Merry Christmas !

Steve and I are home. In our Love Shack. We know where all of our kids are, and they are healthy and happy. We have everything we need, and quite a few of the things we want, and so we are blessed. I wish the same for all of you.

I wish for each of you a holiday season filled with special times with family and friends, lots of good food, and an overabundance of love and laughter.

Bathroom Redux

We don't eat bacon here a lot, it's just not a body friendly food. Most of the time. But, there are 3 times a year where I bust a bacon move, in a big way. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and a summer reunion party we host. Some of the dishes require bacon. I am of the opinion, if you are gonna cook a messy food like bacon, then why not cook a lot of it,....say, 3 pounds of thick cut bacon....and have done with it for a while, instead of cooking a pound at a time, and cleaning the kitchen 3 times to boot?

In theory, this is a GREAT thing. Cook 3 pounds of bacon before Turkey day, freeze 2, and then you have bacon for Christmas and the Summer reunion all ready to go, thaw and use. Except. This equation doesn't figure in Team Gail. The SMELL of bacon will drive my crew wild, and if they have reason to suspect there is cooked bacon in the freezer, my poor freezer will get torn apart by multiple family members, at different times, all of whom are convinced THEY have secret knowledge as to where *I* would stash the bacon. They can usually find it, damn them. So today, I made my "3 pounds of Bacon for 3 holidays and-if-I-believe-it-will-last-that-long-I-have a-bridge-to-sell-myself" annual bacon pilgrimage. I know though, as sure as I am telling you all about it, that I will get "2-Stripped"

Oh Hon, just 2 strips with my waffles/bagel/grilled cheese

Oh Mom, I haven't had bacon in so long

Oh, Mom, my budget won't cover bacon

Oh Mom, no one cooks bacon like you do....that ALWAYS works

to DEATH, and that bacon will be gone before the snow we're getting today is.

Sunday. Less than 2 inches of snow, Yay Team Gail! Steve didn't even need the snowblower, so as soon as the guys were done shoveling, Steve and I went to the mall [Yes, I know...I HATE shopping. UNLESS,..I have a 30% off any one item coupon at Old Navy, then I'm all in]

Which brings me right back to my train of thought.

Do you like getting your picture taken?

Because, I HATE it. I didn't realize it til we started having kids, but there it is. My niece made me a scarf, and asked that I FaceBook a pic of myself wearing the scarf. I have been putting that off since Thanksgiving, and decided today was time to man up. I've been looking at pictures of other people, trying to find out how they can pose comfortably, it's just not in me. Steve must have taken 10 pics, and then the fun started. He figured if I was laughing I wouldn't mind having my pic taken. All I have to say about Mr Steves' method of photography is "Thank God".

Thank God no kids were around
Thank God he wasn't standing in front of the living room windows.

Also, I have been informed that I am supposed to have an actual PIC of myself, as opposed to something I found humorous, as my avatar at said FaceBook. Who the hell made all these rules? Once again, Steve took lots of pics, but screw it, that's over my comfort level today. If people don't like that "I'm a lumberjack and Im OK" then it's all on their heads. Only one person picked up the Month Python reference anyway.

The Bathroom! I promised pics. There area few things still to be done, and they need to be left for when we have open windows and adequate ventilation [painting and flooring, they desTROyed the floor] but the 78" long shower:

is gone, and the tub:

is in place. A girl has Gotta have a bubble bath, and the Love Shack feels more like ours now.

This from my friend E, although I took it back to the beginning of the episode. All in the Family, when Edith is going thru the change. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it, and how many memories I have of watching this show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_cUVfYUuf0&feature=video_response

December:
21st: -Look At The Bright Side Day
-National Flashlight Day
-National French Fried Shrimp Day
-Hamburger Day
23rd: -Festivus

Am I here? Really??

Typed it all in,and published. Nada. Pissed. Will try again later. Oh MY this sucks.

I Forgot....

...... to Blog! I have been having major computer issues this week, none of my doing. Facebook decided I was coming from a bad IP [aol, of course] and first, made me type in words and announce that I am "Human". Then they just blocked me. The Bastards! So I made a tech report for them, and I am officially unbanned.

But I noticed something very interesting. I began to have the same problems with Google. And you know what? I can replicate the issue, it's THEIR bad, not mine. It only occurs after I use Firefox. [an alternate browser to AOL/ IE, or IE alone] I thought, maybe Google doesn't want the competition, since they have been rolling out Chrome, but who knows? Google, BTW, also owns Blogger.com, where you are right now reading my tale of woe. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck..... something isn't right, and I'll report back when I get to the bottom of it. Or my blog will disappear too @@

The bathroom,

[except for the small shit that we need to do,... stain and finish the new shelves, lay a new floor, and paint some small areas. All that will wait until after the holidays. Our peeps got to see the before, on Christmas they will be able to see the After, and then during he summer party they can see the finished product]

is DONE. I am THRILLED, and I will blog pics asap. We have a tub! Do you KNOW how much I prefer a tub and shower to a football field long shower? Well, now you do. The poor G.C put the drain stopper in backwards,

[that was pretty funny, and very telling. I REALLY liked that he came right out, told us he fucked up, and offered different solutions for the problem. That's why we'l hire him again if we need him]

so he had to go get us a universal drain stopper, then the cartridge for the shower was a lemon. Steve already replaced that. Every little annoying thing that could go wrong went wrong. The contractor asked us to rate him on a scale from one to ten, and without consulting each other, we both gave him a nine...that taper sucked BAD.

As I sit here, our Christmas tree is in the middle of the livingroom.Our first Christmas here, and we are still deciding where it should go. Truth be told,we both agree on where it's going, but just want to sit on our asses for a little longer. I will tell you, Steve is a BAD INFLUENCE on me. BAD. He has me addicted to movies. I vastly prefer books, I can count on the fingers of one hand, the movies that stood up to the original books. So to surprize him, today I found the original Jaws on HBO on demand. We kinda spent a lot of the afternoon watching that. Good times :O)

Also, I have to say, I had my first experience with a bootleg movie, and it was my last, too. "Inglorious Bastards" has been making the rounds [it is due out on PPV and dvd this Tuesday. I have not seen it yet, but Steve and Tony liked it so much we are buying it.] We tried to watch it last night, got 5 minutes in, and turned it off. The picture quality was so poor, we knew Quentin Tarantino deserved a better viewing than that. Gails' Advice to You...skip the bootlegs, they suck. I woulda been PISSED if I paid for that. Also, check the Redplum coupon flyer that came with todays paper, there is a 3$ off coupon for Inglorious Bastards right on the cover.

December:
12th: National Ding-A-Ling Day
13th: Ice Cream and Violins Day
15th: Car Herders Day
16th: Barney and Barbie Backlash Day

Red Plaid Boxer Briefs

Dear Wife, Husband, or S.O of the General Contractor:

Hi! My name is Gail, and I have had the distinct, um, pleasure of having your peep[s] work in my home. Except for the taper, the crew[s] were nice guys who tried to clean up after themselves, and I found them to be kind and funny.
However, we gotta have a talk.
About red plaid boxer-brief underwear.
And the men who wear them. Evidently, unbeknownst to them, I can see the material, I can tell by the elastic that they are boxers and not tighty-whities.....and a lot more. PLEASE, for the LOVE OF GOD....make these men crouch down, their back to you, BEFORE they leave for work. Get a gander of what they be presentin', you dig? I don't need to know any-THING about their undergarments. Or what they're covering. Or not. It's not that I haven't enjoyed the show.... It seems that maybe a certain man [STEVE! You know its Steve] is learning all about when the tables are turned,...and the woman is looking at the mens asses. And discovering that maybe, just maybe, he doesn't like it very much. Which makes me love him all the more, a little green-eyed monster is just Fiiiiiiiiine by me. But in my defense, *I* did not go looking for asses to appear, as if by magic, throughout my livingroom and stairwells. I'm just lucky, I guess.

Also? I find it to be a huge dichotomy.....if the pants are so loose that they hang at the nether regions of the hips....that the men STILL pick at their asses. Come on, I am going thru a LOT of stress, noise, and dust here. Do I NEED to see that? Would YOU want to? I am going thru Clorox wipes and Lysol spray [and I distinctly dislike the smell of lysol] to beat the band, over the visuals being presented to me.

