goods "cabinet" and it works pretty dang well. After that, D got our new sink hooked up in the bathroom down there. It's very big and very deep...more like a sink you'd find in a workshop or something, but it's awesome and we've been doing a fairly good job of keeping it dish free.
After all that it was time to get the oven hooked up. D's dad helped A LOT. What was supposed to be a 2 hour job, though, turned into a 7 hour job. We just kept hitting roadblock after roadblock. But, 7 hours and 3 trips to Lowe's later, we got it in (and had baked potatoes that night). And the very next day made homemade pizza (on a premade crust).
So, after doing all of that, D and I realized that we were fast running out of freezer space for meat and leftovers and such and decided that, instead of setting up office space down there, we moved the desk out that we'd been using and moved our old deep freeze in. Now we've got about 10+ pounds of meat in it, frozen vegetables, a frozen pizza, extra bread, etc. etc.
I guess the next step is to get the leak fixed in our upstairs shower.
Change of topic:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D has decided to get rid of his land surveying business. The housing market is steadily dropping off and there just isn't enough work to be had for one person trying to build a business. So he's been looking at getting a full-time job somewhere. Nothing is for sure yet, but he's been looking on Monster.com and so far has found about 9 different jobs (using his surveying license in some form or other) in Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Las Vegas, and Colorado. So the ways it's looking, if that's the route he decides to go, it'll involve us moving.
I'm looking to find a new job as well in the meantime. I'm just so over Lowe's and there's no chance of me getting full-time work there and I'm needing the hours and benefits. It would've been nice since, y'know, I already work there. But it's not happening.
Um...what else...oh, we're going camping tomorrow! Yay!! We were gonna go last weekend, but being Memorial weekend we would've likely had to drive all the way into NC to find a spot and D's truck is still acting up. But, surprise surprise, I was given a morning shift tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday off so he's gonna try and get the truck all loaded and ready while I'm at work and then we'll grab a quick bite for lunch and we're off. It's supposed to be around 80 degrees tomorrow so I see some river swimming in the plans.
That reminds me, I need to finish washing dishes and getting the laundry ready to pack. And I'm already starting to feel like a new mom leaving the baby with a sitter for the first time. I tried to convince D to let us take the Calli kitten with and get a harness for her, but she's still too young and scared of the outdoors. But, his sister-in-law has four cats so she's gonna feed Calli while we're gone.
That's all for now.
Ciao
Friday, April 11, 2008
Update
Just an icebreaker (heh, irony just realized) to this post... it's been at least 65 degrees here for the past two weeks. :-)
Anyway, about a week or so after my family visit, D's and my refridgerator went out. Thankfully we hadn't just made a big shopping trip, but the food we did lose still hurt. Interestingly enough, as we were parked outside the bank, ready to withdraw money for a new fridge, D got a call from his dad saying that D's aunt had a co-worker with an old fridge they were giving away. They delivered it from over an hour away. Completely incredible considering we were about to spend $500+ dollars on one.
Other than that, things have been pretty low-key around here. Work has been pretty steady for D and I've got a small increase in my hours at Lowe's. I'm still not liking it there very much, but there's not much else I can do right now. But, all in all, it's cool being able to work with enough time to help D out with the stuff he has to do.
Oh, one of the boxes of my stuff that my mom brought down turned out to be my Audiovox 5-disc changer. We've been without a stereo in the room for almost a year when D's surround sound went out. We borrowed a couple speakers from one of his brothers and have it working perfectly now. It'll be nice not having to have the tv on to listen to a cd now (have been using the dvd player when desperate).
Um...what else...another thing my mom brought down was a GT Xpress 101. I thought it was just a sandwich maker like what I grew up having...y'know, the square spaces just big enough for a full slice of bread sandwich and then it crimps the bread and makes it into a pocket of sorts. This one...not like that, but WAY cooler. We haven't done a ton of things in it so far and you can only do a half sandwich at a time if two people are eating but it's so incredible. The first couple times we used it we made roast beef sandwiches with onion, green pepper, and swiss cheese (yummy!). Then last night we made what I guess could be called chicken quesadillas. We'd had chicken left-over grilled chicken so we sliced that up, put onions on it, and cheese (D had swiss and I used american cheese). The second ones had bacon added and were oh so delicious.
I'm really wanting to try omelets in there, but we have yet to make another trip to the store for ham and shredded cheese. Oh the possibilities of this wonderful invention. *grins*
Anyway, about a week or so after my family visit, D's and my refridgerator went out. Thankfully we hadn't just made a big shopping trip, but the food we did lose still hurt. Interestingly enough, as we were parked outside the bank, ready to withdraw money for a new fridge, D got a call from his dad saying that D's aunt had a co-worker with an old fridge they were giving away. They delivered it from over an hour away. Completely incredible considering we were about to spend $500+ dollars on one.
