Just like going to the market with Gung Gung

(That's grandpa for those who need a translation.)

Today we went to the Italian deli to pick up some grating cheese (grated Parmesan cheese, but A's family always calls it grating cheese) and I couldn't resist walking by the bakery section. I decided to splurge and get a cookie (and if you know me, you know that really is a splurge, lol). I had to take a little time to decide between two varieties, then the girl behind the counter handed my choice to me with a smile. No charge. Big smile on my face. I felt just like a kid again.

Gung gung used to take me to the market with him and I'd get a big ol' breadstick from the man behind the counter. They were kept in a huge glass jar on the top of the counter. The man had to reach way over and I'd have to reach way up to grab my treat. Mom didn't like it because she said it would spoil my appetite. So if she wasn't with us, I could gobble the whole thing down myself instead of it being broken in half (or thirds) and shared. Of course, there was always evidence when I got home since I'd be covered in crumbs, no matter how much I tried to hide them. And yes, I ended up with cookie crumbs in my lap, lol.

I'm sure others feel this way too

I was reading dooce, one of my favorite blogs and this make me laugh out loud, "Jon...was shaking his head at me, like, woman, I know that I agreed to spend the rest of my life with you, I just had no idea it would be this embarrassing." I know A feels that way sometimes. Hopefully it is only sometimes and not all the time, lol.

Thank yous

Thank you to the manager at the Chinese restaurant. I really appreciate your patience with my dad who moves slower than molasses. It was thoughtful (and smart) of you to ask the bus boys and dim sum ladies to move their carts out of his way as we made our way through your busy restaurant. And then the mad waving of your arms was a sight to see, but at least dad saw where you were standing and made his way over to the elevator without my prompting.

Thank you to the man in the parking lot who came out to his car just as we were getting out. Thank you for your patience as we slooooowly helped dad out of the car. And for not getting mad when Dad thought that you were staring at him.

Thank you to the clerk at Sears for your cheery attitude and patience with the long line of customers.

Thank you to Auntie MJ for being such a good friend to Mom. We enjoyed your visit and of course, we enjoyed your yummy homemade cookies.

Thank you to the family and friends who've supported and loved us during another difficult year.

The joys of Christmas

This year, Christmas was (as usual) full of sadness, stress, anger, and oh, a bit of joy. We did the usual running around to all the family places. There were a few lost tempers, but also much appreciation among ourselves for everything we're doing for the family. W hates thank yous so I never said it to him. Sometimes you show your love and appreciation by actions, rather than words. I think he appreciated us doing things like changing out the kitchen lights (my idea, A's labor and expertise), driving Mom to the grocery store (all four of them so she could get the best deal), attempting the balance the checkbook, and suggesting that he leave early and letting him know we could handle the rest of the visits without him.

W was extremely generous with his gifts. He's always generous that way, too much so. I guess that's his way of showing his appreciation. Mom felt bad because she didn't get us much, but we're just happy to spend time with her. It was wonderful to see J (and B). I just wish we had more time to spend together. I really couldn't relax until a couple days into the visit and by then they had to leave.

Uncle T recently stopped driving (his doctor told him to stop driving) and is feeling the loss of freedom. He really wasn't driving much, probably less than once a week, but it is the idea that he can no longer come and to as he pleases. I really think this is the beginning of end. I haven't seen him so sad since Auntie L died. Physically, he is much weaker than when I saw him a few months ago.

Anyway, I only cried a bit during the visit (but didn't cry when I said goodbye to J or Mom), but did cry a lot on the drive home. That's about par for the course.

Any questions about this post? Please e-mail me instead of asking here.

Cards and wrapping paper and ribbon, oh my!

I just finished the last (I hope) of my Christmas cards, although I am expecting a few more since a few people asked for my address. My problem is I've run out of Christmas cards. And if you know me at all, you know how strange that is. I usually buy my cards after the holidays, but I had so many boxes, I stopped buying. And now I'm in trouble because I've only got a few leftovers from previous years, but I don't like sending the same cards to people and I can't remember who I sent them to. So it looks like some people will be getting repeats. I hope they don't notice.

I better hit the after Christmas sales this year and get a few boxes of cards, plus toss (give to Goodwill) all the onsie and twosie leftovers. Basically, if I receive your card after I send out my usual batch, you don't get a card for the year. But I definitely add you to the list for next year.

I still need to wrap about 10 presents. I'm definitely in a bah humbug mood now, lol.

That's what friends are for

I've been feeling really down about work and life in general. Everything seems way too complicated and I am constantly worried about money (that's not news to anyone, I'm sure).

Last night, I was doing my usual wasting time on the computer and decided to turn on AIM. To my surprise, two friends immediately IM'd me to say hi and I've missed you. Wow, didn't think anyone would notice if I wasn't around and here I get a double dose of love. Thanks for cheering me up!

Oink! Oink!

We still have Halloween candy in the house, leftover treats from the LM crop, cookies from the cookie exchange, and various other snacks in the house. Add to that all the vendor goodies that have shown up at the office, and I'm suffering from sweets overload. So far we've received a small Harry and David basket, a huge Harry and David basket, assorted chocolates, and a huge basket of Mrs. Field's cookies. Yes, I ate my share and maybe more, lol.

On top of that, we had our department holiday lunch. Ohhhh, so yummy! We had Ethiopian food. Some of the food was catered and some was prepared by our admin. She's so sweet; she was afraid there wouldn't be enough food so she made several dishes to bring. All at her own time and expense. She wouldn't take any money for it. But next time, I know better. I can leave the money with an anonymous note on her desk and then she'll have to take it!

We were all game and ate traditionally with the injera bread instead of forks. But towards the end of the meal, I cheated and used a fork because I was too full from the bread and wanted to have more of the entrees. I think she asked the caterer to make the dishes milder than usual. Once, she brought in some food that she had cooked for us to sample and it was quite fiery.

I found this website that talks about Ethiopian food. But it doesn't do into the details about how time consuming it is to really cook the dishes. First, she prepares the butter (it sounds similar to preparing ghee, but with spices). Then she browns chopped onions (she loves her food processor). These are used in so many dishes, she prepares large quantities ahead of time and freezes the onions so they are available whenever she's cooking. She told us about how much work it is to wash and cut up the meat by hand. Whenever family or friends go back to Ethiopia, they bring back suitcases full of spices, even bringing back an extra suitcase and paying extra for it because it is cheaper than mail order.

Anyway, today was a special treat. Thank you! (And I can't tell you her name because she'd be embarrassed.)

Food choices

Most of us have a choice in what we eat. I assume if you're reading this, you own a computer at home and thus have an adequate income to have purchased it. So you (and I) don't have to worry about where our next meal is coming from and we can choose whether to eat out or at home, to eat french fries or fruit.

This city in England also made a choice. I love it!

So sad

It was with a heavy heart that I read the news of James Kim's death. I wasn't even cautiously optimistic, though I was excited that they were going to drop survival packs with a personal message for James along the route he might have walked. Unfortunately, before they were able to do that, his body was found.

I found it interesting that all the news sites, a few blogs, and all the scrapbooking sites I frequent all followed his and his family's story.

My condolences to the Kim family.

Missing

No, this isn't in reference to my previous post, but the title is apt. I originally wrote about the missing cnet editor, James Kim. I followed the story this morning and started blogging about it during my lunch break. Unfortunately, I somehow lost the post and was unable to recover it. The updated good news is his wife and children were found. Unfortunately, as of tonight, he is still missing.

His story, along with something that happened a couple weeks ago, got me thinking. But first, here's what happened a couple weeks ago. A friend e-mailed me to confirm plans for this weekend. She sent it to an e-mail address that I check frequently, but not daily. So it took me an extra day or so to reply to her. I didn't hear back from her right away, but I wasn't too worried since I thought she might be traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday. I called her about a week later and didn't hear back from her the next day. So I started to get concerned. Perhaps she was still traveling? Or maybe she was sick? My next thought was that I could call her sister to see if she knew what her plans were. I don't have her phone number, but I do know where she works. The Internet is a wonderful tool for sleuthing. She ended up calling me back two days after I left the message. She laughed good naturedly when I told her I was getting worried after not hearing from her, but she also said that it made her feel good. That someone cared about her. She's single so there is no one to miss her if she doesn't come home. And she works out of her home so there isn't an office staff to miss her. As we talked, I realized it could be so easy to disappear, at least for a while.

The Kim family was missing for about a week before a search was called. Would someone wait that long before searching for me? When A and I travel, we're pretty casual about it. Yes, we make reservations at hotels so we know we have a place to stay. But we don't tell people when and where we're going, especially if it is just a weekend trip.