To you Contractors and crews thereof.... I have made a short list of items for you to peruse at your leisure.....but hopefully before you report to the work site next.

-Please, please, keep the pants up. And the shirt down.

-Please show up in the general time frame that you have stated to us. If the taper said 8:30 am, arriving at 10:30 am,- with NO apology or acknowledgement that you have just pushed back completion of this project by a good 24 hrs,- is NOT acceptable. And, if we use this contractor again, we will specify that we do not want that taper to work in our home again.

-If part of the crew is in the bathroom, and your boss is outside, I don't want to hear, repeatedly and with gusto, that you :
-do not want you balls busted
-you will bust the other guy[s] balls
-fucking suck my balls
-this fucking sucks my balls [at this point I almost ruptured my self trying not to laugh out loud, I have never heard guys so fixated on balls]
-you can fucking suck my fucking balls
-and the rest of the fight you are having. [Unless you open the bathroom door, and I can get a chair and some popcorn. Your faces were angelic, who knew you were so fond of your balls, your friends balls, your neighbors balls, and anyone elses balls that were in your general vicinity ??

-Judge ye the distance between your workspace, and where the family members are. Can they HEAR your bodily explosions? Can they indeed, hear you laugh about them and rate them? Do you know if, perchance, Tony and Gail just sat down to lunch? And were treated to a musical interlude? Funny, I didn't see THAT on the final write up for job cost. Sure got our moneys worth outta THAT part of the crew.

Trying, TRYING to maintain a sense of humor. This sucks donkey balls, to quote a friend. I'm getting pissed and impatient, and Steve is bearing the brunt of it. It's Sunday morning now, and the tiling crew is here. The contractor says the tiling in that room is a 4-5 hour job if nothing goes wrong. [?? @@ ??] But I still have to wait for it to dry, to get grouted, to dry again, and to get sealed, and dry. Oh, YAY Team Gail. And guess what? The sound of the tile saw is deafening and unescapable.The Love Shack had better behave for a while, my brains are leaking out my right ear right now.

A link I thought tres funny. Scroll down and watch the video. The taper could have used this info:

http://www.wikihow.com/Wake-Up-Late-and-Still-Make-It-on-Time

December:
5th: Happy Happy Birthday Stevie! :o)
6th: National Gazpacho Day and Mitten Tree Day
7th: National Cotton Candy Day
8th: Take It In The Ear Day [oh my]

------>Bread, Salt, and Mayo<---------

Well, we did it. We decided on a general contractor, put it in writing, and signed on the dotted. Wednesday night, we'll meet up with him to select tile and tub, and Demo starts thurs morning. As you can probably imagine, we are pretty uptight.And, it doesn't help my uptightness to know a certain someones Christmas party is on the 5th. Yeah ! During reconstruction! My evil plan was, for Tny to get called in Saturday.....now, SOMEone has to be here for the contractor, right? And if Tony is working and STEVE is at his Christmas, party, that leave....well, Moi, right? I have my toes crossed so Steve can't see 'em.

It is Thanksgiving Eve. The Chinese feast has been eaten "Romancing the Bird [a Food Network special by Alton Brown, Tony was kind enough to stream it from his puter to the TV for us] was viewed and commented on, the house is wonderful [except for that fucking shower from hell, but we'll set that right next week] the birds [2-14 lb Turkies] are brining in a huge tote, covered with ice, in the back of my truck. Unorthodox, yes. But I speak Turkey, it knows my name :o) we are as ready as we will ever be for our first big party in the Love Shack.

I have a confession to make. I ran the dishwasher 3 times today. And I do not approve of dirty dishes in my sink, I wasn't playing catch up. But something is going on with my elbows, they both feel like I got hit with a baseball bat. So the big things.....my mixing bowls, 12 qt pot with steamer insert [for the potatoes] things I'd usually hand wash, this year I said SCREW it, and let the dishwasher do the work. I LOVE THAT DISHWASHER :O)

Thanksgiving evening. We just had the best Thanksgiving we have ever had. I'm sitting here tearing up trying to type.THAT is my excuse for any typos, so there.

Early this morning, Steve and I go to get the brine bin out of my truck. As we come up the stairs to the kitchen area, my end of the lid...and I am in the lower position,...pops open, and I got DOUSED with ice and brine and peppercorns, dammit. NOT the way to start any day let alone a holiday, and I was thinking "YEAH? Oh, YEAH? Well FUCK this". Note that I did NOT say it. Steve started laughing, and that cooled me off a bit, better than the ice bath did, anyway. Clean up, birds in oven, coffee. OK, things are looking better.

As I spoke with some dear friends tonight, I realize that we all think of Thanksgiving [and Christmas] in different ways. For me and Mine, it is a day long family reunion-sit-down-dinner-around-noon-dessert-any-old-time-you-want it-and-a-light-late-dinner-before-everyone-leaves. Our first guests are one of my sisters and her crew. I am telling you, her and her familys' obvious delight in the Love Shack nearly unmanned me, I almost started boo-hooing right there. We gave them the grand tour, and then the second contingent showed up, in the form of another sister and one of my nephews. We stood outside near her car. [this was her first visit to The Shack] She said, "You know, I heard somewhere, to bless a house, you need bread"...and whipped out a platter of the best breads I have ever eaten, I didn't know you could buy that. EVERy variety of gorgeous bread, simply the best. "And you need salt so everything tastes good" and whipped out a large container of salt"........and THEN...... " I forgot what the last line was, so I got you this"..... and whipped out,..... a huge jar of Hellmanns Mayo. NOT MIRACLE WHIP FROM DE DEBBIL, mind you. I cried I laughed so hard. I told her, I believe the last line is something about a bottle of wine, but.......... every family has it's inside jokes, and THIS sister is a mayo junkie just like I am, two peas in the same genetic pod. How fitting! How funny and fitting, and absolutely perfect for The Shack, and here we are laughing like loons out in the street :o)

The Dinner,.....glorious. The family and friends, even more so. Steve and I sat down after the last of the family, Boo and T left, and rehashed the glow of the day. He told me that another niece [who was also here today] said the pics I blog of The Shack do not do it justice at all. So please, from now on when I blog a pic, you be sure to put on those rose colored glasses, OK? :o)

I think I've blogged some of the challenges Steve and I have faced over the years, and I KNOW, as well as you do, that I blogged the search for the Shack. What meant abso-friggin-lutley the most to us, was to have everyone who has crossed our threshold.......every ONE of them was genuinely thrilled to see us get our home. THAT means more to Us than anything. THAT was the vibe emanating thru our Love Shack today.

This, a g-rated story from the AOL welcome screen, made Tiny just for you:

http://tinyurl.com/ye52n4b

[click on the story title to be taken to the whole story] ...and Don't you be a-shootin at any whales in Tennessee now, yall hear?

Whales in Tennessee, and Seagulls in the U.K.People are the same the world round :O)

December:
1st: National Pie Day and Eat A Red Apple Day
2nd: National Fritters Day
3rd: National Roof-Over-Your-Head Day

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You for this special day, a day to remember Your goodness to us. I want to thank You for a roof over our heads, and more than enough food to eat. I want to thank You for the relationships You have given to us, for family and friends. Also, I want to thank You for all the bad experiences we’ve had. We have learned that you were there for us all the time. For this, we thank You and praise You. In Jesus name, amen.

I wish you and yours only the best.

Happy Thanksgiving :O)

.

A Tale of Two Booties

As you can imagine, we are in full Thanksgiving day prep mode here. This is our first year in the Love Shack, and so our first big "Do" here. I serve the food buffet style, so Steve and I are taking all the crocks out for a "Crock run"......we'll plug them all in and see if we trip a circuit or not. I don't like the idea of finding out we have an issue the morning of, yanno? This time last year, we were in the old place. And as the guests were arriving,we were fighting with the kitchen sink. Please God, lets have a smooth Turkey Day, OK?