Other than that, things have been pretty low-key around here. Work has been pretty steady for D and I've got a small increase in my hours at Lowe's. I'm still not liking it there very much, but there's not much else I can do right now. But, all in all, it's cool being able to work with enough time to help D out with the stuff he has to do.
Oh, one of the boxes of my stuff that my mom brought down turned out to be my Audiovox 5-disc changer. We've been without a stereo in the room for almost a year when D's surround sound went out. We borrowed a couple speakers from one of his brothers and have it working perfectly now. It'll be nice not having to have the tv on to listen to a cd now (have been using the dvd player when desperate).
Um...what else...another thing my mom brought down was a GT Xpress 101. I thought it was just a sandwich maker like what I grew up having...y'know, the square spaces just big enough for a full slice of bread sandwich and then it crimps the bread and makes it into a pocket of sorts. This one...not like that, but WAY cooler. We haven't done a ton of things in it so far and you can only do a half sandwich at a time if two people are eating but it's so incredible. The first couple times we used it we made roast beef sandwiches with onion, green pepper, and swiss cheese (yummy!). Then last night we made what I guess could be called chicken quesadillas. We'd had chicken left-over grilled chicken so we sliced that up, put onions on it, and cheese (D had swiss and I used american cheese). The second ones had bacon added and were oh so delicious.
I'm really wanting to try omelets in there, but we have yet to make another trip to the store for ham and shredded cheese. Oh the possibilities of this wonderful invention. *grins*
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Pictures on flickr
I finally posted the pictures from our Cade's Cove trip while the fam was here. It's a scenic route kinda drive in a part of the Smoky Mt. National Park. So...enjoy. Here's the link again if you weren't able to find it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22373699@N05/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22373699@N05/
Forgot to mention...
I got a new phone and local number while my fam was here. So...if by some stretch of the imagination someone wanted to call me at my old number, they'd reach my sister...not me.
I'm all localfied now. :-D
I'm all localfied now. :-D
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Prolly a long post
I'll try to make this as "nutshell-like" as possible, but there was a lot that went on this past week.
So...my mom and I had it planned to where she, my sister, and brother would come down for a visit. Well, the week before it was supposed to go down, she called and said it wouldn't work due to owing money for taxes and that it would have to be pushed back to the summertime. I was understandably dissapointed, but since they weren't coming down I decided that our cleaning on the room could wait a little bit longer.
As it worked out, mom called the Thursday before they had been planning the trip and said that she decided to come on down anyway. :-) *squeal* I was so excited that the reality of all the cleaning that needed to be done didn't hit for a while. Then I realized that what D and I had had a week to do, now had to be crammed into three days of intensive work. But we got it done and D was a huge help. I was scheduled to work Friday and Saturday night so he continued cleaning Friday night on his own and I ended up calling in on Saturday because there was still so much to do.
Anyway, after about an 18 hour drive (minus a nap and pit stops) they arrived. D and I met them at the motel and hung out for a bit, but it was pretty late.
Everyone got together Sunday afternoon for Easter dinner/lunch. It was nervewracking for both D and I to say the least. I know that probably sounds bad, but you have to understand...family meeting family for the first time after I've already lived here for almost 2 years... with his family already having developed their view of who I was... But it turned out very well. At the end of the evening it was D, his mom, my family, and me talking in the livingroom. I think that is the longest time to date that D and I have spent in the house during a family gathering. Those of you who know me know that I'm not by nature a social person...this visit definitely pushed the limits of that (in a good way).
The next day was shopping day. And again...the longest time I've EVER spent shopping and even though it was fun, it was a little bit more fun than I ever want to have again. 7 hours (not counting drive and meal time) of shopping is about 5.5 hours more than I spend on a good day. It was mom, Amy, Giggy (D's mom), and I. We left their motel at about 10:30am and got back about 7pm. My feet haven't been that sore from just walking and shopping for years. But, like I said, it was cool. I got a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt, some socks for D, and a few other goodies that were just for the fun of it.
Tuesday was mainly just a hang out day. The fam came over while D was out working and we watched I Am Legend. I'd already seen it but had no problem whatsoever watching it again. It's that good. D picked up Buddy's BBQ for lunch on his way home and we all hung out for a little bit longer before they all went back to the motel at around 6:30 or so.
On Wednesday... D, my fam, and I drove up to a place called Cade's Cove in Townsend, TN. We took both my mom's and my car (me with mom and Amy and brother Matt with D). It tickled me to no end hearing their ooohs and ahhhs while we were still on the backroads driving there. I think I took around 54 pictures (which will be posted on my flickr page soon), but I'm sure mom and Amy took close to 100 each.
After Cade's Cove we drove to a place called Lookout Rock. We stayed in the main parking area which had an amazing view in itself, but there was also a .5 mile path that went up to the actual overlook area. With my mom's asthma and such, we didn't end up going on that trail, but D and I are planning on doing that within the next week or so. We ended the night with Pizza Hut in the house with D's parents.