I have a friend who is obsessive about planning her travel. She has a detailed itinerary for the entire trip, with each day's events planned down to the hour. She leaves this itinerary (along with hotel and airline info) with a couple of family members, so if they need to get a hold of her, they know how to. Probably something between what I do and what my friend does is reasonable. But I would hope that if I were missing, someone would miss me before too many days had passed.

Poof, it's gone

So much for blogging during my lunch hour. I just clicked the wrong button and lost four paragraphs.

Good deeds

I've been in a bad mood lately so rather than post about that, I thought I'd write about something nice instead.

A few weeks ago, a relative went to get his flu shot at a local clinic. The wait was really long and his back was starting to hurt so he squatted down to relive the pressure. The man in line in back of him got him a chair and everytime the line moved, he moved the chair. This went on for 45 minutes. When they got to the front of the line, he put the chair back where he got it. I was so touched when I heard about this man's kindness.

Awesomeness at the LSS

LSS = local scrapbook store for the non-scrapbooking readers

An LSS had an "open house" today with almost everything in the store on sale (but they had a 30% off coupon you could use on a new item that wasn't on sale). Minimum sale price was 25% off with some stuff 50% off. Now I wish I had bought more cardstock. You can never have enough cardstock you know. ;)

They had several awesome make-and-takes...for free! Awesome, awesome, awesome! I made a cute little Christmas hanging decoration, some very cute to/from tags, and an incredible cookie recipe book. It was incredible; I even bought an extra to use as a gift. The women who designed the projects did a huge amount of prep work. Everything was not only cut out, they were all preglued also. Now that's above and beyond. I could have stayed all day, but alas, I do have a life outside of scrapbooking.

Anyway, it a lot of fun (plus I got to spend some time with L). Just wanted to share my good day.

I'm a cranky old lady

At least that's what I feel like at work today. There were lots of conversations of why can't we, and why don't we, and why did he/she? I'm not against progress and I'm not into pointing fingers (and honestly, I don't think most of my coworkers are either), but having these conversations one after another just puts me in a bad mood.

Really, all I want you to do is get to your point so I can respond and move on. And if you don't want to hear my opinion, don't ask.

Scrapper Wish List

With all the holiday wish lists being advertised, I thought I'd create my own here. So if I could have any scrap-related gifts I wanted, here are my top five picks:
1. Someone to organize my scrap stuff
2. The new Quickutz Revolution and Washington font
3. A trip to the Heidi Swapp/Bazzill convention thingie in AZ next year
4. A large format scanner (even though I don't have too much trouble stitching)
5. An unlimited supply of Bazzill

What's on your scrap wish list?

Odd dream

A few days ago I had the strangest dream. I dreamed that I was having trouble seeing so I decided to take out my contact lens. As it turns out, my contact lens were the problem...because I was wearing several pairs on top of each other! They were different size and different colors; I think I was wearing three pairs. Now, that's impossible (I assume it is impossible though I haven't tried it). Anyone care to analyze this dream?

Veteran's Day

Is it appropriate to say Happy Veteran's Day? Does anyone care? I was quite moved to hear all the publicity and interviews on the news and NPR. I think I have a different point of view from many of my peers because of my background. I'm somewhat of an in-betweener. My father served in WWII, but before I was born. So I don't have any experience with a father/relative being away at war like someone older or younger than me might. I was vaguely aware of the Vietnam War growing up, but didn't know anyone who was drafted. Hardly any of my coworkers have parents or brothers who were drafted. The majority of people I know are anti-military. So as not to start any debates, I usually keep my mouth shut.

For my father and most of my relatives who served in WWII, there was a lot of pride in their military service. We flew the flag on July 4th, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, etc. I loved seeing the flag wave in the wind. We always went to watch the parades downtown and there were always events at the American Legion posts.

It saddens me when I think about how my father was turned away when he first tried to enlist. They didn't want his kind. But those he served with didn't have any choice when he was drafted.

We don't talk about the war, about how it affected him. A bit of lost history there. Maybe it is enough that I'm proud of my father and uncles who served. Happy Veteran's Day Dad.

My voting adventure

When I got my sample ballot in the mail, I noticed I had a new polling place, a fire station a few blocks away. I was a bit concerned about the location because I knew there was a lot of roadwork going on in the area and parts of that street were blocked off.

Yesterday morning, I'm off to vote. Traffic is heavy in the morning so I took a slightly longer route to the polling place. Just as I feared, the street was blocked to southbound traffic so I drove several blocks around the subdivision to enter from the opposite side. Unfortunately, the street was blocked on that side also. So I went home to call the Registrar of Voters to make sure my polling place hadn't changed. No it hadn't and they gave me an alternate route to the fire station.

So off I go again. This time, I had no trouble getting there, but had to park a block away from the fire station (no biggie). There was a line of people (the polling place was in their huge garage) so I had to wait a bit (not unexpected, and again no biggie). Then a poll worker announced, "We're having technical difficulties." Great, just great. Only one out of the eight or so electronic polling booths work. No wonder there's a line. Somehow, we find out paper ballots are available, but she can't offer them to us; we have to ask for them (must be some legal restriction about offering alternative voting forms). I decided not to wait for the electronic poll and ask for a paper ballot. So I had to go through the verification again because they had to figure out which ballot to give me.

After I finished voting, I leaned over to place my ballot in the ballot box on the floor. When I stood up, I hit my head on some tubing that ran from the floor to the ceiling. The poor poll workers were besides themselves with worry. I wasn't hurt at all; the tubing wasn't hard and I really just tapped my head. I sure was glad to get my "I voted" sticker; I think I earned it this year.

Rules of the road

I guess the rules of the road changed since I learned how to drive. It seems you are only supposed to pause, not stop, when making a right turn at a red light. And you are no longer supposed to yield to on-coming traffic. And signaling when you need to change lanes? Forget it!

I consider myself a decent driver, but considering how many times I was honked at (three) tonight (all for yielding to on-coming traffic), you'd think I should stay off the road. Sigh. I do miss living in an area with good public transportation.

Sometimes you estimate wrong

We went away for a few days and left Rascal alone. We had someone checking the house, but didn't want to burden them with the rabbit. As it turns out, we left the rabbit alone about half a day, maybe a day too long.

I had been monitoring his water and food intake very carefully over the past few weeks since I knew we'd be traveling. He had never finished his water in all that time. I knew that there was a strong possibility that he'd finish all his food in the first day or two (but he'd still have his hay), but I never imagined he'd finish his water. :(

Thank goodness I checked on him as soon as we got home. But I think he was okay. Given fresh water and food, he was more interested in the food .

Tempo tales

What is Tempo you ask? They're a brand of tissues available in Europe and other parts of the world and hard to find in the US. It turns out, a coworker bought some on his recent European trip and fell in love with them. They're much heavier (4-ply) than the tissues available here. He was raving about them to another coworker and he thought they were fantastic. Another coworker overheard them and said that her husband loved them too (I'm noticing a theme here) and brought them back whenever he took a trip to Europe (me, I'd prefer chocolate). Lest you think that all we do at work is discuss sundries, I'm sure these were very short conversations that took place during lunch or after hours (I can't say for sure though because this happened when I was at Memory Trends and I was told all this later).

Anyway, I saw the Tempo tissues in my coworker's cubicle and he was talking about ebay. I was like, huh? What do those two things have to do with each other. As it turns out, you can buy anything on ebay, including Tempo tissues. The above mentioned coworkers went in on a group buy and purchased a few hundred packs of Tempo tissues. They were thrilled to get them for approximately 11 cents each, including shipping. At that, I informed them that the tissues are available at the 99 Cents store. They were dumbfounded and perhaps even a bit skeptical.

So on the way home, I purchased a few packs of the tissues. Cost? 99 cents+tax for an 18 pack. It came out to about 6 cents each. They felt a bit sheepish then and I think I may be making another trip to the 99 cents store after the cold season, lol.

Memory Trends

I just got back from a big scrapbooking tradeshow, Memory Trends. It was held in Las Vegas so it was a pretty easy travel trip for me. I was a little nervous since I was going to be staffing a printer station up front, to draw people into the booth. I felt like a carnival barker (step right up little lady and let me show you this AMAZING printer!). It turned out to be easier than I thought. I think I sold a few printers, but don't really know since I don't have any way to track it. Some people said they'd be coming back on Thursday to order, but I wasn't working that station to see. I was also a "rover" to help wherever needed and worked the 4x6 printer station. Now that was easy! Even though I had never used those printers, I was still able to expound its various features. Guess I can think on my feet better than I thought! I did take the time to review all the marketing material I could find before I left for the show so that was helpful.