An update on the bathroom situation. 3 General contractors came in. "First" Bob, "Bootie" Bob, and Bill, I shit you not. Bootie Bob [when he came in he put booties on his boots, I thought that was a nice touch.....turns out it was also an expensive one as well.] drew first blood His estimate...........sit down please.........was 5900, plus we buy the tub, tile, fixtures and grout, and pay sales tax. 7000. Yeah. 7000. We are shocky. "First" Bob didn't get back to us yet, so he's out. If he's busy, great for him, but we're not dicking around here, this is our Love Shack, and we will not let it get frigged with. The second estimate we received came from Bill, was lower, but the guy is not insured. We told him, we really want to give you our business, but no insurance, no job. He called and said Yes, he will get insurance, and bring proof of it Monday night, with the write up of the job. Steve and I still have to go pick out the tub, tile, and fixtures. We have decided to rip the whole shower out, really we have to, it's rotted. We can either replace what is there now, or put in a tub. We both vote tub and shower head.

Yesterday, Steve took me out to lunch, while we were in the middle of picking out the tub and tile for the bathroom.LongHorn Steak House, we'd never been there before. During the meal, the waitress stopped to ask if we were doin' ok, and took off past me. I will be triple-dipped if Steve didn't stare at her bootie! I was flabbergasted, this isn't something he is usually stupid enough to do in front of me. I just sat there staring at him. He looked up and saw my face and tried the "What?" Innocent reaction, but he KNEW he was busted and burst out laughing.

[Now men, don't read this. Close your eyes]
Ladies, there are ways to get back at your man for pulling this shit, no matter how rarely it occurs. Here's what I did. I waited until that waitress was walking past again, and burped really loudly, THEN, is a stage whisper, said "STEVE!" implying that HE was the phillistine. And he laughed again, cause he KNEW every one would believe he had burped. Oh, if ONLY I had a fart, I woulda shown HIM who's boss! They would never let him back in there. And that would have been a shame, because you can get a side order of asparagus in there, and I Love asparagus.]

Ok men , you can read again. So dig this...we're leaving, and he said this lookie-loo should not count against me. I am DYING laughing at this and ask, ok why not? He says, he only looked because the woman has NO ass, he couldn't believe it [so now he's admitting he looked more than once, things are looking down for Steve] and since there was nothing to look at it shouldn't count! I had to explain, he did not KNOW that she didn't have a bootie, so that was not a "seen it before" look, that was an Eye full, and it most assuredly counted. You friggin men make me laugh day and night. In a good way.

I had blogged a pic of the bedroom, when the quilt set came in. And it just didn't do it for us, that set will become the bedding for the futon in the gameroom, for overnight guests. I think it didn't work, because I strayed away from my decorating style.....earth tones, warm and cozy. Purple curtains are NOT earth tones, and they weren't particularly cozy, either, hehehe. So I changed that out. The pic isn't very good, cause it's a phone pic, using the camera would require me to actually go get it.

And the last....food porn.A lot of baking requires a lot of stuff...including chocolate chips.THat's right, this is the same size container I store my coffee beans in, but it's in the baking center, refilled from making a lot of fudge today. I thought it looked very happy :o)

[Kids...you will NOT look happy if you touch these puppies before I am done. I found the 2 partial lil bags of morsels in the baking center. Since Neither Dad or I prefer them, that narrows it down to the 3 of you. But, we all know who the culprit it. STEVIE, it's Stevie, and I know it! So leave me some to bake with, OK? Cookie season is upon me, be kind. TYVM :O)]

November:
22nd: Start Your Own Country Day

It's George Orwell. 1984 is Calling.

I have felt stunned, and shocked, ever since I heard the news. That a government study....by the same government that will fund public healthcare.........has drummed up some study [ by the "The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force"] that suggests women should not get a mammo until they are 50. At first, when I saw this on the news, I yelled at the men to be quiet....because I truly thought I had misheard.

But I didn't.

The goddamn government is willing to put the health of EVERY woman at risk. To ignore the recommendations of the American Cancer society. So that they can save $$ on those extra 10 years women wouldn't be getting mammos. Does this government think we are so blind, so STUPID, that we cannot see the corollary between this recommendation and the funding for the public health program?

I am GODDAMN angry.

First off, *I* was a woman with a lump. A lump only found by an annual mammo. A needle biopsy, and a lumpectomy. lumps do not belong in breasts. It was a horrific event for me and mine. But we knew it wasn't cancer.

What if the lump had been a cancer?

And I waited until it got big enough for me or my Doctor to find it?

I was 45 when the lump was removed.

5 years younger than put forth by the government to have an annual mammo.

Second. I fully believe that not ONE person should ever walk around in pain, or diseased, due to lack of health care. I am not wise enough to have a plan, but DAMN I have an opinion. I BELIEVED in public healthcare.
Right up until that news broadcast last night.
I do NOT want the government to decide a healthcare plan for me. I do NOT want the government in the exam room with me. *I* want to follow the recommendations of the ACS, as far as my health is concerned. I do NOT want to be forced to accept what the government is dishing out. I think they are on a fishing expedition. Lets throw this out there, and see how the public reacts. Lets see just how much we can get away with.
Lying, cheating bloated bureaucratic bastards coated in bastardly ugliness.

I have never disbelieved, or distrusted my government so much.

One more thing. I wanted to have an article to share with you, in case you hadn't heard the news yet. I googled this up.

http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=11517937

Read the last line. That broke me right out in goosebumps. This may well give the insurance companies the right to say "Oh we don't cover routine mammos for women under 50, as per the asshat "preventative task force" recommendation", which would make it a home run for the government.

How many women will die?

Well Shit.

A few updates.

First off. I mentioned in one bloggie, how my boots,...my favorite blue hiking boots,...were lost. I found one of them in my truck months after when we moved:

http://gail-dish.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-08-10T19%3A45%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=7

[scroll down to "Old Friends"] and that I could not find the other one. FOUND IT! In the foyer closet that is too narrow to accept a regular hanger! Which I never go in, 'cauuse I have no USE for it. Funny stuff, I'm finding a lot of stuff. And, when I went on the prowl for the original "Yay, found one of them" bloggie, I stumbled across a bloggie I made last year,.. in which Steve FORGOT to have my truck inspected. Guess what? He did the EXACT same thing THIS year! Not a week ago. So I tell him, yanno hon, you did this last year, and he said:

"This is my great life plan, to eventually not pay one years reggie,..to skip it...by being a lil late every year."

THIS from the man, who tonight.......Decided to treat us to Chilis. [and I will explain why in a bit] He left to pick it up...and I saw his wallet on his desk. So I quick tried to call his cell, to recall him to the house....and his cell started ringing...on the kitchen counter. So, I have a lil problem thinking he can remember things from year to year, when he can't remember things for 15 minutes. But I sure do love him.

Also, for the first time I guess, Stevie saw me in heel boots [as opposed to those hiking boots... I will bloggie a pic later in the week, with the scarf my niece made for me] and he was stunned, he said I look great :O) I guess he's used to seeing me in work clothes, especially on Monday, all the guys are home before I am, and I must not be a pretty sight.

So, WHY did Steve treat us to Chilis? [and DAYUM if that fajita trio isn't great, and it's 3 meals in one, so I can have dinner, lunch tomorrow, and share it with Tone]

~OUR TALE OF WOE~

For months now...since we moved in, actually,.. I have smelled something "off" in the shower. A huge walk-in with dual shower heads, one at kid height and one at adult height, a mile apart, well lit [well, THAT is a curse and a blessing, I can tell you,that is a SCARY place to have light, in more ways than one][but pretty fun too]

Last week, 2 tiles from around the of the doorway to the shower came loose. Steve and I are do it yourself-ers, and thought, well, clean it well, use quickset, set the tiles, grout and seal.

Yeah.

Steve took those two tiles off,...and then some more.....and it is bad. REALLY bad, rotted wood, OMG, this is beyond what we are capable of, plus there may be floor involvement. So we are calling pros' to come give us estimates. Called some friends for recommendations, called the guy that inspected the house and got some names from him.

This is gonna be a big bad one.

We do have savings.Regular savings plus what we have for Steves shed [so that he can move all his man toys out of the garage and finally PARK in the garage.] But of course, we don't know how much this litle tango will cost us.Now, when I get in the shower, every line of grout looks like a friggin enemy. Steve covered the whole area with plastic and waterproof tape, so we'll be able to use the shower until the repairs commence. Then, well, we *do* have Stevie, 10 minutes away. I'm not sure his part of the ' burgh is ready for me walkin' around in my snowflake bathrobe. Can YOU say "Hysterical Blindness"? I think I've adjusted our neighbors pretty well, but I guess they think, ANY-THING is better than naked putz ninja neighbor.