Thursday, Mom picked me up with her other urchins and we went to Big Lots. I got a few things and she bought some stuff for her townhouse. It was another long shopping trip (about 5 hours or so) which ended in a get together of sorts with burgers for dinner. It was their last night in town so everyone said their goodbyes. D and I were meeting them for breakfast in the morning, but it was still kind of a sad time.
We met up at Cracker Barrel around 9:45, ate and shopped a little bit in their store, and said our goodbyes around noon. Like I said above, they got home safely around 4am. :-)
My mom's wantin' to come down in the fall for the leaf changes and D and I are talking about visiting up there for Christmas, but it's still all up in the air for now.
We didn't get to do all the things we wanted, but there are definitely gonna be more visits. I miss 'em too much for there not to be. :-)
Well, guess that's all for now...like I said, I'll be posting a ton of pictures on Flickr. The link is in a fairly recent past post if yer wantin' it.
Ciao
So...my mom and I had it planned to where she, my sister, and brother would come down for a visit. Well, the week before it was supposed to go down, she called and said it wouldn't work due to owing money for taxes and that it would have to be pushed back to the summertime. I was understandably dissapointed, but since they weren't coming down I decided that our cleaning on the room could wait a little bit longer.
As it worked out, mom called the Thursday before they had been planning the trip and said that she decided to come on down anyway. :-) *squeal* I was so excited that the reality of all the cleaning that needed to be done didn't hit for a while. Then I realized that what D and I had had a week to do, now had to be crammed into three days of intensive work. But we got it done and D was a huge help. I was scheduled to work Friday and Saturday night so he continued cleaning Friday night on his own and I ended up calling in on Saturday because there was still so much to do.
Anyway, after about an 18 hour drive (minus a nap and pit stops) they arrived. D and I met them at the motel and hung out for a bit, but it was pretty late.
Everyone got together Sunday afternoon for Easter dinner/lunch. It was nervewracking for both D and I to say the least. I know that probably sounds bad, but you have to understand...family meeting family for the first time after I've already lived here for almost 2 years... with his family already having developed their view of who I was... But it turned out very well. At the end of the evening it was D, his mom, my family, and me talking in the livingroom. I think that is the longest time to date that D and I have spent in the house during a family gathering. Those of you who know me know that I'm not by nature a social person...this visit definitely pushed the limits of that (in a good way).
The next day was shopping day. And again...the longest time I've EVER spent shopping and even though it was fun, it was a little bit more fun than I ever want to have again. 7 hours (not counting drive and meal time) of shopping is about 5.5 hours more than I spend on a good day. It was mom, Amy, Giggy (D's mom), and I. We left their motel at about 10:30am and got back about 7pm. My feet haven't been that sore from just walking and shopping for years. But, like I said, it was cool. I got a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt, some socks for D, and a few other goodies that were just for the fun of it.
Tuesday was mainly just a hang out day. The fam came over while D was out working and we watched I Am Legend. I'd already seen it but had no problem whatsoever watching it again. It's that good. D picked up Buddy's BBQ for lunch on his way home and we all hung out for a little bit longer before they all went back to the motel at around 6:30 or so.
On Wednesday... D, my fam, and I drove up to a place called Cade's Cove in Townsend, TN. We took both my mom's and my car (me with mom and Amy and brother Matt with D). It tickled me to no end hearing their ooohs and ahhhs while we were still on the backroads driving there. I think I took around 54 pictures (which will be posted on my flickr page soon), but I'm sure mom and Amy took close to 100 each.
After Cade's Cove we drove to a place called Lookout Rock. We stayed in the main parking area which had an amazing view in itself, but there was also a .5 mile path that went up to the actual overlook area. With my mom's asthma and such, we didn't end up going on that trail, but D and I are planning on doing that within the next week or so. We ended the night with Pizza Hut in the house with D's parents.
Thursday, Mom picked me up with her other urchins and we went to Big Lots. I got a few things and she bought some stuff for her townhouse. It was another long shopping trip (about 5 hours or so) which ended in a get together of sorts with burgers for dinner. It was their last night in town so everyone said their goodbyes. D and I were meeting them for breakfast in the morning, but it was still kind of a sad time.
We met up at Cracker Barrel around 9:45, ate and shopped a little bit in their store, and said our goodbyes around noon. Like I said above, they got home safely around 4am. :-)
My mom's wantin' to come down in the fall for the leaf changes and D and I are talking about visiting up there for Christmas, but it's still all up in the air for now.
We didn't get to do all the things we wanted, but there are definitely gonna be more visits. I miss 'em too much for there not to be. :-)
Well, guess that's all for now...like I said, I'll be posting a ton of pictures on Flickr. The link is in a fairly recent past post if yer wantin' it.
Ciao
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Visit from the fam
I haven't really had a whole lot of time to post before now, but my mom, sister, and brother came down for a visit this past week. In fact, I think they made it home around 4 o'clock this A.M (central time).