I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to walk to show and take pictures of all the new stuff. And I wish I had spent more time reviewing the previews at LM. Then I really would have known what to look for.

The show is much smaller than CHA so I didn't feel as overwhelmed (as in sensory overload) as I did there. Plus it was scrapbooking stuff instead of all crafts supplies ('cause you know I like it all, lol). I think most of the manufacturers do their big annoucements at Winter or Summer CHA. I got mixed messages from a lot of manufacturers. Everyone tried to put on a good front, but you could tell that they were tired of three shows a year. Plus there are other shows they might be attending, the NY Stationary show and other events. Who knows how much traveling they might be doing.

I did get to have dinner with several LMers, some of whom I already knew and some of whom I met for the first time. Of course, they are all very sweet. We had a good laugh with T who turns out to be more naive than me. W is superwoman. V is as fun and bawdy as ever. L is just a sweetheart. Unfortunately, we were sitting too far away from each other to talk much.

All in all, I'm glad I was able to go. It was great to get away from the office for a few days and feel like I was still contributing to the company.

Tag - Songs, more

or rather, not more since no one took my tag, lol! So either those people don't read my blog, don't care, or both. Oh well, I tried.

Tag - Songs

I usually put blog tags in the same category as those pass-it-on emails and ignore them in general. Usually because they are too long, require too much thought, and require me to put too much of my private life online. I was tagged by S; I'm supposed to list seven songs I'm really enjoying right now. Although it should be easy enough for me to do, it isn't. First of all, I don't listen to the radio that often, nor do I listen to my CDs very often.

So I'm going to modify the list to include a few favs that I've heard recently:
Over the rainbow/what a wonderful life by Iz (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole)
Pacabel's Canon (saw/heard an electric guitar version on you tube)
Lady in Red (TV commercial)
Long time gone by the Dixie Chicks
(title unknown) by Coldplay

I had to struggle to get to five; how sad is that?!!?

I tag Kristie, Misty, Dianna, Lisa, and Stephanie. Remember, seven songs that you enjoying right now. Now let's see who really reading my blog, lol.

Nice to know I'm missed

Thanks S! I didn't realize it had been a month since I updated. Let's see if I can sum it up. I named my rabbit Rascal, because he is a little rascal (and oh so cute!). I've been trying to train him, but it is slow going.

Arctic Frog (a SB company) had their huge Deal or No Deal contest all summer and I entered twice and placed in the top 10 once so that's a pretty good track record. (Now if only there was a design team looking for simple layouts like mine....)

Work slowed down for a bit, but based on all the e-mails going around today and the meetings scheduled for this week, that will end soon.

I was trying to lose some weight, but decided to just try to maintain until January. I'm doing a lot of traveling over the next month, plus the holidays are coming up. So I don't want to yo-yo diet.

Family is doing fine. Garden isn't, lol. That's about it.

The $150 dollar rabbit

I am now the proud parent of a golden brown rabbit. It arrived via BIL's MIL. Don't ask; it is a longish story. Anyway, this is the new addition to the family I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I was hoping to announce via photos or a SB page, but since I don't have either yet, you get a regular post.

Why $150? Well, the lumber and parts to make the hutch ran about a hundred. And yesterday, we went to the pet store to get food, a water bottle, a harness (yes, I hope to take it for walks), and treats, and that was $30. Plus A had to get a few more supplies so let's just round the cost up to $150. I was going to take the rabbit in for a checkup, but that is $45-60. If I get it fixed, that's another $80-$150. So I don't plan on doing either any time soon. So far the rabbit seems healthy. I don't even know if it is a he or she. And no, you can't tell, just by looking, depending on the age of the rabbit and I don't know how old it is. I suspect I have a he though.

I'm still trying to decide on a name.

Too much multi-tasking is a bad thing

Tonight there was a cool chat on the Arctic Frog website tonight (more on that later). Unfortunately, I was in the middle of cooking dinner and kept running back and forth between the kitchen and computer. In my haste, I burned my wrist. It kinda of matches the burn on my hand from a couple of weeks ago. Geez, combine this with my previous post and I'm a downright mess!

Arctic Frog is a cool scrapbooking company and they're having their own Deal or No Deal contest. A good friend of mine won two weeks (congratulations S!) and and was a finalist again this week. Another friend was also a finalist and she was also chosen to play. Woo hoo! It was great fun to be part of the "audience" and almost makes me want to try out. (Don't go getting any ideas S. I don't have any AF paper anyway.)

Purty colors

That's how I'm describing this lovely bruise on my inner wrist. I noticed it a few days ago and have been watching it progress from pinkish-purple to yellow-green to dark purple. What is most interesting is it was yellow-green this morning and I noticed it was purple just now. I have no idea how I got it. Part of my natural grace, I guess.

Lotto

One of my favorite Lotto commercials was on TV (the family reunion at the baseball stadium) and I asked A if he knew what my favorite Lotto commercials were. He successfully named the other two (the family watching the numbers in their "living room" and the dad who brings in snow for the kids), and then asked me if I knew what his favorite commercial was. I said no. His favorite commercial is "the one where we win." Tee hee, I hope we win soon!

Lots of changes online

I got back from a short visit with family and friends (more on that later) and discovered lots of changes online. One of my favorite bloggers took down her blog. I don't know why and will e-mail her to make sure she's okay. A message board where I lurked doesn't have non-SB topics anymore. Or maybe they do and I can't see them because I'm not a member.

I wonder why these changes occurred. Privacy issues? Legal concerns? In any case, the internet is much less interesting now.

A new addition to the family

A is outside right now, working on an addition for the newest member of our family. Bet that got your attention! Will update with more news later.

(Or maybe this is just a test to see how many people read my blog and comment/contact me about today's entry, tee hee.)

Scrapbooking inferiority complex

I went to crop at the LSS last night so I could try finish a page that I started last week. (Hey, at least I was being realistic about my goal.) It certainly made packing easier since I brought only what I needed for that one page. Unfortunately, after I finished the page, I decided that I need to redo it, sigh. Guess I'll be doing that this week.

As I watched L, K, and S (and all the other scrappers I didn't know) work on their pages, I felt so inadequate. I was so impressed by their work. When I work on my pages, I'm happy with what I've done. But when I see other people's pages, I think that mine don't hold a candle to them (perhaps not a good metaphor to use around paper).

At crops, everyone always praises each others work, but I wonder if everyone is just being polite about my pages, you know, the obligatory That's Great, Cute, Whatever Adjective you can come up with on short notice.

I've submitted work for publications, tried out for a design team (and still need to scrap that experience), and have entered some contests. I'm so optimistic when I enter and so disappointed when nothing comes of it. I'm not sure I can handle any more blows to my ego.

I'm psychic

Or at least it seems that my carpool partner and I are psychic. We have a set time to meet and it seems like whenever one of us is late, the other will be also. For example, she called me this morning to say that she just left the house so was obviously running late. I told her that I wasn't on the freeway yet, so I was running late too. She burst out laughing and decided to stop for a Starbucks, her treat. So sometimes times running late pays off, lol.

Every week, we say we're going to turn over a new leaf and both be early. It hasn't happened yet. I used to make more of an effort, but now that she's a crackberry addict, I know she can work in the car while waiting for me. When I'm waiting for her, I usually read a SB magazine or sort my coupons. What, you expect me to work when I'm not in the office?

What would you do in an emergency?

Are you prepared for a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, or other natural disaster? Can you evacuate in a hurry? I've been thinking about all the recent natural disasters and the war in the middle east. Where would I go if something happened? Could we get to a safe place? FIL lives close by; would we be able to get to him? Whose house would it be better to hole up at? Unfortunately, I have lots of questions, but no answers.

I was listening to the news; they were talking about the war. I thought it was so sad that people could not evacuate from the bombings because they didn't the means or the funds or a place to go. I think I have enough family and friends that could take us in temporarily. I am very thankful for that.

My SIL sent out an emergency contact list for her family. She had me on the list, but I asked her to change my contact info because 1) I hardly ever turn my cell phone on and 2) about 5% of the time, I forget it at home. I'm still a landline person. Call me at work or call me at home. The cell is only for emergencies or for free long distance calls or for breaking up the monotonous work commute.

