We Interrupt This Program….

no, i still don’t have a constant internet connection, they who shall remain nameless will be here tomorrow to fix it.

i’m still behind in my internet activities, but the good news is that i’ve managed to complete some things around the house, like clean out my refrigerator. the bad news is that now i can see i have no food. it almost seems cheaper to eat out than to buy groceries.

it was nice having a three day weekend, most of the time i spent in the house cleaning and organizing stuff. i pulled out some old music cds, strapped on my tens unit for endurance and pretended to be on soul train.

i think i released too many feel good endorpines in the process, now i’m just in cleaning mode and don’t feel like going back to work, but i don’t get paid to stay home.

i need a vacation then.

we have tentative plans for canada in august and have to take the kid to get her passport, uh soon. oh, i got my passport back and it only took a week. i was so sure that they were going to send it back to me with a rejection letter saying the picture was too hideous and to re-take it.

i even showed it to my mom and she opened and closed it like it was kryptonite. what happened to having a face only a mother could love? she didn’t get the manual on parental behavior when kids bring home ugly art work. you smile at it anyway. my pillar of truth, my mom. gotta get her some acting lessons.

the regular schedule of this blog will resume, soon. here’s a video i made (with music) of my fish fighting over food. i have a new found respect for video editors.

My So-Called Life

Before I start rambling, I have to say thanks to my daughter Victoria for filling in for me on Wednesday, thanks sweetie. I see she has some responses to get to and I’m glad you all enjoyed her post. She keeps me laughing.

I’m in the process of trying to get myself a little more organized, which is kind of hard to do when you feel like you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I started taking vitamins again and for a few days they were working, but then I slumped back into the feeling of needing a daytime nap. Maybe I need iron pills.

My “diet” just isn’t working. I really wasn’t on a diet, I was eating the same foods, but less of it with exercise several times a week. Today is my weigh in, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was back where I started. A co-worker gave me the South Beach Diet book to read and out of curiosity I will, although I recently heard on my favorite radio show that our weight is already determined in our genetics. We may go up and down a few pounds, but our weight is going to be what it is, not what we want. I still plan to drop 15lbs and I have 3 months to do it.

In two weeks, my job is bowling for a charity and word got out that I was the competition. I used to be the competition, but I haven’t bowled on a regular basis in years. Being in a league just got too expensive, so if I go now, it’s for relaxation. I went bowling at lunch time twice this week, once to beat up on someone (we split two games) and the second time just for fun with a coworker. I sacrificed a few finger nails, but it was worth it.

I also misplaced my flash drive, which has me a wee bit concerned because I had copies of my manuscripts, client bills and other personal information, most not password protected. It’s kind of unlike me to lose something outside of the home, so I’m going to keep looking around the house. I bought a new flash drive and this one is attached to my key ring. Now all I have to do is keep up with my keys.

So, it’s been a productive week, I got a lot of things done, caught up on some reading, (I’m even listening to a book on tape..never thought I could get into that, however, nothing replaces holding a book in your hand, well almost nothing). I watched Jeopardy several times this week, watched some movies and stayed in bed a little longer. I’m working on my schedule though, I still need to keep up with my so-called life.

My Week In Review

I’m not complaining, but these last few days have been challenging, so I thought I would share my week in review….

For starters, I’ve been rather cranky this week…at least four people called me on my attitude, two of them being my boss. I felt awful for showing my second head in public and apologized. I wasn’t feeling well and after getting some rest, the monster subsided. I need more than 7 hours of sleep too.

One morning I was sitting at my computer and the power went out in two rooms, one being the kitchen. I flipped the circuit breaker switch, but nothing I did restored power, so what did I do? I went into the living room and prayed for a “let there be light” miracle. I asked God if he could please turn the power back on because I had to go to work soon and didn’t want to leave my ‘fridge without power. Now I’m not one to pray only when I need something, I pray everyday, and I don’t know what made me think I could call in a favor, but I did…power was not restored, there was no miracle. A few minutes later it hit me… since only two rooms lost power, I could run an extension cord from the kitchen to a live outlet. Bingo, my refrigerator was working. Before I started to pat myself on the back for being so smart, I smiled and realized that could have been his miracle and I remembered to say thank you. A fuse was replaced later that night.

Came home one evening to find Cheeks, our hamster missing from her cage (a glass aquarium). Not only was she missing, but she stole food we had on the floor next to her cage. I’m only impressed because at least she was smart enough to take food with her on her trip, the last hamster we had escape I found him chewing on a plastic bag. We found her in the living room and lured her to another cage with food. Cheeks is available for adoption.