I promise I'll post more on it later, but I'm heading out right now and have to work tonight. So...laters.
I promise I'll post more on it later, but I'm heading out right now and have to work tonight. So...laters.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Yesterday was a good day
Early yesterday evening D and I were sitting out on the deck and he started singing American Pie by Don McLean. We decided to find it on youtube and sang along with it. He ended up finding another video someone had made with information on the meaning behind the song.
I never really understood who he was talking about, but according to the person that made the video (and Wikipedia), McLean was talking primarily about the plane crash in '59 that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. When I was growing up, I'd thought that Buddy Holly had taken the Big Bopper's place on the plane, but turned out that it was one of Holly's band members (guitarist I think) that lost the coin toss and had to ride the bus. Guess who....... None other than Waylon Jennings.
Anyway, that was just an interesting tidbit of info. I found out.
D and I ended up listening to music again last night for about 4 hours or so. I'd talked to one of his brothers about a guy named Mark Knopfler. I haven't really thought I'd like him because the brother described him as lighter than the stuff I normally listen to. What I didn't realize was that he composed the entire soundtrack to The Princess Bride. In addition, D played me some Dire Straits (of which he's the lead singer/composer) and I really liked it. Unfortunately that means I've gotta kind of eat my words and tell the brother that I do in a way, sort of like Mark Knopfler.
But regardless of that...I do not want my MTV.
I never really understood who he was talking about, but according to the person that made the video (and Wikipedia), McLean was talking primarily about the plane crash in '59 that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. When I was growing up, I'd thought that Buddy Holly had taken the Big Bopper's place on the plane, but turned out that it was one of Holly's band members (guitarist I think) that lost the coin toss and had to ride the bus. Guess who....... None other than Waylon Jennings.
Anyway, that was just an interesting tidbit of info. I found out.
D and I ended up listening to music again last night for about 4 hours or so. I'd talked to one of his brothers about a guy named Mark Knopfler. I haven't really thought I'd like him because the brother described him as lighter than the stuff I normally listen to. What I didn't realize was that he composed the entire soundtrack to The Princess Bride. In addition, D played me some Dire Straits (of which he's the lead singer/composer) and I really liked it. Unfortunately that means I've gotta kind of eat my words and tell the brother that I do in a way, sort of like Mark Knopfler.
But regardless of that...I do not want my MTV.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Snow? In Tennessee??
Yup, that's right. It started late last night and continued on into this morning. It's stopped at the moment, but we're supposed to be getting more later this afternoon. At the moment we've gotten about 2 inches. There are a couple more pics on my dreammaster1984 flickr account that show the snow.
The above picture is the sight that greeted me when I stepped out on the deck this morning. That's the view of the yard between where D and I live and his Papaw's old house where his brother and sister-in-law live now.
I've been waiting for this for the last year and a half! :-) I just hope we get more.
Friday, February 22, 2008
South Minneapolis visits South Knoxville
D and I were heading to a little diner/gas station here for a bite of dinner before going to Taylor's to bottle the beer. As we pulled into the parking lot, I saw a cop car, but didn't think much of it until I noticed that the only open spot was next to another cop car. Odd, but no big.
We sat there for a minute seeing it was crowded and debating on going somewhere else when a guy that had been standing around came and knocked on the window.
Apparently (and I got the real version later on), an 18 year old guy ran into his girlfriend's ex-husband. Whatever happened it made him come to the diner (where we were going and where the girlfriend works) with a gun. He threatened a customer with the gun, but somehow it was gotten away from him. He then went out to his vehicle, came back in, and cut his own throat. In the version we heard originally, the guy died, but he ended up getting rushed to the hospital and the cut was non-life threatening.
But when we got there, they had the whole place locked down and as we were leaving yet another cop car pulled in.
It's crazy because Taylor's wife never goes there and she just happened to stop there probably an hour or so before this went on.
But, D and I are obviously alright and no one but the kid got hurt.
On another topic, we got the first 5 gallons of beer bottled. We've got 2 more 5 gallon buckets to bottle, but it got too late to finish tonight so we're gonna go back over there tomorrow.
I didn't taste any of what we've made yet, but Taylor found a couple bottles of beer he'd made like a year ago. It does end up going bad so I was a little hesitant to drink any, but I did and it tasted oh so delicious. :-)
Well, that was my night.
We sat there for a minute seeing it was crowded and debating on going somewhere else when a guy that had been standing around came and knocked on the window.
Apparently (and I got the real version later on), an 18 year old guy ran into his girlfriend's ex-husband. Whatever happened it made him come to the diner (where we were going and where the girlfriend works) with a gun. He threatened a customer with the gun, but somehow it was gotten away from him. He then went out to his vehicle, came back in, and cut his own throat. In the version we heard originally, the guy died, but he ended up getting rushed to the hospital and the cut was non-life threatening.