Stockpiling

It's a bad habit of mine. Can I blame it on my parents? If something was on sale (any kind of food or paper goods), Mom would buy cases of it. I think she still has canned goods in the pantry that were there when I moved out of the house. And toilet paper and tissues? (I'm trying to help Kleenex protect their trademark, lol.) Mom has dozens of boxes spread out in a couple rooms in the house. Do you remember colored toilet paper? They stopped making it because the dyes were bad for your skin. I'm pretty sure Mom still has some of that also. As for Dad, if he found something that he liked, he'd buy it in every color and style (no matter if we could afford it or needed it).

As a result of all of this, I'm a packrat and stockpiler. Right now, I'm a little stressed because I only have six rolls of toilet paper and four boxes of tissues in the cupboard. The coupons and sales have been lousy so I haven't been able to get tissues for my goal price of less than 50 cents a box (35 cents/box is the preferred price). Maybe I just have to accept that prices have gone up?

Although I've tried not to stockpile laundry detergent, I accidently did. I didn't realize we still had a couple of large bottles so I bought three more. Now we have enough detergent for 200 loads, almost a year's worth!!! Guess we'll be a pretty clean family (or at least our clothes will be). You'd think that A would have mentioned something to me since he's been with me everytime I purchased the soap. But noooooo! I guess he chalked it up to my stockpiling habit. Even I think that five family size bottles of laundry soap is too much.

If I had an extra $100

As I was driving home today, I was daydreaming a bit (but still paying attention to the road) and wishing I had an extra hundred bucks. I'm talking about a one-time thing, maybe winning a contest or something like that. I'm not talking about a pay increase or birthday gift...that money goes immediately into savings.

So if I had an extra $100, I'd buy a new seatbelt bag purse, the zip baguette in razzleberry thankyouverymuch. This is the purse I want. Scroll down a bit to see the one I'm interested in.

Or maybe I'd send in my payment for the fall weekend crop a little early. Or get a massage. Or take A out to a very nice dinner. Something fun, something slightly impractical. Something so not like me.

It's fun to dream. What would you do with an extra Ben Franklin?

All this heat is bad for the environment

As I said earlier, I've been running the air in my car every time I'm in it. This isn't normal behavior for me since I'm usually asking A to turn the air down when we're in his car. I'm not used to using so many of our natural resources. :( On the other hand, I'm not ready to suffer any more in the heat either.

I've been tempted to take two showers a day. I haven't given into temptation yet though.

Then there's the laundry. I definitely can't get a second wearing out of my clothes. Forget the glow, I'm dripping in sweat! Yuck, I know, but hey, at least I'm honest.

Even the garden needs extra water, sigh.

We (the general we) could probably save some rsources if we didn't keep the commercial buildings at freezing temperatures. I need to keep a sweater in the office because it is so cold in there.

Word Perfect

It's amazing what you can find on your bookshelves. How many of you remember Word Perfect? Gosh, I'm dating myself. I finally threw out my Word Perfect 5.1 and Lotus 1-2-3 reference guides, and Novell study guides (yep, I knew something about networking at one time).

I wonder what else I can get rid of...

$3.15 for gas

And I was happy to pay that. Gas was hovering at $3.17 for a couple of weeks and I was hoping the price would go down. Though on the news they said that gas was probably going to stay over $3/gallon until Labor Day.

I remember when it cost around $10 to fill my tank. Obviously, this was many years ago. Thank goodness I still get over 30 miles to the gallon. Which is surprising since I've been running the air conditioner to and from work. No reason for me to jump on the new car bandwagon when my little car is still in such great shape.

I still carpool about half the time. My carpooler has a Prius and gets around 45 miles to the gallon. Better than what I'm getting, but still not enough of an incentive for me to turn in my car. I don't believe in replacing perfectly good things like cars until they're worn out. Hence my 10+ year old car. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so practical.

Those aren't tomato cages...

they're bird perches, lol! It seems the local sparrow and hummingbird population enjoyed perching on the tomato cages in the garden. They are so cute. I've been feeding the sparrows our leftover bread. Probably not the most nutritious food for them, but fun for me.

As long as we're talking about the garden, I may as well give a tomato update. I ended up taking out one plant (Goose Creek), and will take out another (unknown name) as soon as the few tomatoes on it ripen.

The unknown cherry tomato plant is doing well. It is unknown because the label got lost and I don't remember what it was called. I want to know so I don't buy it again, lol. When the tomatoes are ripe, they are tasty, but pick them one day before that and they are barely okay. The other cherry tomatoes I grew (Sweet 100s) weren't so finicky.

San Francisco Fog is the healthiest plant in the garden. Unfortunately, the tomatoes are just so so. I don't know if it my gardening technique or the tomatoes themselves. The first few I picked were tasteless, so much so that I was tempted to pull out the plant. The tomatoes I picked today were much better, but they still have super tough skins. I don't mind for cooking, but not for salads.

I'm still holding out hope for the Early Girls I planted a couple of weeks ago. And the San Maranzos are huge! Hope they taste as good as they look.

It is so d*mn humid!

We had lightning and a short thunderstorm today. Now we just have the humid after effects. I did like seeing all the unusual light and cloud formations last night at dusk. I wanted to take pictures, but A said they have the same effect so I didn't. Although I should have since digital doesn't cost anything except a bit of time.

Yesterday, we went to Target to escape the heat for a bit. I suppose it is cheaper than air conditioning (we don't have it). By that I mean of course I bought stuff I didn't need, like some lotion and SB supplies. I could have put the lotion back, but the SB adhesive? It was regularly $6.99, marked down to $1.74. I don't use that particular kind that often, but I did run out. I was bummed because when Xyron was at the local Scrapbook Expo (a consumer show), I missed out on the refills at $4 and was bummed. Now I was thrilled to get the same stuff for less than half that price. I was good and only bought five packs and left the rest for some other lucky shopper.

World Trade Center movie

I recently saw the ads for this movie on the TV. I don't be seeing it. I started to cry just from what little I saw. There is no way I could sit through that movie without turning into a wreak. I don't need to relive my sorrow again.

I'm usually rushing in the morning to get ready for work. For some unknown reason, I was early that fateful day and was watching the news. I watched the news in shock and horror. Andy was at work and I called him. I don't think either of us could really comprehend what was happening. The worst was watching the plane hit the second tower. It was so unreal, unbelievable, shocking that this was happening.

No, I don't think that making the movie is a bad thing, same with "Flight 93." I don't think it making a movie about an event is capitalizing on the tragedy, at least not always. I think I'm in the minority though. I think that people don't want to think about 9/11 or to glorify it, but in any case, if the movies help us remember that day, it is a good thing.

We were supposed to fly to Mexico for vacation two weeks later. Of course, we cancelled that trip. There was no way I was willing to fly to another country after that. We ended up going to Hawaii instead. Getting to the airport was surreal. We had to take a shuttle to the airport because no private cars were allowed. There were patrol cars at the main road to the airport; no cars waiting at the curb (that was really disconcerting); military with machine guns patrolling inside; tons of security that I could see and probably lots that I couldn't. Most of the passengers looked tense and worried.

I actually cried on the plane. I was scared and relieved at the same time that we took off safely. And I know I wasn't the only one who cried when we landed safely. All through the trip, everyone thanked us for coming to the island. It was very touching. Like our vacation was actually helping them. I guess it was. Hawaii is so dependent on tourism, businesses were really feeling the loss of tourists.

I used to like to travel; I used to enjoy flying. Not anymore. Now traveling is a chore with security checks, early check-ins, luggage concerns. Not the fun it used to be.

It is so d*mn hot!

I actually am enjoying the commute to/from work because at least I have air conditioning in the car. How's that for a sad life, lol!

You know it is hot if I've been wearing what I call my "skanky teen tanks" out in public. A doesn't think I'm letting it all hang out and I shouldn't be embarrassed about what I wear. But if you think I'm dressing inappropriately for my age, please let me know. I don't want to be that embarrassing friend you don't want to be seen with.

What's for dinner?

We had homemade chicken soup. Yum! It included Swiss chard and squash from the garden. I also made chicken chili for dinner tomorrow. Hmmm, do you think chicken was on sale this week, lol? The original plan was chicken soup and BBQ chicken. But the store ran out of what we originally wanted so we opted for whole chickens instead.

Healthy foods for dinner all week, that's a good thing.

I don't have good scrapbook junk either

The post title is in reference to a previous post I made:
Junk . I did another garage sale yesterday, this time a SB garage sale at a local store, and it was another bust.

On the plus side, this sale was easier in some ways than the previous sale I did. The store didn't require you to staff your table, so I could come and go as I pleased. Since I had stuff priced from the previous SB sale (which I did not blog about), there was less for me to do. On the down side, the store did not have air conditioning and boy, was it hot yesterday.