We had planned, in the fullness of time, to rip the fucker out anyway, and install a tub/shower. We are shower people, but sometimes we need a long hot bath. But that was *supposed* to be years in the future. DING-DING!! The Love Shack has other plans. So please keep the good thoughts. This is our first "BIG THING" and we are a-skeered. I know we'll do it up right, but the anticipation is painful. Painful enough for me not to want to talk about it :X And it's getting more costly by the day.

And tomorrow is Monday.

I keep telling Steve, HIT the friggin Lotto already! I was meant to be a SAHM/SAHW. I think, about the "Oh, if ONLY I could stay home, look what I could accomplish!!!" I think women have a tough row to hoe, that men have it easy....just go the hell to work already :O) We'll be waiting for you with a smile when you come home. But now, *I'm* the last one home on Mondays, and it kinda pisses me off, like I got fired from a job I love.

Please no comments on the un-pcness of this. That's now I feel, so there ya go. YMMV, it probably does. The world would be a boring place if we all thought the same.

T....enjoy the HELL outta that skillet honey, and I LOVE the scarf :)]

Discovering my possibilities

WTH is up with the C.C companies? Is it Pick on Gail month? This weeks entry comes from Discover....Discover what an asshat they can be.
I got a letter saying that I had triggered something or other [and knowing me that's a distinct possibility] and my APR was going from 6.9 to 14.99. Holy SHIT! I was given the option of paying that shitty APR, or I could say "no", cancel the account, and pay off the balance with my old APR. I called them, fully intending to cancel that card Now, *I* ain't paying shylocks. [Well, considering how C.C companies are acting lately, that would be an apt title]

G: Hi! I just received a letter stating that I managed to trigger something, and as a consequence, my APR is going up. I will decline that kind offer, and would like to cancel the card at this time.

D: Hi! To verify your account, can you tell me your Mothers maiden name, the last 4 digits of your social security number, if you like jelly or jam, and which shoe you put on first? So that I can tailor this discussion to fit your needs!

G: blah blah blah

D: o-KAY then, lets' see.Yes, you did trigger something, but I can untrigger that for you in just a couple thousand keystrokes!

G::::5 minutes of silence, in which I gnaw on the inside of my cheek and what to hurl something at ANYthing. :::

D: o-KAY then...you were late with a payment in July! THAT was the trigger!

G: HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, no we were not late. We called in June to change our billing date/cycle, as we had recently moved. We were in the middle of switching banks, and a different billing cycle was more convenient for us. The associate SAID the effect was immediate, to feel free to pay on our new billing date. I have NEVER been late, NEVER. Just ask Steve, ..... My palms sweat, I get a headache, and I get MIGHTY cranky if I even THINK I'm late, can you dig that? Why not have a REEEEEEAL good look at my account, then?

D: oh, yes, I do see that you spoke with an account specialist. But the fact is, those changes can take DAYS, so technically you were late.

G: Oh, NO YOU DIDN'T just tell me my account specialist in June LIED to me?? I wanna talk with him!

D: No, no no one lied to you. They were just not correct.

G: :::::I'm thinking some vile, non-pc swears, but I don't say them. Steve is sitting across the room, and hair is curly enough already. Plus he will laugh and I'll lose the edge of anger that this "specialist" can hear in my voice:::::: OK, cancel the account, and I will pay the balance at my current apr.....

D: Oh NO, No Wait! I can untrigger this for you RIGHT now, you will still keep your low APR and all the privileges that go with being a Discover card patron [I noticed the vocabulary of my "specialist" got better by a wide margin when they wanted to keep me]

G: Well, I'm not sure. I don't like not knowing when I trigger things.The last 2 times I triggered something, I got doused in teriyaki and my vacuum cleaner coughed up all over me. God KNOWS what will happen if I trigger something without being aware of it. Oh, wait...*I* know! My APR will go up ! No, "triggering" is not something Gail wants any part of...

D: Hahaha, no, *I* will take care of this for you!

G: And how can I tell that this info is reliable? Remember that specialist in June? Can I get this in writing?

D: Um, "writing"?

G: Yes, will Discover send me a letter reiterating the salient points of this conversation?

D: Come again?

G: Send me a letter telling me you untriggered it, and I will never have to worry about triggering anything again, when I trigger things it's messy.

D:Hahaaa, OK, yes, this I can do for you today!

G: OK, thank you.

D: There you go, you are all set, and you will receive a letter in the U.S mail telling you this has been done. May I be of any further assistance to you today?

G: No, I think I'm good.

D: Well, then, please do not forget to take the exit survey, so that I may know the level of customer service you received today!

G: No thanks, I might trigger something :X

Today is Thursday, and I had scheduled my annual do-si-do mammo and ultrasound for directly after work.

[if you ever have a lump that needs to be removed, even a benign one like mine, you get moved to the "ultrasound" group,.....you get one of those as a matter of course when you get your mammo.]

Now, I have a hard time with medical procedures. I hate them on an emotional level. I remember my Mom being sick all the time, and I will be Damned if I go that route. So far, so good. But medical procedures cause me great anxiety. So I try to ameliorate the damage by planning ahead. I KNOW I can't stand to wait. So I call and make these appts a long time in advance, and schedule the ultra for directly after the mammo, no waiting. I bring a good book, and try to consider it "guilt free" reading time. It occurred to me today, while I waited a friggin' hour for that high tension ultrasound tech, that in this location, no matter WHAT I've done, I have had a long wait every year for the past 5 years. And I got pissed. One hour after my scheduled appt time, the tech sashays in. There were 3 people ahead of me, and they had to call in another tech to start the exams they were so far behind. So, for the first time in my life, I raised my voice in anger over shoddy service. The other women stared at me like I was a Martian,

[some of whom are asshole enough to bring LITTLE KIDS into the mammography suite.....don't get me started. Kids do NOT BELONG in a mammo suite. These women are stupid selfish cows. oooooooooo, I guess I AM pissed]

and I said "You know what? You're an HOUR late. If you can't tell time, I don't TRUST you to do my ultrasound, I want the other tech". And I sat down. She looked like I hit her with a bat. GOOD. I hope it was a cluebat. I Got the other tech, who thanked me. Mz high tension is regularly 30 minutes or more late, but is related to someone, so nothing is done. Well, I AM done, I'm not going back there. These people have to realize there are PEOPLE behind those boobs!

Steve felt bad about how I spent the after noon, and has decided I need a no-cook night.

[but in all honesty, I was gonna make home made pizza. SOMEone neglected to tell me he had pizza for lunch. This might have prompted the offer of chinese]

He's out getting dinner now. I am snuggled under a throw on the couch, reading my big fat delicious new Stephen King novel. And being Thankful.

This website, I've seen and have in my favorites. As a former wm employee, it rings a chord with me :X IMHO...these customers are the outward manifestation of wm management. Brenda sent it on yesterday and reminded me of it. Here it is, thanks to Brenda:

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

This, you may not want to see. It is a short interview. Oprah, with Charla Nash, the woman who was attacked by that "trained, domesticated" chimp. My heart goes out to her on so many different levels. There aren't any words, or perhaps there are...a LOT of long string curses, to describe how I feel about the owner, a human that stupid. Too bad SHE couldn't suffer the consequences of her actions, instead of Charla:

http://tinyurl.com/yaaey2e

Attack of the Killer Leaves

What an unexpected day!
The mail lady came 2 hours early today. She brought me a huge envelope, and a "live plant" box!
You remember when I posted a pic like this, this is what my Halloween cactus looks like right now:

and I said I was looking for a white blossom version of the same plant? Well, a dear friend and bloggie reader SENT me one, and I got it today. This is the same size my halloween cactus was when I got it!