My daughter has been sick off and on for the past three weeks, digestive problems. No sooner than I get to work one day I get a call from the school nurse who says she needs to be picked up. Daddy was out of state this week so that left me. I sat for a few minutes before I thought of what to do and then I called Mom and she was able to pick her up. Later I took her to a friend’s house and she played all afternoon with no problems. Hard to believe she was the same sick child. I sometimes threaten to put my daughter back where she came from, fortunately, she knows her mom is kidding and we don’t expect her to suffer any psychological damage from my musing. However if she does come out with a tell all book, please support her work as I’m sure she will need the money to pay for the nursing home she’s going to put me in.

I put in a little more than a 1/2 tank of gas in my car and almost cried at the pump because it cost me $24.00. It used to only cost $13.00 to fill up my tank. (How much does it cost to fill up your car?) I sometimes take my car out of gear and let it roll down hills to save gas. I don’t know if this works, but it makes me feel better.

This was my week in review and I’m kind of glad it’s over. Now that you’ve peeked inside my week in review, how was your week, did anything exciting happen?

We’re Not In Kansas Anymore

Dorothy was right, “there’s no place like home”. Whether I’m out of the country or across town there’s always a certain excitement I feel when it’s time to go home and then it hits me. Culture Shock! I arrive from: what’s green to what’s that on the ground. My neighbors don’t pick up crap and I guess I shouldn’t complain because I found 5 dollars on the ground yesterday afternoon, but some times I look around in disgust and think, this place is a dump! On paper, we live in a somewhat affluent neighborhood, (but we’re broke…we don’t even have a nanny) one that is thought to be clean, where people take care of their property, and in a few places it is, a facade. You think you are going to be living next to The Cosbys and your neighbor turns out to be Sanford and Son. I guess every town has a ghetto and my block is it. Too bad we don’t live on paper.

The beginning part of my vacation was great, I sat on my derriere for hours at a time watching the last set of my Beauty and the Beast DVD series, gosh I miss that show! I finished one book and started another. I also did a light workout just to keep me from getting too lazy. What’s funny is that when I’m away, I don’t comb my hair unless I really have to and even then, I fake it. I do the Donald Trump comb over and hope for the best.

However, when I get back, I go straight to my hair salon pointing at my matted down hair asking my stylist if she can fix this. This home coming was no different. The salon was empty and on this rare occasion my stylist also washed my hair as well. Okay, if you don’t have nails, you should not be allowed to wash hair. Period. That is the job requirement. Normally someone else washes my hair, does a sloppy job too, but she has nails! She supposed to be washing the back of my head, but her hand reaches down the back of my neck and sometimes I’m lying back in the chair thinking: if your hand goes any lower, you better pull out a ring next time. I didn’t ask for a hair cut this time, but I got one. (You just have to teach yourself how not to cry when you see more of your hair on the floor than you do on your head. I think I’ve mastered that skill, it will grow back.) I was undecided about coloring my hair to get rid of the gray because I’m considering testing out my black permanent Sharpie Marker. I don’t know if it colors hair and if it doesn’t, I’ll just cut them out, there’s only a few.

Today I went NYC to see The Lion King and acted like a tourist, I’m so ashamed of myself. All that was missing was the camera dangling around my neck. It was a nice show and the music was great. It rekindled my love for theatre, but it’s so expensive. I actually tipped the lady in the bathroom! Personally, I think they should have tipped me for even getting up to use the bathroom, but I made the most of my tip and used it three times.

So I can’t believe it’s almost Thursday, the week flew by and I barely touched this house (to clean) and I haven’t met my friend for lunch yet, hopefully, I’ll do that tomorrow. So, I’m going to enjoy what’s left of my vacation because all it takes is about a half hour at work to undo this calm I’m experiencing now…and people have to wonder why I stop short in the hallway and click my heels, Dorothy already told us:

Ring Me Up!

Do you recognize these tags? I have so many of them, about 15, on my key ring, that my keys are in the way. The bigger ones I have to keep in my wallet.

I hate going into a store looking for a particular one because some are facing in the wrong direction and under pressure to keep the line moving, all of a sudden I can’t find it. Sometimes I just hand my keys to the cashier and ask if they can find the right one. Other times, I try to hold that particular tag between my thumb and index finger to show them I’m ready.

I’m afraid not to add one on my key ring because I don’t want to miss out on something, like a sale or .10 cents off my total bill. I know if I use my little Shop-Rite tag all year long, at the end of the year I qualify for a free turkey I will not eat. Just think, without these tags, I will never be able to look at my receipt and see how much I saved.

A few weeks ago, I thought I lost my car keys. You know what flashed before my eyes? These tags! Some of them I can’t replace and I don’t want to lose whatever I’ve accumulated.

I haven’t tried this service yet, Just One Club Card, but it allows you to have 8 of your cards on one bar code. I am going to give it a try and I’ll report back!

How many do you have on your key ring?