There weren't as many people selling, so I didn't buy much, which is a good thing. I got an awesome set of new stamps for $5 (MSRP $40). I already have a stamp from the set, but I think I will RAK it away. L and I traded a bit, but I still owe her since she had better stuff than I had.

One person sold $75 of stuff! Wowsers! The rest of us were in the teens, if even that. And she said that at a previous sale, she sold over $600 worth of stuff! I can't imagine having that much to sell.

So now my dilemma is should I now donate most of the stuff to the Boys&Girls Club. The tax writeoff will be so much easier to deal with. Or should I just keep the stuff and continue to try to sell it? Obviously, the next time a store has a sale, my stuff will be even older and even less desirable.

If you're local, you're welcome to stop by and rummage through my stuff before it goes away. And of course, I'm not going to charge you. A will be thrilled that the stuff is gone!

What is a worm bin?

You know, vermicomposting. Turning "trash" into brown gold, AKA worm poop, lol. It is great stuff for the garden. Vermicomposting is a faster way to turn your table scraps into compost. Here are some links if you'd like to start your own:
Easy worm bin
Indoor worm bin (similar to previous link)
Photos of worm bin and sorting
Wood worm bin
Another plastic worm bin
Yet another worm bin link

Yep, I'm turning my veggie scraps into worm poop. Hope you're not grossed out.

Disappointment

I had a chance to win tickets to a Rascal Flatts concert, but didn't win. Oh well, no biggie. Then the tickets were offered to me after all, but by the time I got a hold of A, the tickets were gone. I'm so bummed!

I so rarely want things like this, then to have the opportunity again only to lose it, really hurts.

Plus I decided to be good and not buy another QK font, even though it is a killer deal. Plus, I'm still at work and still have several hours more to do. Yes, we're still short handed. Sometimes life sucks.

Mid-July garden update

Prompted by a couple of conversations on organic produce and a segment on the Today show, I decided to add more seedlings to the vegetable garden. The Today show listed the "dirty dozen" that you should always buy organic:

Apples
Cherries
Grapes, imported (Chili)
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Raspberries
Strawberries
Bell peppers
Celery
Potatoes
Spinach

I eat most of the above on a regular basis and buy none of it organic. But I can grow my own bell peppers so I will. Actually, they were another veggie that I tried to start from seed with no luck. So off we went to Home Depot where I bought a six pack of bell peppers and a six pack of Early Girl. To heck with the heirlooms, I just want to make sure I actually get fresh, home-grown tomatoes this year.

It looks like I won't be getting a second batch of cucumbers. Something keeps eating the seedlings as soon as they come up. But I haven't given up hope and will keep planting seeds until I run out.

Anyone have any organic hints for getting rid of sowbugs (you know, those gray things that roll up when you touch them)? (Other than squishing them, which is gross and tedious and time consuming.)

Oh, I decided to start another worm bin. A helped me drill holes in a couple of 10 gallon containers; I finally found the ones I wanted at Lowes. I started the bin with coconut husks and newspaper shreds and I'll get the worms from my compost bin.

Change is bad

Yahoo has a new UI and I'm still getting used to it. I'm sure they put research into the new design (if they were smart that is). Actually, the new tagline is "You spoke. We listened." so it does sound like thought went into the new design. I'm just not sure if I like it.

Yesterday, I tried to change the look of my blog, but I don't know enough HTML to edit the standard templates. Oh, I did make several changes...and then everything went all wonky. After that happening several times, it was back to this look. Like I said, change is bad.

Should I apply for the job?

I was considering applying for a job at a local SB store. They want someone for the Friday night crops and Sundays. That is perfect for my schedule since I do have my day job. I wonder what they pay?

I don't have any retail experience, so that would work against me. And I'm not a cutting edge scrapbooker, again a negative. Too bad fun, enthusiastic, and dependable don't count when you're applying for a job.

I have a new reader...

so I added her to my blogging friends list. Thanks for all the comments! Be sure to visit my blogging friends and leave 'em comments. Or if you can't because you don't belong to the various sites, just send them an e-mail or pm. We all love our readers.

2 for the price of 1

I love it when a veggie does double duty. I've been picking the squash blossoms from the overabundant crooked neck squash plants. The first time, I gave them to a friend (who then decided she needed her own plant for the blossoms, lol). The second time, I sauteed them with some onion and ate them in quesadillas. The onions overpowered the blossoms so I need to adjust the ratio next time. Tonight, I floured the blossoms and pan fried them. They were yummy, but certainly not low cal. For the best effect, I should have used more oil, but was trying to be good, healthwise.

There is no danger of running out of squash, even though I've been picking the blossoms. I've got several little squash growing and besides, crooked neck squash isn't my favorite. Ironic that I usually have a lot of trouble growing squash. You know how everyone complains about being overrun with squash? I'm lucky to get a meal or two. But this year? We've already had several meals, and gave away three batches. Why can't I have this kind of luck with snow peas?

I have no fashion sense

I had a one year subscription to a shopping/fashion magazine and it was a complete waste of $ and time. I'm just too cheap to spend what the articles showed. And the fashions they showed? Oh gag! I'm just not into buying clothes that last a season. I still don't understand how to mix stripes with florals or baby doll styles. Or how to mix tailored with soft looks with the right shoes and accessories. Maybe that's why I haven't bought anything new for a year or more.

Oh, I did buy some new shoes, but I was due for those. I stopped wearing skirts to work because my dress pumps all wore out and I hadn't replaced them. I got some awesome deals on a pair of boots and a pair of brown pumps, but then after I got home with them, the number of outfits that looked good with them was very limited. Sad thing is I couldn't tell until I actually put the whole outfit together. I couldn't see it in my head. I still think the boots and shoes were a good deal since it less than $20 for each pair.

Hey fellow bloggers...

time to update your blogs! I've been updating my favorites and deleted some blogs that were not updated since last year. There are several others that haven't been updated in months. If you're one of those people, you're in danger of falling off of list.

And, if you've been checking out my blog, how about some comments? (how pathetic, now I'm beggin for comments, sigh)

Now you see it, now you don't

Yes, it is another case of the disappearing blog entry. Hey, you gotta be quick around here, lol. It was another complaining post and although after reading it again, I decided it wasn't as much of a downer as I originally thought, I still decided to delete it. Besides, no one commented on it, so no one must have read it, right?

I'm not the only one afraid of being dooced

I'm a regular reader of many blogs (which many of you haven't updated) and one blogger has been blogging about her job hunt. Since a search of her name brought up her blog, she was concerned that it would influence a potential employer. I totally understand her concern, but hope that a potential employeer would see what an articulate, humerous, and caring person she is. (Wonder if I should send her a link to my blog?)

Paige is in the house!

Woo hoo! I got my QK font that I ordered so I'm a happy camper. I also spent an outrageous amount of time creating lists of all the fonts that QK makes (made) and all the fonts that my friends own. This was much more fun than creating to-do lists for work.

Hmmm, I just remembered that I need to add another font to the list. A SB chain store just released an exclusive font that isn't on my list.

June Garden Update

The crooked neck squash is growing like gangbusters. Ironic since I'm usually not very successful with squash. You know how you're not supposed to plant more than one zucchini plant, lest you be overrun with the critters? That has never been my problem. My problem is getting the dang plant to live long enough so I can get even a meal's worth of squash.

My tomatoes have lots of blossoms, but also already have some sort of blight. Do I cut my loses now and take out the plants? All the plants I have are from organic growers and all are heirloom tomatoes. I was hoping they would be more resistant to disease, but that isn't the case.

I didn't get any beets this year. :( I planted them three or four times and not one came up. Either my seeds were too old or the birds had a picnic. I wish I knew which. I haven't had any luck with basil or bell peppers either. I should be getting cucumbers (just had one in my salad tonight) and some sort of Chinese melon (I forgot what I planted, lol). And we've been enjoying the Swiss chard; just had some in vegetarian lasagne tonight.

Pyramid Type Shopping

Scrapbook spending is a big topic on scrapbook boards. There is always talk about how much is too much to spend on a tool/page/embellishment, how to hide purchases from your husband, where the sales are.

Anyway, a friend said her big downfall was "pyramid type shopping." Mine too, lol! What's that you ask? It is when one purchase leads to another and then another and yet another. Like my Quickutz purchase...I've been on a hunt to find the lowercase font to match the uppercase font I purchased. The problem is it is discontinued. I just ordered it online, but I'm not sure if the store really has it or not. How could they? No one has it in stock! I'll just have to wait until the store charges my cc or sends me an e-mail. Unfortunately, I'm not known for my patience.

