------>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