But when we got there, they had the whole place locked down and as we were leaving yet another cop car pulled in.
It's crazy because Taylor's wife never goes there and she just happened to stop there probably an hour or so before this went on.
But, D and I are obviously alright and no one but the kid got hurt.
On another topic, we got the first 5 gallons of beer bottled. We've got 2 more 5 gallon buckets to bottle, but it got too late to finish tonight so we're gonna go back over there tomorrow.
I didn't taste any of what we've made yet, but Taylor found a couple bottles of beer he'd made like a year ago. It does end up going bad so I was a little hesitant to drink any, but I did and it tasted oh so delicious. :-)
Well, that was my night.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
P.S. to the previous post
If I told you Lynyrd Skynyrd made me cry, would you believe me?
Cuz they did. :-p
Cuz they did. :-p
Expanding horizons
Okay so maybe that's a little dramatic, but I couldn't think of anything better for a subject line.
One really awesome thing about D and I is that occasionally we'll get into a particular mood and will end up spending hours just listening to different music. That's how I learned to really like Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, (I already liked The Eagles, but hadn't heard much of them), and Tool (among various other artists).
So anyway, a couple nights ago, D and I had another music session. Mainly it was Metallica and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I'd already heard Metallica a bit and own the Garage Inc. 2 disc set, but I didn't realize just how much I'd missed out on. Mainly, Metallica's Black album. Holy... Did you know they sold around 22 million copies of that cd?
D found a lyrics site online so we were able to read the lyrics as the cd played and oh my word. No wonder parents thought they were a bad influence. *grins* Lars has kickass guitar solos by the way. :-)
So I've found a new appreciation and liking for Metallica's music. Last night I listened to Master of Puppets by them while playing battlegrounds in World of Warcraft. Muy Bueno! Oh so much fun. By the way, Metallica ended up doing a concert using the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Oh. My. God. It's so...just wow. I'm planning on either getting the dvd or the cd for D's birthday. He used to have the dvd, but it got borrowed and never returned. :-(
Oh, and I grew up knowing about the whole deal of people holding up lighters at concerts, but never understood why or what started it. Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird. Very, very good song. Incredible group. Junkie is a pretty interesting song, too and I like Tuesday's Gone.
Anyway, so I'm slowly but surely expanding my musical tastes. It's quite the experience.
In other news, something I forgot to mention back when it started. It's probably been close to a month ago now. D and I got invited over to his friend's (Taylor) house. Taylor and D used to work together and still keep closely in touch with each other. Anyway, D and Taylor also like to brew beer. D and I had done it once back in like August of last year, but haven't really had the means to do it since. Taylor is a brewing fiend so he had a ton of stuff to play around with.
So, D and I went over there and helped with the brewing while Taylor made us and his family homemade pizza (right down to homemade dough). Every time D and I would step outside for a minute and come back in, the house would be filled with the nutty, chocolatey smell of the beer we were making. And, hopefully tonight is when we'll be going over there to bottle it up. Unfortunately I think it's still gotta sit in the bottles for another week or so before it'll be good to drink. And, if I remember correctly, we'll be getting about 80 20oz bottles of the stuff (that's only about 1/3 of what we made). I'm soooooo excited!
We were supposed to go over there last Sunday, but D and I were right in the middle of our icky sicky time and so were Taylor and his kids. Oh well, what can ya do?
I'll let y'all know how the beer tastes. :-)
Ciao
One really awesome thing about D and I is that occasionally we'll get into a particular mood and will end up spending hours just listening to different music. That's how I learned to really like Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, (I already liked The Eagles, but hadn't heard much of them), and Tool (among various other artists).
So anyway, a couple nights ago, D and I had another music session. Mainly it was Metallica and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I'd already heard Metallica a bit and own the Garage Inc. 2 disc set, but I didn't realize just how much I'd missed out on. Mainly, Metallica's Black album. Holy... Did you know they sold around 22 million copies of that cd?
D found a lyrics site online so we were able to read the lyrics as the cd played and oh my word. No wonder parents thought they were a bad influence. *grins* Lars has kickass guitar solos by the way. :-)
So I've found a new appreciation and liking for Metallica's music. Last night I listened to Master of Puppets by them while playing battlegrounds in World of Warcraft. Muy Bueno! Oh so much fun. By the way, Metallica ended up doing a concert using the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Oh. My. God. It's so...just wow. I'm planning on either getting the dvd or the cd for D's birthday. He used to have the dvd, but it got borrowed and never returned. :-(
Oh, and I grew up knowing about the whole deal of people holding up lighters at concerts, but never understood why or what started it. Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird. Very, very good song. Incredible group. Junkie is a pretty interesting song, too and I like Tuesday's Gone.
Anyway, so I'm slowly but surely expanding my musical tastes. It's quite the experience.