Scrapbook jackpot!

Last weekend, I went away for a weekend of cropping (that's a gathering of scrapbookers for those of you who don't know). We rent out a B&B and spend the whole weekend scrapping and talking and eating. Actually, this time there wasn't as much eating since most of us are dieting. It was surprising how little snack foods there was.

One scrapper came a little later, but she had a bag full of goodies from a local store that was going out of business. Everything was 50% off, woo hoo! Note that before I heard that, I was determined not to spend anything on SB (scrapbook) supplies since there isn't anything I need. It turns out that everything was on sale, even the Quickutz dies! Now that was a surprise. On top of all that, some of the scrappers had frequent buyer cards that gave them an extra 10% off, which they shared with us. So everything was really 55% off. I ended up buying three QK fonts, one at 55% off and two at 75% off. It was an awesome deal! I ended up going to the store 4 times and spending way more than I planned. If I really get short of cash, I could always sell the dies to make some money, lol.

Nobody's perfect

Including me, sigh. I was working on a project and was looking for someone in the department to review my work. Normally, I'm the one to review everyone's work, but with all the projects and being understaffed, I'm back to working on projects again (not that I mind). Unfortunately, with everyone being overworked, no one had time to review my stuff. My manager finally found time to review my project after I sent it to the printer. Luckily, it hadn't been printed yet so I had time to make the changes.

Then today, I was using those files as a base for yet another project and found another error, sigh. Nothing earth-shaking, but it is another sign that there is too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Grocery shopping

If you gauged how I eat by a recent trip to the grocery store, you'd think I have terrible eating habits. Haagen-Daz ice cream was on sale, plus I had coupons so the combination brought the price down to something acceptable (not a bargain, just acceptable). There were four packages of bars and two pints of ice cream in the cart. Yum! We also bought water, bread, salad dressing, some cookies, and a few other things. Not much nutritional value in that cart, lol. Hey, we did buy bananas.

I thought the bill was going to be less than it was. I had a $10 off a $75 total, plus coupons for almost everything. The bill went from $81 to $56, which is a good savings, but not great. All you expert coupon clippers are probably laughing at me.

After that, we went to a local grocery store that heavily discounts fruits and veggies. We walked out of there with three big bags of fruits and veggies for $17. I guess we know which place was a better value, lol.

I don't have good junk

We had a garage sale yesterday and it was a bust. I know that holiday weekends aren't the best for garage sales, but that's when we had time to do it. The good thing is, even though we didn't have that many customers, it wasn't a total waste of time because we both worked in the yard while we were waiting. And afterwards, we took all the unsold stuff to Goodwill so at least they were out of the house.

My "girl" stuff (nicknacks, kitchen stuff) didn't sell that well except for the Tupperware. A put out a tool box and work light; both drew a lot of attention. He sold them for less than hoped for. Hardly any of my scrapbook stuff sold except for miscellanous stickers. Who knew, lol! I'll be taking the scrap stuff to a crop to give away and then whatever they don't want, will be donated somewhere. I can't, can't, can't let it back into my stash!

I don't know how people can sell hundreds of dollars of stuff at a garage sale. Do they just have better stuff than I do? I can't believe that my stuff is that crappy, lol.

So what's five pounds to you?

I joined a new website, SparkPeople.com, in the hopes of improving my eating habits and losing five pounds. Not that I have bad eating habits, mind you. I like the food tracker so I can check the nutritional mix of what I'm eating. In some ways, I'm doing much better than I thought. No problem with the cholesterol or sodium, except when I hit the fast foods. It is hard to avoid that when going out to lunch with my coworkers. But as hard as I try, I just can't seem to up my fiber intake. I've even taken to snacking on high fiber cereal. Unfortunately, some of the high fiber foods I like are also high sodium. I defintely don't have any blood pressure problems, but I think health-wise, I'd like to avoid as much sodium as possible. Miso soup provides half the amount of daily fiber needed, but 5X the sodium. Unfortunately, I don't think it is a good tradeoff.

I'm a bit discouraged with people say, oh, you're so thin, you don't need to lose weight. Well, my five pounds are like the last five pounds that are so hard to take off. It has been a real struggle and yes, I do need to lose those five pounds. My clothes don't fit right and it is five pounds more than what I weighed last year. Five pounds is almost another clothing size on me. So please, try to encourage my efforts instead of discounting them.

Am I invisible?

Sometimes I just don't feel the love on the message boards I frequent. I know I'm not part of the "in" crowd, but I thought there were people who might miss me or respond to my posts or something (not that I've been posting that often). Maybe I just need to be less of a lurker and more of a leader? I am soooooo not the leader type (despite what my job title at work says, lol).

A lack of topics

Since I've put a couple of major aspects of my life off limits for my blog, sometimes I feel like I can't blog about anything. I don't blog about work because I'm afraid of being "dooced." (Look up dooce on wikipedia.com if you don't know what I'm talking about.) And I won't talk about family online either because of privacy concerns. I don't feel like adding to the immigration controversy or discussing the state of the economy. And I deleted my one big vent a couple of days ago (did anyone catch it before I deleted it?).

Stay tuned. I'll think of something to talk about soon, lol.

Wow, I have a reader!

Those of you who blog know how motivating it is to receive comments. Thanks S! Of course, if I blogged more often, it might motivate you to leave more comments, lol.

Happy Mother's Day!

And since it is Mother's Day, I'm full of advice...even if I'm not a mother. ;)

First, Trader Joe's is a great place to buy Mother's Day flowers. We were there yesterday and their buyers and merchandisers obviously planned ahead. In addition to the usual display of cut flowers and potted flowers, there was a large multitiered table of orchids and another table of potted arrangements. They also had some nice potted baskets, but I only know that because shoppers were carrying them. There weren't any left to buy.

Second, grocery shopping on Mother's Day morning is a breeze. I got a late start and usually when that happens, the store is mobbed--there aren't any close parking spaces and all the sales items are picked over or worse, sold out. But today I didn't have any problems. All the sale items I wanted were available and I got out of the store spending less than I thought I would, even with splurging on an issue of Real Simple.

Third, don't forget to call your mother!

How does your garden grow?

I've been spending my weekends working in my garden and unfortunately, I don't have much to show for it. My carpooler asked to see my yard so I brought him out back. Boy, it looks pretty sad. Fallen tomato cages everywhere, garden tools here and there, big patches of dirt. Hopefully, everything will look more impressive in another couple months. By then, the tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash will have flowers (or even fruit!) and the beets will be ready to harvest.

At last the front yard looks nice. My roses are bigger than ever! The largest I've ever seen them and the white frequent flyer has already bloomed twice since I planted it last year.

Do you have a garden?

My not-so-good week continues

So this morning, I'm preparing something to eat and decide I'll use up some leftover Mexican food to make a burrito. Unfortunately, I think it was starting to turn bad so I decided not to risk it and tossed everything.

On to plan 2...as I was rummaging through the freezer, a bag of frozen peas came open and, you guessed it, all over the kitchen floor. Maybe this is a subconcious effort on my part to clean the house? First the bathroom and now the kitchen?

So I put together a snack and it needed to be steam cooked. I just checked the pot and the water wasn't even boiling. What the heck!??!!! Yep, I didn't turn the burner on. Yep, I'm starving. Yep, I'm NOT in a good mood, lol.

It is soooo not my week

Last week, I took a road trip to see my folks and left a day earlier in the hopes of seeing my SIL. But she had to leave the day before I got there because of the weather.

I was going to help the ladies at my mom's church make dumplings for their fundraiser, but they got a late start and I could only help one day. And I could not change my plans and stay longer because I had to be back in the office since my boss was on vacation and the other dept. lead is still on maternity leave.

Every day there was a crisis in the office. Usually, I can handle them just fine. But with being short-handed and every crisis having big ramifications, I was quite stressed.

Yesterday, I got a call about a family crisis.

Last, but not least, I've come down with the flu. So I've been miserable in bed all day (except for some computer time). Orprah wasn't even interesting today.

I decided to treat myself to a bath. Unfortunately, I knocked over the shampoo bottle, which in turn knocked over my water. Then I ran out of hot water.

Thank goodness tomorrow is another day!

Crop and money woes

I should be working (yes, even at this hour), but I took a break to check out my favorite scrapbook site (lifetimemoments.com). There is lots of chatter about the big November crop. I want to go and DH is okay with that (I missed last year's so I really want to go), but I'm freaking out about money. We just don't have any extra with his job change and my potential cut in income.

