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September 28 PricelessHas anyone seen the new MasterCard commercial with Mr. Bill?! I'm watching Sunday Night Football with Hubby and it came on. Back in the day, I loved Mr. Bill. Yes, I have a sick and twisted sense of humor and I thought the Mr. Bill skits were hilarious.
Back in the day, SNL was the show to watch. We planned our Saturday evening events around who was hosting and who the musical guest was going to be. Hey, I grew up in Small Town Ohio and there wasn't much to do on a Saturday night.
While I love Mr. Bill and I'm so excited to see him back on TV (and in his original context to boot!) I have to wonder what brought him back? What target audience is MasterCard appealing to with him? Does anybody outside of my generation understand this commercial? Is it a big inside joke that only a select few will get? Either way, I'm tickled that I'm part of a target demographic for something.
But I'm also surprised that it's been over 25 years since Mr. Bill first appeared in my life. Yikes I am one old lady.
September 23 SurvivorI survived the yard sales. MIL sold a bunch of stuff and, almost true to her word, most everything went to the Goodwill store. There were a few things she couldn't bear to part with so they went back in the house. Hubby and I just rolled our eyes at each other.
While we were getting ready for the yard sale, we found FIL's purple heart. He was shot when he was in Korea. Hubby is 54 years old and had never seen his dad's purple heart. We knew he had it, we just never saw it. Father rarely talked about his service in Korea. Except to say that he was cold most of the time and that the Army came in to save the Marines.
We're having some wonderful weather here in Ohio the last couple of weeks. Wonderful for catching a cold or having your allergies flare up on you. Hubby and I are eating Sudafed like they are candies. If we aren't careful, we will have the Sudafed police knocking on our door over our excessive purchases of Sudafed.
I love the new fall TV season. Especially Dancing With The Stars. I just love that show. And Monday Night Football. Yes, I'm a football dork. Other than that I haven't watched much TV this week.
It was relatively uneventful at work last week because of the power outages. The patients are making up for this week. I'm worn out and it's only Tuesday. It's going to be a long week. September 20 I Hate Yard SalesYard sales are a bunch of work and extremely boring at the same time. It takes forever to get the stuff out and priced before the customers start arriving. Then you sit around the rest of the weekend waiting for people to show up and haggle over quarters and dimes.
I hate yard sales and every time I participate in one I'm reminded exactly why I hate them and I swear I'll never do it again.
Yea, right. Like Hubby says . . . It's nice to have a dream.
We spent today having the yard sale at MIL's house. It's supposed to be MIL's yard sale, but we both knew we would be doing the bulk of the work. SIL showed up in time for the boring "wait for customers" part of the day. After Hubby and I got all the stuff out and priced. I'm sure she'll be back tomorrow again in time for the "wait for customers" part. Oh, and the free lunch. She showed up today in time for the lunch run to Mickey D's.
I totally understand doing the bulk of the work for MIL. Her health just isn't good enough for her to do all the work by herself. She's got COPD and it's getting worse lately. I'm surprised she was able to gather up all the stuff she did. I totally understand MIL's need to downsize and get rid of some of the clutter that's been in that house over the last 30 years. What I don't understand isSIL's cavalier attitude about MIL and the fact that she needs more help these days. Can she not see how MIL's health has slipped in the last couple of years? Why isn't she more involved in helping with MIL? Hubby is the baby of the family of four kids, but for some reason the responsibility for taking care of the parents has fallen solely on his (and mine) shoulders. The family dynamic is completely unlike anything I've ever seen in my life. Compared to his family, my family is the Waltons. But I digress and that's a blog for another day.
Good news is that the weather is perfect for a yard sale. We had good traffic and MIL sold quite a bit of stuff. We were joking with her that she's probably made enough to cover the cost of replacing all the food she lost in the power outage last week.
BTW - Hubby and I did tell her that she didn't have to tough out the power outage all alone. She was more than welcome to come to the house for breathing treatments, hot meal, clean laundry, watching Y&R (she's a bigger fan than me!). But she "tsk, tsk"d the whole speech and said she was just fine there at home.