In other news, something I forgot to mention back when it started. It's probably been close to a month ago now. D and I got invited over to his friend's (Taylor) house. Taylor and D used to work together and still keep closely in touch with each other. Anyway, D and Taylor also like to brew beer. D and I had done it once back in like August of last year, but haven't really had the means to do it since. Taylor is a brewing fiend so he had a ton of stuff to play around with.
So, D and I went over there and helped with the brewing while Taylor made us and his family homemade pizza (right down to homemade dough). Every time D and I would step outside for a minute and come back in, the house would be filled with the nutty, chocolatey smell of the beer we were making. And, hopefully tonight is when we'll be going over there to bottle it up. Unfortunately I think it's still gotta sit in the bottles for another week or so before it'll be good to drink. And, if I remember correctly, we'll be getting about 80 20oz bottles of the stuff (that's only about 1/3 of what we made). I'm soooooo excited!
We were supposed to go over there last Sunday, but D and I were right in the middle of our icky sicky time and so were Taylor and his kids. Oh well, what can ya do?
I'll let y'all know how the beer tastes. :-)
Ciao
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sickness
It's been going around. One of the girls I work with went home early on tuesday having flu stuff going on. D got sick tuesday night and on into wednesday and a little on thursday. Two more people I work with went home early on Friday. Then I got it Saturday morning. I started feeling nauseous about 20 min. before having to be at work, but it was obviously too late to call in and I didn't really think too much about it, but it just got worse after being there for about an hour.
By the time I got out of there at noon I was seriously out of it. I'd already emptied my stomach once while at work, but there were no extra people so I had to stay. D and I picked up a few things at the grocery store on the way home and then it was straight to bed for me. I'd gotten some gatorade after work to replenish all the fluids and nutrients I was losing and it, and water, were the only things I could keep down.
At the risk of TMI, here's a tip: If you're throw-uppy sick...fruit punch gatorade is the best thing to drink because it makes everything taste like fruit punch on the way back up.
So...yeah. The last few days have been hell for D and me health-wise...oh...and this place is a wreck. But, we had burgers last night and I was able to keep it all down so I think I'm about to kick this thing. Yay...just in time for work tonight. :-p
By the time I got out of there at noon I was seriously out of it. I'd already emptied my stomach once while at work, but there were no extra people so I had to stay. D and I picked up a few things at the grocery store on the way home and then it was straight to bed for me. I'd gotten some gatorade after work to replenish all the fluids and nutrients I was losing and it, and water, were the only things I could keep down.
At the risk of TMI, here's a tip: If you're throw-uppy sick...fruit punch gatorade is the best thing to drink because it makes everything taste like fruit punch on the way back up.
So...yeah. The last few days have been hell for D and me health-wise...oh...and this place is a wreck. But, we had burgers last night and I was able to keep it all down so I think I'm about to kick this thing. Yay...just in time for work tonight. :-p
Friday, February 08, 2008
Tornadoes
In reply to a previous comment about the tornadoes here, D and I are doing just fine. The tornado (was there more than one?) hit in the Memphis area which is on the SW tip of TN...Knoxville, where D and I are is much further NE thankfully so we just got a bit of rain and some pretty wicked winds, but nothing to be concerned about. Heck, it didn't even rain as much as I wanted it to. Guess I shouldn't complain too much considering like 55 people were killed by that tornado.
So...yeah...we're just peachy here.
In other weather news, it's been hovering between about 40 and 50+ degrees here for the past week. It's supposed to get back down to the mid-30s to low 40s I think, but still...not that I'm bragging or anything. :-p
So...yeah...we're just peachy here.
In other weather news, it's been hovering between about 40 and 50+ degrees here for the past week. It's supposed to get back down to the mid-30s to low 40s I think, but still...not that I'm bragging or anything. :-p
Newer update on the puppy
For those who have inquired, the puppy is doing just fine. We've got her back out using her underground fence again and realized last night that she'd gone off running. Her running off for a while isn't as big of a deal as it was before since now she's updated on her shots and such.
As far as the coon, it didn't fare so well. It ended up dying about a week or so after the fight. Animal Control was supposed to pick it up, but they never came and got it. As far as I know, it's still sitting in the cat carrier out back of the smokehouse. You'd think, if a domestic animal gets in a fight with a wild critter, they'd be all over that.
Anywho, I knew if I didn't get this written now, I'd forget. I'm still half asleep and am gonna go drink coffee now.
Peace out
As far as the coon, it didn't fare so well. It ended up dying about a week or so after the fight. Animal Control was supposed to pick it up, but they never came and got it. As far as I know, it's still sitting in the cat carrier out back of the smokehouse. You'd think, if a domestic animal gets in a fight with a wild critter, they'd be all over that.
Anywho, I knew if I didn't get this written now, I'd forget. I'm still half asleep and am gonna go drink coffee now.
Peace out
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Update on puppy
So, yesterday D dropped me at work and then took the puppy to the vet. I would much rather have gone with him instead of sitting at work wondering what was going on. But, at about 5:30 or so D called and said that everything checked out alright and the vet didn't seem too concerned about rabies or anything.