I decided to depress myself by calculating my bonuses and pay increases for the past ten years. Of course, during the internet boom years, everyone did well, no matter where you worked. But now? Well, with the company deciding to go with a new employee evaluation system that I can't figure out, plus the current US business model of do more with less, it looks like I will have to work harder than ever to not make as much money. Do you know how depressing it is to work the hardest you've ever had at a job and know that you might make less money per year? We haven't had any reorganizations in my department, nor RIFs (reduction in force), but we have had two people move on and only one of them has been replaced (so far). Add to that someone out on long-term leave and we're all under a bit of stress.

So now the big dilemma. Spend the money or not? It isn't a matter of saving up for the trip. Those of you who know me well, know that saving $ isn't a problem. I always live within my means. But should I spent the $ on something as frivious as scrapbooking or should I replenish my savings? Sigh, sometimes I wish I wasn't so darn practical.

Update your blogs!

I finally added a post to mine. Now how about you? L and K, I see you updated yours so you two are off the hook, lol. But one of you hasn't updated in a month!

Fat or not?

I know I'm not fat, but why do people think that I have a mental or emotional problem if I want to lose some weight? Not a lot, just a few pounds. I don't really care about the number, though I would like it to be less. I'm running out of close that fit and my "fat" clothes are now my everyday clothes. So yes, my current weight is a problem. And why do people think that if I'm not heavily overweight it should be easier? Proportionally, I have more weight to lose than a lot of people. Wish me luck.

2006

I can't believe it is 2006. Sometimes I still write 2005, even three months later. I finished a scrapbook page and dated it 1995 instead of 2005. I must be in denial about growing up.

Remember when you were a kid and vacation seemed so long? That there seemed to be all the time in the world to do anything you want? Now I'm always rushing from here to there, scheduling this or that. I can't keep up with everything that needs to get done so something always get left behind (usually the laundry and housekeeping).

It seems that all my planning is for the future and not taking time to enjoy the present. I don't know how to change that. :(

Easy come, easy go

I played bunco this weekend and boy, did I make up for all those months of not winning anything. I had high score and most buncos! Of course, I took the prize that paid out the most, which was most buncos. Woo hoo! $45! Doing the happy dance!

Sunday, we went grocery shopping and got our usual $50 cash back (gotta love that Discover card). Later that afternoon, A couldn't find the cash. He thinks it fell out of his pocket at another store. I sure hope the lucky finder appreciates his good luck.

I'm tired

These 9, 10, 11 hour days are killing me. Add in the commute time and lunch and I'm gone more than half the day. And we're just starting our "busy season." Is it time to look for a new job? Or should I just suck it up and be happy I'm employed?

This wasn't the Academy Awards

The professional organization I belong to has an annual competition. This competition is important to my profession. If you win an award, it looks great on a resume or personnel review. You get kudos from your colleagues. It can open doors (it is how I got my current job). So it is just like the Academy Awards. Actually better. When you show up at the fancy dinner, you already know you've won an award. You just don't know which one; it could be one of three levels.

My department is fortunate that the company pays for several entries each year. It is good publicity for the department and company. So each year, just like the Academy Awards, there are hurt feelings, cries of why wasn't my work submitted, why wasn't my name on an entry, and in general, much whining before and after the competition. First of all, I don't make the rules. The professional society and competition organizers do. Second, I don't pick the names on the entries (we are limited to three and many projects involve more people than that). My manager does that. Third, just grow up people! If you don't like what's being done, you take care of this next year!

Since we are limited to three names on an entry (thus better than the Academy Awards), the three main contributors should be listed, right? But that's where the hurt feelings come in. If a project was based on a previous project, who gets credit? You might have done the work this year, but was it substantially different from the original project? Who contributed the most (and what does that mean anyway)? And if you didn't get to submit last year, do you get to submit this year? Sometimes, names are added as "sympathy" entries for whatever reason (just like the Academy Awards). And it really pisses me off when those people win.

RSVP?

Do people think that that's on the invitation just to take up space? I've been to several events in the past month where people either showed up without responding or said they would come, but didn't. In the first case, there weren't enough seats for everyone and the restaurant staff had to scramble to squeeze everyone in. Yes, the events were casual, but seating arrangements still had to be made. Of course, the non-respondents were oblivous to the trouble they caused since they couldn't be bothered with thinking about anyone but themselves. In the second case, the hostess purchased extra goodies for the kids and extra food for everyone who didn't show up, thus spending more money than she needed to. I hate thoughtless people!

Breath in, breath out

Sometimes my coworkers drive me crazy. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I can vent about it here or on my favorite MB because I don't want to be "dooced." It is sooooooo frustrating!

Today is Tuesday?

Opps! After a whirlwind long weekend of scrap classes, family visits, and running errands, I forgot that today was Tuesday. What's so special about Tuesday? Nothing really, except the Olympic women's figure skating competition starts tonight.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the skaters. It is times like this that I wish I had cable and TIVO. I'd like to see more coverage and watch at my convenience, not the network's.

The Olympics

I'm suffering from lack of sleep. The Olympics are on way too late, plus I can't get anything done while they are on. What I really need to do is prepare just like the athletes do. Freeze some dinners so I don't have to cook. Make sure the laundry and housekeeping are all caught up so by the time the Olympics finish, I'm not living in a pig sty. Okay, so I have two years to prepare for the Summer Olympics, lol.

I was disappointed that Michelle Kwan had to drop out. I don't think she would have won a gold medal, but perhaps she could have won a bronze. And even if she didn't, she could show those young whipper snappers what artistry in skating really is.

Some people don't like the Olympic medals this year, but I do. They are creative, attractive, unusual. MSN had a poll of the favorite Winter Olympic medals from the past 11 Olympics. Lillehammer came in first and Sarajevo came in last. Turin came in third. You can also vote for your favorite Olympic medal.

I love the Budweiser commercials. The little colt with his big dreams brings tears to my eyes every time. Yeah, I blubber at all the Hallmark commercials too.

So has my blog disintegrated into the mundane now that I've posted twice about my hair?

More hair tails

I'm still getting compliments on my hair so that's a good thing. My hair is the back is so short, my hairdresser wanted to shave the strays. But I wouldn't let her because I don't like how itchy it feels growing back. Even so, after a week the back of my neck is itching like heck. I think I need a new hairstyle, lol.

My haircut

I got my haircut this weekend. It went from just brushing my shoulders blah to shorter than chin length, bangs, and layers. I can wear it loose and casual or very sleek and stylish. I've gotten a lot of compliments so I guess it was the right decision. Of course, that makes me wonder what people thought before. It was just getting long enough to put into a pony tail, which is always convenient.

The good thing about short hair is you can use less shampoo and it takes less time to dry. The bad thing about short hair is you have to get it cut more often. So what you save with the good, you end up spending, lol.

Does size matter?

I went to a bra fitting website and it estimates that I wear a 34D or 34DD. Now, the last time I looked at myself, I didn't notice that I was skinny enough to wear a 34, nor was I um, very well endowed in that area. But now I'm curious and the next time I need a new bra, I'll have to expand my search and include some new sizes.

I broke 9000

What does that mean you ask? It means that I finally reduced my e-mails at work to less than 9000. How can anyone have that many e-mails you ask? Well, I get cc'd on most of the projects in my department, plus I have my own projects, plus I'm a packrat. Paper, digital, it doesn't matter. I save it all.

On a good day, I get 30 e-mails. On a bad day, I get two or three times that. That's a lot of sorting to do.

Actually, the bigger problem isn't with the number of e-mails I have; it is the amount of space they take. We have a certain MB limit and I'm constantly exceeding that. When that happens, I can't save any more e-mails. Obviously, that's a good incentive to stay under the limit.

Check back in a couple of weeks and see how many e-mails I have then.

I broke 9000

What does that mean you ask? It means that I finally reduced my e-mails at work to less than 9000. How can anyone have that many e-mails you ask? Well, I get cc'd on most of the projects in my department, plus I have my own projects, plus I'm a packrat. Paper, digital, it doesn't matter. I save it all.

On a good day, I get 30 e-mails. On a bad day, I get two or three times that. That's a lot of sorting to do.

Actually, the bigger problem isn't with the number of e-mails I have; it is the amount of space they take. We have a certain MB limit and I'm constantly exceeding that. When that happens, I can't save any more e-mails. Obviously, that's a good incentive to stay under the limit.

Check back in a couple of weeks and see how many e-mails I have then.

I've been tagged...

This series of questions has been floating around the blog world recently. I was tagged twice, but debated whether or not to answer. You know how I am about privacy. But being that I was tagged twice, I feel some obligation to answer so I'll do the best I can.