I keep repeating to myself . . . Just one more day. Just one more day.
September 19 Never Say Never AgainFirst an update on MIL's power situation. Saints be praised, she has power. It finally kicked in about 9:30 tonight. Should make the weekend a little more tolerable.
Why, you ask. Well, see, Hubby and I will be spending the weekend at MIL's helping her with a (groan!) yard sale. I know I said I was never having another yard sale again as long as I lived. Or at least for a very long time. But MIL had some stuff in the basement that she wants to get rid of and Hubby and I agreed to help her. It's going to be a two day sale and anything that doesn't sell is going to the Goodwill store.
At least we're going to have lovely weather. And hopefully she'll sell alot of things and make some money. I'll be able to spend some time working on my cross stitch and reading when we don't have customers.
But I swear this is my last yard sale . . . . for this year! September 17 ohnoshedidn't #2!!We can always count on Princess to add a little drama in our life. (As if there isn't enough drama going on this week.) We haven't talked to her since the Labor Day Trip Home Fiasco. She called while we were out over the weekend and left a short message that everybody was okay and that she'd call back on Monday. As of tonight, she hasn't called back.
We did, however, get a phone call from one of those payday loan places in the town where she lives. They're looking for her and she gave our phone number as a reference. I didn't ask for any details but promised I'd pass the message along the next time we hear from her. They seemed a little surprised that I didn't have a phone number for her.
I explained that we live about 350 miles away from her and we last heard from her over Labor Day weekend. I did promise that I'd pass the message along the next time we heard from her.
Anybody want to make a bet on how long it'll be until I get to pass that message along . . . Slowly But SurelyThings are slowly coming back to normal here in Small City USA. Schools were closed on Monday and on a two-hour delay on Tuesday. There are a couple of elementary schools that are still closed because they don't have power. Ice, generators, candles, and batteries are in short supply. A few of the grocery stores had to get rid of a lot of stuff in their freezers because of the power outage. You hear chainsaws and wood chippers all the time. It still looks a little strange driving through town with all the damaged trees.
The power outage is also making it very interesting at work. A couple of our facilities are without phone and computers - and it's going to get worse before it gets better. Something about the strain being placed on the phone lines because of the power outage. I don't really understand how it works, I just know we have to have a contingency plan to be able to service our clients in the meantime. A lot of our clients don't have electricity or phone service so there's been an increase in the numbers of walk in clients we see during the day.
MIL still doesn't have power. And she still doesn't want to come stay with us. Hubby and I check on her several times during the day. We even offered to have her come over for supper last night and take a shower if she wanted. She said she's fine and she'll wait it out at home. In the dark. With no TV. Yes, she would rather complain about the power outage than take us up on our offer to help. Grrr.
Jr. and his family have power again. Their power came back on late yesterday afternoon. We offered to have them come over for supper, too, but they were happy to have a hot supper in their own house. They came over to get the stuff out of our freezer last night after they made sure the power was going to stay on. So life is back to normal for them.
It's still going to take a while for everything to be back to normal here in Small City USA. But at least we're making some progress.
September 16 Gone With The WindI've lived in Ohio my entire life. I'm used to blazing hot summers where the temps can reach over 100 degrees with 100% humidity. I've been through two blizzards. It's nothing for it to be -20 degrees in January. We learn about tornado drills in elementary school. Typical Midwestern weather. But the weather warnings that we got yesterday were anything but typical.
I really didn't think anything about the high wind advisory. We get them from time to time when there's a serious weather front coming through. But these winds were different. It was sunny and clear. No clouds. No rain. Usually it's raining and cloudy when we get these kinds of winds. It started about 2 p.m. and lasted until after 8 p.m. We got wind gusts of 70 mph. After it was all over, the weather guys said it was comparable to a Level 1 Hurricane. Oh dear.