Tracy, TYTYTY! How totally unexpected, what a treat! I will treasure it, and you will be able to follow it right here :O) [ Oh, and YGM]

And, as for the envie. A dear friend and I frequent a few loops, as well as internet boards. We were discussing older recipes and cookbooks, and everyone was posting what they had, and how they treasured it. I had to explain, when I was 15 our house burned down,...no one was home, and no one was hurt, but we lost everything. And so today, Mz Teri pops with a HUGE envie of older recipes,..some straight from the packages they were printed on, some hand written. The washer timer has buzzed me 6 times, the dryer is saying the same thing, and I am supposed to be dusting. But here I sit, enthralled with the past. Teri, I simply don't have words to say what that meant to me. Thank You, my dear Friend [and YGM too :o)]

It's another Sunday at the Shack. The leaves are taking us hostage! WHERE in the HELL are all these leaves coming from? We took care of all of ours, and then our neighbors tree spit on us.So, while the men are out dealing with that, I dusted and vacuumed the library, and got to ironing. [stop laughing, it's the truth!] Ironing is a hot job, so I opened the sliding glass doors in the library to bring the outside in. And THAT was when Steve came onto the patio with the leaf blower. He "Did not See" that the door was opened, I'm sure you can picture the scene. I got a shitstorm of leaves in the library. Pretty funny, I wish I got a pic of the hangdog look on his face, how could I get mad at that? Steves out there right now using the ride-on lawn mower as possibly the worlds biggest leaf blower, and lookin' mighty cute.

[movie watched while ironing: National Lampoon Van Wilder. You KNOW you're pms'ing when you boohoo at the father son scene at the end.]

Oh, and National Men Make Dinner? HELL to the YES! Only, it seems SOMEONE forgot that, in order to make his recipe of chili, which he claims is better than mine, he needs to THAW the meat before proceeding with said recipe. Such a lil thing, that thawing. It bought me a Chilis dinner, hehehe :O)

And if you host big for Thanksgiving, like I do, NOW would be the time to ignore the ticker to the right. Just let your eyes slide right by it, making sure you're innocently whistling while you do.


November:
12th: National Pizza With The Works Except Anchovies Day

A Quickie

Having a great day vacation day with my Honey ! Steves Brain Dr's visit last night was great, everything is the same as last time, which is a very good thing! Steve just took this pic of our backyard, and I wanted to blog it:

The Weekend

Oh, yes, it is the beginning of our weekend!!

Every year when Steves inventory is scheduled, we also schedule a vac day or two, for when the dust settles and he can relax. That would be this thurs and fri, and we can't wait. Steve is at the brain doctor tonight [yes, he Does have one!] for the 6 month how-de-do and check-up of the tumor, but we're pretty confident that all is status quo in that dept.

Today, I *did* go to work in my pajammies. It occurred to me while blogging on mon. that I didn't tell anyone what I was doing, so as I left work yesterday, I yelled out, "I'm coming in tomorrow wearing my pajammies with a lot of chips that YOU have to help me eat !!" And I did. Brought bags of snacks and paper bowls. By 9am we were all munchin, it was hysterical. And, EVERYONE but bitchzilla wore jammies! I was so impressed, I wish so much I could blog the pic of half of us posing in our jammies. My supervisor wore his jammies too, we laughed all morning.

A lot of my job is filling orders...tracking down what is needed, back ordering what we don't have, making sure it's appropriate to the account, that kind of stuff. And some of our items come from overseas. I wonder sometimes about my overseas counterpart. This morning,..I open a box of a bulk parts.....all in white boxes, nothing new......and start to get what I need. And what do I pull out, but ONE box..... my counterpart over there carved a small heart out of a piece of cardboard, colored it red, and stuck it to ONE box. In a mass bulk order. If you could understand the speed and mass quantities of stuff I deal with, this has NEVER happened before. I had to call everyone on my side of the floor over to see it. They were as surprized as I was, God forbid everything not look EXACTLY the same! I kept it,and taped it to my catch-all:

That lil heart just touched me.
And this made me laugh. Chris Rock, so not for little ones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8&NR=1


November:
6th: Saxophone Day and Marooned Without A Compass Day
7th: National Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day
8th: Dunce Day
9th: Chaos Never Dies Day

Woo-Hoo :O)

The owners of the business I am employed at are in-your-face type of owners. And I don't mind that, ...I can appreciate an excellent work ethic, and as long as you are totally correct, or find any mistakes before they do and admit to it, all is well. I will admit, the one, younger owner, I really feel he got a raw deal from the other employees.He has been nothing but kind and professional to me,.....especially after he got the measure of my humor.

[one morning employer-the-younger came up behind me and asked me to take a step to the right, so that he could see what I was doing.*I* took a step to the left. In a rather annoyed tone of voice, he said "Your other left Gail" and everyone cracked up, *they* knew I did it on purpose. This gave him to know to not speak too quickly, I thought I might have even seen a smile.]

For the rest of the week, the owners will be at a convention in Vegas, and you know the saying, while the Cats' away......Tomorrow I am going to work in flannel pajammies, and bringing a huge bag of Doritos Nacho Cheese chips to share, among other things, MY desk will rock tomorrow :X

An update: A soon as I discovered that the commute was causing me anxiety, I said "Fuck You, commute, bite my ass" [hmmm, a common thread this week, I believe I just told AmEx where they could stuff it] and I'm doin a lot better. That Time article really opened my eyes. I'll try, every time I worry, to figure the exact odds of what I'm worried about happening. And, I'll be as careful as I can, and still let the good tunes rip :o)

Another update: I STILL have not found that damned pic on this puter.The one of Stevie and Boo, as lil kids. So, I promise, I will shit or get off the pot. If I don't find it, the day after Thanksgiving, I will take down the frame that holds that pic, and a few more :X And re-scan the pic and blog it. The looks on their faces are priceless, and I want them here.

This, a blog sugestion from Tone, OMG :O) G-rated, if it matters, and I LOVE Christopher Walken:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy5JwYOlgvY

----->Trick or Treat? Men makin Dinner <------

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/Roast-Sticky-Chicken-Rotisserie-Style/Detail.aspx

Now, WHY in the hell would Gail open her bloggie up with a chicken recipe? Easy. This is the best fake rotisserie chicken you can make. I changed a few things....substituted lemon pepper for the white pepper. Changed out the Cayenne for 2 tsps of chili powder. Tossed the onions [and added a few cloves of garlic] in a lil olive oil before they went in the cavity, to help them carmelize instead of stew. And I used an 8 lb oven stuffer roaster instead of 2 smaller birds. It's the combo of seasonings we like, and the lo n' slow cooking method that makes this so good.

When you find something this good that might help someone out, ya gotta share. Do NOT omit the overnight "Getting happy with the spices" period....the second you take the chicken out of the fridge the next day, you will smell and see why. I added some home made chicken broth to the drippings and made gravy too, it was fantastic. along side this bad boy were garlic egg noodles with peas, corn, and biscuits. This chicken is making a command performance again this Friday when all the kids are here. I'm gonna make a big honkin' container of this spice mix, so I don't have to mix it each time, I imagine the spice mix will get happy together, and that can only be good.

[I am sittin here typin', and Steve is across the room on the desktop. I just made up, off the top of my head, a vile, pornographic song. Guaranteed to curl your hair, some times these things knock on my door, and I can't help but invite them in. [none of the kids are here, if that matters] Steves' response to my song? Sung to the same tune as my song [which I cannot blog :X]
"A Dinky-Dinky Dooooooooooo"
OMG, This giant of a man turning to me and very softly saying that, funny funny man. We have more fun than people.

We had a great first halloween here. All the kids were cute as hell, and very nice, we didn't have any nasty kids around. Steve is thrilled to note that there are some goodies left over :O) Here's a pic of the front door, from the outside, ..what our TnT'ers saw coming up the walk:

And remember my Christmas cactus, that was busting a move? Here it is right now. If any of you know where I can get the white blossom version of this plant, please lmk, I'd love to get one:

This, because the African Violets were NOT to be outdone by the cactus, they LOVE the library, and I love them:

Also, be sure to look at the upcoming holidays at the end of the bloggie....November 5th is National MEN Make Dinner Day. I'll let you know what happens at the Shack. Something rather interesting, I'm sure :o) You'll find a link in the bloggie title.I will be there with pics and all.

November:
1st: Plan Your Epitaph Day
2nd: National Deviled Egg Day
3rd:Sandwich Day and Housewife's Day
5th: National MEN make dinner Day [You can bet your bippy that we celebrate this holiday]

[ps... I was discussing this bloggie with a friend, who suggested you might like this. So here ya go, and Thank You Nin :o)]

http://web.bvu.edu/students/pierama/uselessknowledge.html

AmEx can bite my ass!