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Babysitter
2. Office clerk
3. English tutor
4. Nag (my current job, lol)

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. The Sound of Music
2. Star Wars, episode IV
3. Holiday Inn
4. ?

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Western Caribbean
2. New York
3. Las Vegas
4. Korea

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Lifetime Moments
2. Two Peas
3. MSNBC
4. Slate

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Artichokes
2. Mushrooms
3. Fried chicken
4. Chinese food

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Hawaii
2. Japan
3. Australia
4. Hawaii :)

Four bloggers I am tagging:
Since I'm last one to do this, I think everyone gets a free ride on this one.

Inferiority complex

I recently went to a scrapbook weekend with several friends. It is a great deal. We rent out a B&B for a whole weekend (usually 3-4 days) and we scrap/talk/eat/laugh the whole time.

All of women are talented scrappers. A couple of them are on design teams. Some have taught classes. Most have been published. We all inspire and encourage each other, share from our respective stashes (we're all collectors, lol), and just have fun. This time was a bit different for me though. For some reason, I was (and still am) feeling inadequate about my scrapping. My pages just don't measure up. Measure up to what? I'm not sure. When I look at them by myself, they're okay, some are even nice, creative. But when I look at my friends' work, I feel inadequate. Their work is creative, inspiring, touching.

I couldn't post this on my usual scrapbook place because I didn't (and I still don't) want a bunch of "you need to scrap for yourself" and "your work is great" replies. This is just something I need to work through and get over.

Ah choo!

The good news is I'm hardly coughing at all. The bad news is I'm sneezing. Now I feel like I'm getting the flu or something. Grrrr. Maybe I need some more Airborne.

Hack, hack, ack

Yep, I'm still sick. I went to the doctor last week to make sure I didn't have bronchitis or walking pneumonia. Nope, doc said it was the same nagging cough everyone else had. She gave me some decongestants and sent me on my way.

It wasn't fun flying with a slightly stuffed head. My ears were plugged for hours afterwards and it was a bit painful.

At least I'm coughing less each day. Thank goodness because I strained a chest muscle, twice. Ouch! The first time it happened, I was at work. I went online to check out the symptoms and recommendations. Most sites recommended RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). Ummm, it was my chest muscle. I briefly debated whether or not to get some ice and hold it again my right breast, but decided that would elicit too many questions. So I suffered in silence, well not that much silence because I did do a bit of moaning and groaning. I'm still in a bit of pain, unfortunately.

Oh, so you're probably wondering what happened at the airport. Not much. I couldn't use the check-in kiosk. Actually, I tried to, but it said I needed to see an attendant, none of whom were paying attention. Well, one of them was, but she was on the phone so couldn't help me. No, I don't need assistance with the kiosk; it won't let me check in and it says I need to speak with an attendant. Oh, that's you and you finally want to help me? Thank you (finally)! She took my ID and spent almost five minutes on the computer. I was standing there for so long, I remember if she had fiven me back my ID or not. I have no idea what she was doing because she wouldn't talk to me. It was kind of weird.

I went to the TSA site and basically, you have to send them every form of ID you have and you still won't get off of the list. But you'll have been verified as being who you are so you should be able to check in faster. Right now, I've decided to just go with the flow and hope I don't have too many delays in the future.

I think I screwed myself

by changing my airline ticket at the last minute. Now I can't print my boarding pass online. Great, just great. Haven't airlines heard of business travelers? Or a normal change in plans? If you check my history, all my flights on this airline have been to/from the same airports. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? If I provide proof of why I'm visiting that city over and over again, will that help?

If I end up on the terrorist watch list, should I stop traveling? (That's a rhetorical question, thankyouverymuch.) Traveling is hassle enough as is. If it gets any worse, I'm not sure I can handle the stress.

I flew a few weeks after 9-11. That was one of the scariest things I've done. Have you ever seen LAX deserted? It was so eerie riding in the van to the airport. There wasn't any traffic. There was a police car parked at the on-ramp. The terminals, which are normally teeming with people, crowded with honking cars, and filled with general chaos, were quiet. QUIET at LAX? It was a huge shock. Then I saw the armed military...with big guns. I don't know what kind, but they were big, in sight, not hidden. Big guns. Did I mention the big guns? Did I mention how nervous everyone in the airport looked?

This was the start of my hating to fly. I used to love to fly. Now, never knowing how long the security lines are, not being able to carry my handy dandy Swiss army knife, having to check my bag because I'm carrying scissors all make traveling not fun.

Once, I accidentally carried a pair of decorative scissors (for scrapbooking) in my carry-on. I'm sure that my look of embarrassment/horror at being singled out of line helped convince TSA that I was not a terrorist. The TSA agent showed the scissors to his supervisor and I was allowed to keep them. Whew, I really didn't want to have to buy another pair of scissor. (They are deckle-edged scissors for all you SB snobs who are sneering at me right now.)

Anyway, back to original problem...I'll see what happens and blog about it when I get back.

Taking a break...

No, I'm not tired of blogging yet. But I've got lots of stuff to take care of and don't think I'll be online as much for the next week or so. So don't look for any new posts till next week.

This is work

I guess that keeping up a blog is a lot of work, lol. After posting four days in a row, there was a short dry spell. I wonder if anyone noticed? I certainly didn't.

I don't know how often my blog is read or by whom, unless someone leaves a comment. I need to get one of the post count thingies, but that would involve researching technology and you all know how I feel about that!

Regifting

Do you or don't you? I do, sort of. I received a couple of things this year and gave them to my sister. Well, I offered them to her first, but she couldn't use them. One item was a nice lotion set. I'm not into flowery lotions and I didn't think I would use them. My BIL spoke up and said his mom would like them. Perfect! So I gave my sister/BIL the gift to regift. While I appreciate the gift, I get much more joy out of giving it to someone else who will enjoy it.

I brought home a box of cookies that my mom won in a raffle. Talk about regifting, this tin must have been around for years. As soon as I tore the tape off the tin, I got a whiff of I wasn't sure what. The cookies looked okay (they were those Danish butter cookies). But I took one bite and spit it out. They were totally rancid. Yuck! Ah well, easy come, easy go.

This could be addicting

Blogging that is. Or checking other people's blogs. I have several friends who blog, plus I follow a few others that are better than a soap opera. You couldn't pay people to write some of this stuff.

My blog? Not very exciting. Just a few thoughts here and there. One reason I started this is because I'm not very comfortable posting some of my thoughts are my usual SB (scrapbook for those not in know) haunts. That is just a little too public for me. And this is less public you ask? Well, I assume it is because this blog is a little more difficult to find. If I post on a message board, I can assume my post will be read by tens if not hundreds of people.

I really enjoy reading my friends' blogs. It shows me another side of them; it shows me what is important to them. I hope this blog does the same.

Happy New Year!

A day late, well sort of. It feels like today is New Year's Day because I watched the Rose Parade this morning. Did you know that if New Year's Day is on a Sunday, the Rose Parade will be held on Monday? I heard it was an agreement made a long time ago so as not to interfere with church attendance.

It was pouring rain today--the first time in fifty years that it rained on the parade. I felt bad for all of the performers. It must have been miserable and cold. Or maybe the adrenaline of performing kept everyone going. I hope no one got sick.

I hope the rain isn't a harbinger of the year to come. Maybe I should look at the rain as washing away all the stress of the past year.

Spellcheck?

No, my blog title is not a typo. If you know what I do for a living and what my hobby is, you know that I wrote "wordz" on purpose. Plus it was a way for me in incorporate a bit of scrapbooking in my blog title. One of my favorite SB companies is Junkitz and they use z's everywhere in their product names. So there you have it, my wordz.

I survived Christmas (barely)

As usual, Christmas was mix of fun and stress and joy and sadness and of course, more stress. Due to Christmas being on the weekend this year, I felt like I had even less time to prepare. I did get all my shopping done in time and even got cards (with photos) out before we left for home. Someday (like next year, lol), I'd like to spend Christmas with DH, just the two of us. No one to visit, no cooking, no false smiles. But I just can't do that to our parents. Guilt, the gift that keeps on giving.

My Christmas card list was much shorter this year. I'm not sure why. Maybe not sending cards out two years ago was the trick. I was disappointed that there weren't more cards waiting for us when we got back home. I did get a card from someone that I've been missing (a lot). J had written to me about two-three years ago, but then we lost touch again. I'm so glad she wrote and hope we can rekindle our friendship.

Jumping on the bandwagon

Blogs seem to be all the rage now, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Here it is...my first blog and my first blog post. Go me!