We've still got the coon in a cat carrier so we're keeping an eye on both it and the puppy for a while. The coon seemed really sluggish yesterday and the day before so D and I are thinking it's probably sick, but the sister-in-law thinks it might be a momma about to have pups. She'd found evidence of a next in a brush pile at the back of the property, but no babies in it. I guess it could be a possibility that the coon is pregnant, but that still doesn't explain why it was out in the day time. The only two reasons are that it's a momma just had her pups and gone out to find food or it's sick. Since there weren't any baby coons in the nest, I'm leaning more towards the sick option. But, we'll just have to wait and see.
We've still got the coon in a cat carrier so we're keeping an eye on both it and the puppy for a while. The coon seemed really sluggish yesterday and the day before so D and I are thinking it's probably sick, but the sister-in-law thinks it might be a momma about to have pups. She'd found evidence of a next in a brush pile at the back of the property, but no babies in it. I guess it could be a possibility that the coon is pregnant, but that still doesn't explain why it was out in the day time. The only two reasons are that it's a momma just had her pups and gone out to find food or it's sick. Since there weren't any baby coons in the nest, I'm leaning more towards the sick option. But, we'll just have to wait and see.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Uh ohs
For those of you who might have visited my flickr page yesterday, you would've found out that our puppy treed a coon early in the afternoon. I'd heard her barking and howling like she will when she sees someone she knows or has found something she wants D and I to come check out. D was out working so I poked my head out the door and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
I'd been doing some laundry so I went downstairs to put the clothes in the dryer (we've gotta go down the deck stairs outside and then back inside downstairs) and the puppy was all hoppy-jumpy-happy down near the closest tree in the yard. She'd run over to me and then back to the tree. I looked up at it, but from the angle I was looking I couldn't see anything.
Anyway, D got home and told me that the puppy had a raccoon trapped up in the tree. Hence, the pictures.
Well, she must've pissed it off, making it sit in the tree for hours in the cold because sometime during the night it came back. D got up early to go out working and when I got up a couple hours later he'd told me that the puppy had gotten in a fight with the coon.
I didn't see it, but D found it. He said it looked the same size at the other so we just figured it was the same one. When he found it, it was just laying in the yard so he went over to check on the puppy and she yelped when he touched her ear so he knew she was hurt.
After D and his sister-in-law got it in a cat carrier to cart it off, we brought the puppy inside to clean her up. All the marks she got had been bleeding so she had a bunch of caked blood in and on one of her ears, a scratch on the side of her muzzle, one above her eye, and what looked more like a puncture wound than a scratch on the top of her nose.
Unfortunately the puppy isn't up to date on her rabies so we're a bit worried about that. D is taking her to the vet after he drops me at work so hopefully that'll take care of things.
Ironically, yesterday evening when the raccoon still wasn't gone, D talked about shooting it. If it really was the same one that tore her up, I wish we had followed through on that thought process.
I'd been doing some laundry so I went downstairs to put the clothes in the dryer (we've gotta go down the deck stairs outside and then back inside downstairs) and the puppy was all hoppy-jumpy-happy down near the closest tree in the yard. She'd run over to me and then back to the tree. I looked up at it, but from the angle I was looking I couldn't see anything.
Anyway, D got home and told me that the puppy had a raccoon trapped up in the tree. Hence, the pictures.
Well, she must've pissed it off, making it sit in the tree for hours in the cold because sometime during the night it came back. D got up early to go out working and when I got up a couple hours later he'd told me that the puppy had gotten in a fight with the coon.
I didn't see it, but D found it. He said it looked the same size at the other so we just figured it was the same one. When he found it, it was just laying in the yard so he went over to check on the puppy and she yelped when he touched her ear so he knew she was hurt.
After D and his sister-in-law got it in a cat carrier to cart it off, we brought the puppy inside to clean her up. All the marks she got had been bleeding so she had a bunch of caked blood in and on one of her ears, a scratch on the side of her muzzle, one above her eye, and what looked more like a puncture wound than a scratch on the top of her nose.
Unfortunately the puppy isn't up to date on her rabies so we're a bit worried about that. D is taking her to the vet after he drops me at work so hopefully that'll take care of things.
Ironically, yesterday evening when the raccoon still wasn't gone, D talked about shooting it. If it really was the same one that tore her up, I wish we had followed through on that thought process.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
And now a word from our sponsor
I thought, in the spirit of Buddah Pest's blog, that I'd let our new kitty Calli say a few words.
Hi big people. As my mommy told you, they say my name is Calli. The big people at the place I stayed before mommy and daddy got me called me Christin, but I think I like Calli much better. I'm actually starting to pay attention a little when they say my name. Although, right now, I'm not sure if my name is Calli or Calli-no.