Well, we made it over the hump for this year, Steves' inventory is complete. It was more than difficult than usual for him this year, because he is running two different parts departments.....Toyota and Kia...at two different physical locations. Friday, from 7am to 9:30 pm was spent running back and forth between Toyota and Kia. I felt so bad for him. It's an extremely difficult time, and for about a month before the festivities, Steve can be a butt head.

[see how nice I am? Did I say he was an asshole? A Pecker? A Dick? A triple-damn fuckhead? A forgetful schmekel? An impatient peckerwood? A Friggin Freak? A Fucktard weiner dick? A short tempered Shithead? A Boney canneloni? A bullheaded bastard? NO! Because I am a loyal wife and I love him with my whole heart. I would never even THINK those things. Kinda. Most of the time. If I don't have cramps. And my checkbook is balanced.]

I understand. He knows I do, but I get Major wife points [and I can sure USE them, unlike AmEx points]. This year, I got flowers and a card that made me cry [Yeah, no big surprize] Here are the lovlies:

[also...the filler is variegated ficus, so I'm rooting some of it. It's being rooted in a sweet and sour sauce container from chinese food, I also recycle! The gift that keeps giving, hehehe]

It is Sunday, and the most gorgeous day at the Shack. The men are out buying rakes, they destroyed all the ones we had. [Don't ask, but I think it has something to do with not using them as golf clubs or baseballs bats.]And Steve gets to play with his new toy,......a leaf blower. We always thought they were stupid, until we saw the sheer depth of the leaves on our lawn. Hey, they aint so stupid anymore! I'm here cooking for a few days, because the beginning of the work week always sucks for me, my longest days are usually early in the week. The whole house smells loverly, and I am :::::: Drum roll please::::: CAUGHT UP on the housework and laundry. I know this may be hard to believe, but I VACUUMED today! Yup, go buy a lottery ticket!

We've all heard the horror stories about credit card issuers all-of-a-sudden becoming [but not really, they always were] jerks. I have watched interest rates creep up, but I don't carry a balance, so I didn't care. Until American Express entered the Asshat arena. They told me Gail, we LOVE you, no Annual fee!! No, not for you! So I let them love me. Until I got my statement showing the 95 DOLLAR "membership" fee!! I paid for love! Oh NO!!! So, I called and reamed them out, and I said, I am HOLDING the paperwork you sent me, telling me I was a valued FREE member. You know what? She says OK, I'll refund the fee, but I'll have to close your account. WTF????? Oh, you'll have to speak with card services to open a new account if you wish to remain free. WTF??? [the upshot being, EVERY year you have to go thru this shit, or pay the fee.] I don't carry balances on our other c.c's, and they don't make me pay 95$ a year for the privilege. So I cancelled AmEx. You shoulda HEARD that wench, it sounded like I shit on her sacred cow. Oh well, she shit on mine first, neener-neener-neener:

AmEx: Are you SURE you wish to cancel, you would miss so many member benefits, and give up all your member points.Yessssssss, you would MISS us! You do not want to leeeeeeeave!

Me: What member benefits have I ever USED, and how many points do I have right now?

AmEx: Oh, you know, all those nice member benefits, there are too many to go into! You must have used some,correct? Why YES that must be correct!

Me: Try. Name three.

AmEx:um..... we have pretty cards! Oh yessssss,very pretty cards. And that 95$ fee helps us make heart warming commercials! Um,.....plus... um, you can charge party balloons! Oh, Yesssssss,have a party with your AmEx! Par-tee on dude!

Me. Oh. Boy. How many points do I have left?

AmEx: 36!!

Me: and what can I get with 36 points?

AmEx: um.....nothing.Yet! Yesssssss, they will add up fast.Why, you can get a free party balloon for only 10,000 points!

Me: [hey! I posted a "click" here, but evidently Blogger took that as html tags! Can't wait to publish and find out what shows up.]

Oh, and I posted this to facebook, but wanted it in my bloggie too, OMG this is funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLFd9-FPBek


October:
25th: Sourest Day

26th: Worldwide Howl At The Moon Night

Be Not Afraid, Gail.

Hehehe, I loved this:

http://failblog.org/

I could see me doing that, I read things backwards all the time, and have a tendency to reverse numbers, as can be witnessed by my checkbook. And the calculator that is now a part of my checkbook.

This is rich! You know, Steve is allergic to animals, so we have none......yet. We know he will not react to a Bichon, so that is what we are looking to adopt. Cats,......well, cats are OK, but we never considered getting one. How sweet the delicious irony then, that my yard here at the Love Shack has become a cat haven! Even as I type, I have a striped tabby in the front yard, a grey cat curled up under my truck, a black and white stalking a squirrel, a fluffy black cat looking regal on the patio, and an orange and white cat perched on the rock wall at the edge of the property, Glaring at the black cat, you can SEE it thinking "HEY! You want a piece of THIS???" There is STILL the possibility that I can become a crazy cat lady :o)

The job. OK. I'm in love. If we could move this job closer to the Shack, I'd be there til I retire. We're all broken in together, and the "promotion" I got......well, it's a crossword puzzle, anagram, bitch, and ballbuster all at the same time. How could you not love that? Plus, I MISS the gym.........since we bought the Shack, I don't feel comfortable spending money on that. I am in constant motion on the job. You know you're in the groove when you arrive at 7:30, and the next time you look at the clock it's 10:15. You know, I'm the kinda gal, if Mr. Thick-Cut-Crispy Bacon knocks on my door, why, I'll invite him in for a Johnny Walker Black and a chat! :o) Cheese? Honey, that's a food group! I know I could do better in the bacon to veggie ratio. Well, actually I couldn't, I never met a veggie I didn't like. I CAN tell you, I have my mothers metabolism, so I can work twice as hard as some one else for half the results. This job... none of my pants fit any more, they are all too big !!!! and I have 2 people at work who have offered to PAY me to make "my" lunches for them :O) ALL they are, is a sandwich...on a REALLY good home made bread or bakery hard roll or cibatta, a coldcut...I prefer turkey,but have been known to bust a move with the bologna, liverwurst or ham, with TONS of shredded lettuce or greens, and 2 lil bins of assorted fresh veggies, like peppers and cukes, radishes [I LOVE radishes]....that's IT. At least I have a job direction if I get laid off ....lunch lady. ANY of you, who have long commutes and drive them, please hit me with suggestions on how to come to terms with it. I STILL HATE the commute. And that hurts Steve, and that's the LAST thing I want to do. But the job....now, that's pretty damn cool.

Today is Sunday. And I just had a REAL eye opener, an epiphany.
Sunday morning is" the local paper and the NYT, in bed, with a huge mug of coffee" time for me.
Today, I am reading the magazine insert for the local paper, you may have seen it, "Parade". And there is an article titled "What should you worry about ?"

http://www.parade.com/news/2009/10/18-what-should-you-worry-about.html

One of the large print inserts to the article says "We're bad at assessing risk - we panic about the wrong things"

I don't have a panic tendency, but *I* am a world class worrier. I can and do anticipate everything. Makes me well prepared for anything, and it makes me anxious. And I realized, as I read the article, that I wasn't assessing risk correctly. And I do react out of emotion.
For example. Maybe 15 years ago. Steve was working late, and coming home in the dark one night. And in a 55 mph zone, hit a deer. The car was totaled, he was Fine. He and the cop were more upset by what "that damned deer did to his Mustang" than anything else. He called me, told me what happened. OK. But NOTHING prepared me for the site of the Stang. It looked like NO ONE could possibly have walked away from that, let alone drive it home. It was the only time in my life I felt like I might faint. And I NEVER forgot that.
But..now, with my commute. I approach the truck every morning, and my palms are sweaty and my heart is racing, ......which is TOTALLY out of character for me, I have a "Take life by the balls" attitude toward my life........ Because the longest part of my commute is along a road recognized by my state as having a high deer accident ratio. And a few weeks ago I DID have a close call. I saw deer one and deer 2, deer 3 was a pretty big surprize. But all ended well.
And it occurred to me....that when Steve has to commute a long way in foul weather or thru deer central, I have the same physical reaction to it.
Now I'm trying to figure out, why the fear, loathing and anxiety every dingdong morning? Is it based on facts, or "what ifs", of which I am the Queen? Or the sight of a wrecked car 15 years ago? Or a few deer tryin' to get jiggy?
My goal for this week is to approach the commute with an open mind and heart. I will NOT allow anxiety to rear it's head, and I will NOT be afraid of deer, or What-ifs. I don't know what I thought, or if I even ever Gave it a thought. I just assumed that at age 48, I would know these things about myself, I would know who I am. This comes as quite the surprize. And I don't like that type of surprize. "Be Not Afraid"...I'll just keep repeating that to myself.