Mommy and daddy say that my personality is starting to come out in a big way. I admit that I was really shy when I first got here. My favorite place was under the bed and mommy seemed to know that if she couldn't see me anywhere, that's where I was. She was really nice and let me stay there, but sometimes daddy would pull me out and set me on the bed. It seemed mean at first because I always went back under the bed, but it's not really so bad. And, once I was sure mommy and daddy were keeping me and that there was nothing out there that would eat me up, I got quite a bit braver. Now the only time I'm under the bed is for nap time. Oh, and daddy still sometimes pulls me out even when I've just been sleeping.
Now, a couple of my favorite places is on daddy's or mommy's lap while they sit in front of the computers (I think that's what mommy called it). They sit there for a long time and they don't mind if I sit with them for as long as I want. I like it because I can watch while they make things move on the screen. I tried jumping at it once, but daddy got mad and put me on the floor. It made me sad for a minute, but then I found out how fun it was to play with the string on daddy's jacket. He didn't seem to mind that as much.
The one thing that this kitty isn't quite sure about yet is that big, white, furry thing that lives outside. Sometimes she comes in, but that's when I go back to my under-the-bed hiding spot. It's WAYYYYY too big to be a kitty so I think it's like those other non-kitties at the place I was at before. I got a little brave last night and went outside with mommy and daddy. I walked around on the big wooden thing outside the door where the non-kitty was laying. I even went as close as two of me put together...but then she moved and I got scared and ran back inside. She doesn't act like she's gonna eat me up, but I'm still not gonna get any closer to that mouth full of teeth. It looks big enough to swallow me in one gulp.
Oh and I found out that I have uncles at my mommy's mommy's house.... three of them; Uncle Buster, Uncle Rocky, and Uncle Dizzy. I hope I can meet them one day.
Well, I think I'm gonna go run around the room some more. Say hi to all your kitties for me.
Hi big people. As my mommy told you, they say my name is Calli. The big people at the place I stayed before mommy and daddy got me called me Christin, but I think I like Calli much better. I'm actually starting to pay attention a little when they say my name. Although, right now, I'm not sure if my name is Calli or Calli-no.
Mommy and daddy say that my personality is starting to come out in a big way. I admit that I was really shy when I first got here. My favorite place was under the bed and mommy seemed to know that if she couldn't see me anywhere, that's where I was. She was really nice and let me stay there, but sometimes daddy would pull me out and set me on the bed. It seemed mean at first because I always went back under the bed, but it's not really so bad. And, once I was sure mommy and daddy were keeping me and that there was nothing out there that would eat me up, I got quite a bit braver. Now the only time I'm under the bed is for nap time. Oh, and daddy still sometimes pulls me out even when I've just been sleeping.
Now, a couple of my favorite places is on daddy's or mommy's lap while they sit in front of the computers (I think that's what mommy called it). They sit there for a long time and they don't mind if I sit with them for as long as I want. I like it because I can watch while they make things move on the screen. I tried jumping at it once, but daddy got mad and put me on the floor. It made me sad for a minute, but then I found out how fun it was to play with the string on daddy's jacket. He didn't seem to mind that as much.
The one thing that this kitty isn't quite sure about yet is that big, white, furry thing that lives outside. Sometimes she comes in, but that's when I go back to my under-the-bed hiding spot. It's WAYYYYY too big to be a kitty so I think it's like those other non-kitties at the place I was at before. I got a little brave last night and went outside with mommy and daddy. I walked around on the big wooden thing outside the door where the non-kitty was laying. I even went as close as two of me put together...but then she moved and I got scared and ran back inside. She doesn't act like she's gonna eat me up, but I'm still not gonna get any closer to that mouth full of teeth. It looks big enough to swallow me in one gulp.
Oh and I found out that I have uncles at my mommy's mommy's house.... three of them; Uncle Buster, Uncle Rocky, and Uncle Dizzy. I hope I can meet them one day.
Well, I think I'm gonna go run around the room some more. Say hi to all your kitties for me.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Pictures
I finally got all the recent pictures I've taken off of my digital camera and onto my computer. Note the new icon. :-)
We used to have that huge spider living on a huge web under the eave of our building. What he's eating is a huge flying grasshopper. These things were quite abundant up at that cabin D rented for our anniversary.
Anywho, I realized how much space it'd take up to put photos here, so I went to the trouble of making a flickr account. Why not? Everyone's doing it. *giggles*
So here's the website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22373699@N05/
I realize this isn't the best time to get back into the habit of taking pictures with it getting so dang nippy out, but we'll see what happens.
We used to have that huge spider living on a huge web under the eave of our building. What he's eating is a huge flying grasshopper. These things were quite abundant up at that cabin D rented for our anniversary.
Anywho, I realized how much space it'd take up to put photos here, so I went to the trouble of making a flickr account. Why not? Everyone's doing it. *giggles*
So here's the website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22373699@N05/
I realize this isn't the best time to get back into the habit of taking pictures with it getting so dang nippy out, but we'll see what happens.
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