And this? Because ITA, it's a pet peeve of mine, and it's funny. I think I got this from Dawn but can't find my attribute.So thank you Dawn or whomever:

October:

18th: No Beard Day
19th: Evaluate Your Life Day [looks like I was a day ahead of myself there ]

----->Deipnosophist<-----

Another M-T-W-R-F-S bloggie. I miss blogging!

I think a lot of things are worthy of a chuckle or two, and I am no exception.
I try to keep a library of home made frozen dinners in the freezer, for nights when I come home and just don't have it in me to march my ass from the truck to the kitchen, yanno? I went on a lasagne-making spree a few weeks ago, and THOUGHT I put 2 in the freezer. Tonight, [friday] I will have a few people over, and decided on the lasagne. I go for it at 3pm.........and it ain't there. Oh SHIT. I whip out all the frozen ingredients [I precook the noodles, lay em flat and freeze em, all the ingredients except the sauce] run to the kitchen, and wind up making two huge trays. YAY Gail, right back on track. I wrap the second tray for the freezer, sashay my superior ass down the stairs, open the freezer.....and see 2 lasagnes. I got smart with myself last time I did this. Lined baking dishes with parchment and foil,constructed and froze the lasagnes, and then took them OUT of the dishes and wrapped them for the freezer. *I* was looking for a half steam table insert size lasagne, or a 13x9, not two 8x8's. ALL that for friggin nothing :o) Yay Gail, I think :X Gee, I can outsmart myself!

Speaking of food, a friend posted this to one of my cooking groups today.....a problem with Pyrex, and it's ability to explode:

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/pyrex.asp

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/pyrex.html

This happened to me once,I was baking a ham in a 13x9 pyrex dish, and we all heard a huge explosion. We couldn't locate the cause of the noise, until we smelt pan juices burning on the oven floor. I have NEVER seen anything like that before. And I don't think I ever got all the glass out of that oven,either.


I feel like I've been running on ice this week. I got a [sort of] promotion at work,....the position I'd worked in last week was given to me. It's gonna take a lot to settle down into the job. And I'm just the woman to do it. But there are miles of walking and some heavy lifting, both of which I am capable of. You know how, if you go over the top with the yardwork, the next day some muscles will sing Ave Maria? Well, that's the way it is every DAY right now. Here's to hoping I get over THAT quickly :)

I gotta tell you....I've decided that MAYBE, just maybe, itouch is not from de' debbil after all, I can download TV shows to it to watch them at work! The History Channel, Discover Channel, PBS, most of the networks, they are all available! WOW!!! One thing...if anyone knows how to remove an app once you get it on there, please lmk. I don't have clue one.

And these pics Thrilled me. The angle of the sun changes every DAY in this house, this time of year.These 2 pics were taken in the living room, late afternoon.They are shadows, on the wall, of plants on the opposite windowsill, it's like a work of living art :o)

October:
11th: It's My Party Day
12th:International Moment of Frustration Scream Day
14th: National Dessert Day

Deipnosophist
A good conversationalist at meals.
-Anu Garg, "The Dorg, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two"

------>With a lil help from my Friends<------

Ain't it great? The re-release of remastered Beatles music? You know, a LOT of their stuff is not only in my vocal range, but it lends itself beautifully to the cello also, so the Beatles have a place in my musical heart. I couldn't afford the whole stereo box set, so I went to Amazon, and with Steve and Tone helping, we picked out the albums we HAD to have. That's a LOT of music, to upload to itunes, and find homes for on my musical appliances [will it make you move your feet, does it have a beat? Green shuffle. Will I play Ruby with it? Pink Shuffle. Will it make me feel better on Monday and tuesday? Work shuffle. I ...and it only took me one hour and some extreme cursing.....'cause I found out something about my itouch. It came with 2 cords, and I never gave that a second thought. I could NOT NOT get that friggin thing to sync. Tried a different usb port, rebooted, burned chicken feathers and called upon the powers of the Turkey Whisperer to help. Nada. THEN....I look at the cord. And damned if there is a small tag on it they says, in English no less, "Charging cord only." WTF? Since when did these things comes with a cord like that? When thru my bag o' electrical goodies, and found a cord that allows me to Sync! YAY! So there's my PSA for the day, if you have an itouch and it won't sync, try a different cord.

[an edit.Something else I discovered. If you play an instrument sitting down, and practice with your nano, you can get the mens size wrist band holder for your nano, and it will fit around your leg, so no more sliding off and slamming the floor, making you wince.It looks like this:

[yet another edit. My niece T is an artist. I just saw this on her facebook and have her permission to reproduce it here. I can't top staring at it!

By Mz T:

I'm stuck nose deep in two books right now, I highly recommend them both. The first: "The Dord, the Diglot, and and Avocado or Two", by Anu Garg, he the creator of "A.Word.A.Day" web site. This is definitely something you'll be reading about here. The etymology of words aside, I love a good backstory, as well as the feel of the words. I included an entry at the end of this bloggie for you.
The other book is "The Elements of Cooking" by Michael Ruhlman. He reminds me a lot of Alton Brown, and his approach to the science behind the cooking. I'm getting some flack about this..I always seem to have a cookbook close to hand. Most people who cook with a passion do! This book, and Michaels' book "Ratio" wow, they will blow your mind . If you are a good home cook, you'll be nodding thruout both books, yup, you know that but never thought about it like that before.
I've missed my bloggie, life really has been face paced, but I try to find time to do the things that matter to me. Since we received all the Beatles music this week [and are due to get two more albums on mon.] my cello has been taking precidence over everything else, hehehe. And tomorrow, of course, is back to work. I'm still looking for work closer to home,but I am such a damn creature of habit, big change is very hard for me....not the "new" or "unexpected", but when I have to change a whole part of my life, well, frankly, I find that *that* bites.
And here, my favorite pic of the week. I put this one on facebok, too. Boo spent the night thurs., and wholeheartedly approves of coffee beans going IN their bin, and not all over the Love Shacks' floor, hehehe.... A Big thumbs up from Boo:

October
5th: National Storytelling Festival
6th: German-American Day, Come Take It Day
7th: National Frappe Day

Window
Now here's an etymology that speaks of the poetry of words. A window is, literally, the "wind's eye" Look at how a window opens to let the wind in, and it'll be clear why it was so named in Old Norse, from which it moved into English.

-from "The Dord, the Diglot and an Avocado or Two" by Anu Garg

Lying trucks and plants !

Hey, Im getting better at this ! A Tues-wed-thurs-fri-sat-sun bloggie! That takes talent, or CRS [Can't Remember Shit]. I prefer to think of it as talent. No I did not fall off the face of the earth!

It's around 8 o'clock on tues. Hells Kitchen will come on in a few, and I am sitting here, just wondering if it's a full moon or not,.....I see a daily weather forecast, but not a mooncast. Oooooooooo, let me go look that up. The trivia was just too much to type, so I'm looking for something I'm interested in to end my bloggies. Full moons. They would explain a LOT.

Every time I think I want to quit my job, they up the ante. Usually its a raise. This week, it was a new area to work in. The info comes so fast and furious, and you are in so many "New to you" parts of the building, that the days fly by. The commute still sucks,.... But the job.

THIS is what I've been waiting for, it's the combination of everything I've been taught before, and then being given a world class account and told to "fly", with no directions on how one would do that. The go-to people, for me, are the BEST...the most considerate and understanding......this job had the propensity to be a bitch. Instead, it's an exhausting pleasure. A job that is a living crossword puzzle! HOW can I quit a job I have such an affinity for, to get some dreck closer to home? [oh, also.... 2 tanks of gas a week. That hurts. ESPECIALLY since I've been so good with the "Leadus Footus" aspect of the commute, you'd think tht damn onboard puter would stop lying, at least when Steve gets in and looka at it.It wouldn't be too hard for it to read 22,hell, even 20, when the Man takes it out to gas it up.My truck is bastard-filled bastard truck with bastard coating.

What I wanted to talk about was todays' commute. Almost all the way home, I had clear sailing, which totally put me off my guard for what I found less than 4 miles from home. I got up here into the city, and an Air Force base was having a disaster drill. While the county is TOTALLY redoing the main drag, which includes on and off points for ALL the major highways.So, while you have 7 planes flying over you, scaring the SHIT out of you,....... is it Armegeddon, or something Steve read about and told you about this very morning.......there are no lines painted in the new asphalt. You have 2 new lanes, plus road a crew from HELL.[or the local walmart.....this crew was so bad, I was Laughing while I wanted to cry. And I'm Sure the people around me felt the same way] Those road workers are waiving YOU on. You continue on, and to your HORROR you see that lil blonde bimbo waiving on the lanes next to you...they had a green LEFT HAND TURN sign, that's what their light said, but al of them were accustomed to going straight there. STRAIGHT into my lane. But Bimbo didn't look up at the new light configuration and is waving 3 lanes into my lane Those poor drivers in lanes 1 and 2 were as lost as the rest of us. So all 3 lanes met in MY lane. Oh, happy day. My heart hurts for the travelers...they don't know WTF lane to be in, they don't KNOW about local disaster drill and are probably scared shitless, and they are changing lanes with a vengeance.... I gotta tell you...I didn't blame them one bit.
I am 48, and that was the worst commute I've had in my whole life.
And the best, most challenging day at work.
What would the wise woman do?
I don't know, but I'll tell you what I did.
I loved on my family and waited for the weekend.

Saturday, Steve and the boys went to an auto swap meet . Since they are indulged a passion, I did too.Lots of practicing, and only a little cleaning, hehehe. But.....look at what I saw in the library. This is a Christmas cactus Stevie and Boo bought me 11 years ago. It was a wee little thing labeled as a Christmas cactus, but began to bloom at Thanksgiving, and then as early as Halloween. I give all the plants an up-close and personal each week, so I can nip any problems in the bud [bad pun, I know]. I looked at the cactus this morning:

and saw these,they are blooms :

The Christmas cactus is right on track for it's blooms to open....for Halloween.

And this,...from my friend Kathleen, I thought it was hysterical.
----
Pilot and Aircraft MechanicAfter every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a "gripesheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. Themechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form,and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here aresome actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS ' pilots (markedwith a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenanceengineers. By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never,ever, had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.

S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit

S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.

S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent

S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.

S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.

S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.

S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.

S: Suspect you're right

P: Number 3 engine missing.

S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)

S: Aircraft warned to: straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.

S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.

S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.

S: Took hammer away from midget.
----

September:
27th: Ask a Stupid Question Day
28th: Poisoned Blackberries Day
29th: National Mud Pack Day

Now, *I* knew that!

I had planned to blog to day, and still might get around to it.But this, this was SO delicious that I needed to blog it, all by its lonesome.

http://tinyurl.com/mmjv2v

I have said I live in NY. And that I have absolutely no respect for the hypocrite who is our governor. That would be Paterson.He got the job after our elected Governor, good ol' "Holier than thou" Married Governor Spitzer, was found to have used the services of a whore. Paterson is no more suited to running a state than I am to long commutes :X So, here is the tasty morsel......President Obama has asked Paterson NOT to run for governor in the next election.You see, Paterson is THAT bad,......anyone who runs against him will win by a landslide....and that means a republican.Obama wants the Governor to be a democrat. Delicious irony with a creamy center, and I could have told you that months ago.But what do *I* know??

Something old and something new

I guess it's no surprize that I love gardening. I really miss it, and have already decided where my garden will go next year, as well as the placement of the "living" fence, so we can have some privacy from putz naked ninja neighbor. I've been contenting myself with playing with my indoor garden,my plants.

In the old place, a garden was out of the question, when you live on the backside of a state park, there is simply no way to keep the critters out of a garden. And so I contented myself with growing flowers on my porch. The two flowers I return to time and time again are geraniums and petunias. The geraniums because they remind me of my Mom and Grandma, and the petunias for their vivid colors, graceful growing habits, and distinct scent.

Both of these plants are annuals....they die at the first hard frost.....but not before giving a LOT of seeds out into their environments. These plants shared a porch with my houseplants, I would let them summer outside. So, it's not unheard of for some geranium or petunia seed to make it's way into a houseplant, and come spring, I'd have aliens growing in the houseplant pots.

I guess with the stress of moving, I wasn't paying attention, at the time where I should have removed the "aliens" from the indoor pots, so that the plants weren't competing for nutrients and water. So, something old.....the petunia seeds. Something new, the petunia plants, growing in a [lemon or grapefruit, I can't remember which, just stuck a seed in a pot a few years ago for haha's and would up with this tree] citrus tree pot.

This is a pic of the tree, with the petunias at it's base:

Although a petunia is a annual, I don't know how long it will live inside, under houseplant conditions, and this might mean trouble for the citrus.To yank or not to yank? Do I leave the petunia in it's splendor, or rip it out by the roots? Why I'm ruminating over that, what do I see?

Last week, Boo brought her spider plant over. It had to be divided, it was as pot bound as they come.So we made 2 plants out of it. Boo couldn't take the plants home right away, so I volunteered to babysit them for her. She'd ask me this week every time we spoke, how her plants were doing, and I said, oh they're planning a take over with the maranta and the Thanksgiving cactus. Little did I know.
You've all seen spider plants, they throw out aerials, which produce babies complete with roots, and lil white flowers. Well, it appears that Boos spider plants want to get down with my plants. In both these pics, it is BOO's 2 spiders, not mine,hehehe, getting happy with a maranta as well as an immature palm plant.

The maranta and the spidie:

And the spidie makin luuuuuv to the palm:

I LOVE that! And what is funnier to me, is that the spider, palm and marantas in question all have similar water light and nutrient needs, so if I were to allow this, they might look very good together [I nixed allowing it to live with the maranta, the maranta grows so low to the soil the spider would die underneath it.] Can you see, a dark green upright palm with spider plants swirled all around at it's base? I'll report back when they get jiggy with it ;o)

This week marks the loss of Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/arts/music/17travers.html?_r=3&hp

I can't tell you how deeply that affected me. I have mentioned that I grew up in a patriarchal family of 8, where the sons were the important ones. It seemed like Every single thing I wanted was a struggle, because a girl didn't do that. Play the violin? Are you CRAZY? Switch to cello OMG, now I KNOW you're crazy.

Ah, though, to see Mary. And to think, if *I* had a hammer, no kidding that song was an anthem for me. As is most of their body of work. Of all of [their body of work] all the social implications it had, for all they did to raise social consciousness, my single favorite work is "Leaving on a Jet Plane". I went to YouTube to post it here for you, but I can't give it to you. I have the original, on every music playing device that I own. Simply because it is beautiful. The vocal harmonies are front and center, over the guitars and string base, and the song speaks of such longing, I can really relate to it. It was simply lovely. Not a societal commentary, not a peace commentary, it just stood on it's own. IMHO, it was a unique song performed by a unique group at a time in my life where I remember where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard it. It froze me in my tracks. I mentioned this specific work in a discussion about Peter Paul and Mary shortly after Mary died, and I was poo-pooed, oh, that was one of their songs that had no SOCIALLY RELEVANT MEANING. Who gives a fuck? I dont. I don't like hearing that a group has to stay pigeon-holed into anyones' definition of them. I don't believe that because a piece doesn't have SOCIAL RELEVANCE that it should not be part of a discssion about a groups body of work [I'm sorry, the poster spoke with such bombastic self-assurance I chose to bow out of the discussion. 3 coats of epoxy, opinion set now, no talking about it] Not every thing out of every SOCIALLY RELEVANT artists mouth has to drip with activism, or peace-seeking. Sometimes, they can just speak from the heart. Thanks, Mary, I appreciated you. Still do, and always will.