Hubby and I were lucky. We didn't have any significant damage to the house. The corner of the roof on the garage peeled back a little bit. Hubby was able to fix it this afternoon. We had the big trees taken out of the front yard earlier this summer and it's probably a good thing. I don't think those old trees would have survived the windstorm. The lights went out a couple of times but were only out for a max of 45 minutes. Life is back to normal for us.
Unfortunately, it's not back to normal for MIL and Jr.
MIL hasn't had power since Sunday afternoon and it looks like she might not get it back until the end of the week. There were some large limbs down in her front yard. The corner of the roof on her house peeled back. She's waiting for a claims adjuster to come out and take a look at the damage. We told her she could come and stay with us but she's not having any of it. She wants to stay in the house with her little dog.
Jr. and his family hasn't had power since Sunday afternoon either. They had gone to the grocery on Saturday and was afraid that everything in the freezer would spoil if the power didn't come on quick. Hubby and I made room in the freezer for their stuff. We made the same offer to them to come and stay with us. Or at least take showers, come for supper, do laundry. They said they were fine.
Schools were closed yesterday and they might be closed again today. There are parts of town that have no power and the reports are that the power won't be back on until the end of the week. I went out last night to check on MIL and Jr and it was just spooky driving through town. There are trees down all over the place. Houses have had siding and shingles blown off. Some of the local grocery stores and fast food places are closed because of no power. It looks like a tornado went through town. It's pretty spooky.
When you say your prayers for those affected by Hurricane Ike . . . don't forget to include those affected by the tail end of the storm. September 11 September 11Seven years ago. It was seven years ago. Is that even possible? I'm sitting here watching TV with the doggies and Hubby and I'm remembering that awful day.
When I heard about the first plane crashing into the tower, I thought how can you crash into the World Trade Center. Then the second tower was hit and the world changed forever. We spent the day watching TV in the boardroom. I drove home thinking that it was unbelievable that something so horrible could happen on such a beautiful fall day. There was something surreal about that day - nothing but news on the radio, no planes in the air, not much traffic on the road home. I was working in The Big City and had a 45 minute commute home that day.
Once I got home, Hubby and I had supper and then I had a quick errand to run across my little hometown. What surprised me the most was the long lines at the gas stations. There weren't many people out and about - but all of the gas stations were packed.
After my errand, I came home and watched the news. That's all that was on and all that was on for several days.
I read the blogs and the news websites today. The thing that struck me the most today were the little kids at the services that must have been babies at the time of the attack or were born just after. They will never know a world without worry about terrorist attacks, September 11 will always be a somber day, they'll never understand what we lost that day.
September 09 Favorite Time of the YearIt's already September. School started here this week. Yea, I know it's kind of late this year but they built a new high school and they delayed the start of the school year to make sure it was done on time. Luci loves walking through the school yard during out walk each night. She loves to sniff and smell all the stuff in the playground. There are kids playing football in the field next to the school.
This is my favorite time of year. It's still warm in the afternoon but it's cool enough in the morning and evening that we can turn off the AC and open up the windows. Football season has started - high school, college, pro . . . love them all!! I'm in a football pool at work and Hubby and I are in 5th place. The leaves are starting to change. It'll be strange this year to not have a zillion elm tree leaves in the yard. I'm not sure Hubby is going to know how to act if he isn't raking leaves all the time.
The new fall TV shows are starting. I'm looking forward to Grey's Anatomy and the final season of ER. I like Kitchen Nightmares, Chuck, Two and a Half Men. But the highlight of every fall is the start of another season of This Old House! Yes, I know it sounds strange. A girl with no handyman abilities whatsoever LOVES This Old House. I know the names of all the hosts, I know the name of the plumbing guy, the landscape guy, I even got teary eyed when I heard that the guy that does the beautiful tile work passed away last year. I've been watching this show since the mid 1980's. One of my big dreams is to go to New England and visit all the houses that they've done. I'm trying to talk Hubby into this as a 25th anniversary trip but not having a lot of luck so far.
But the best part of fall is that wonderful smell in the air at night when the neighbor behind us has a fire in her fire pit. There's just nothing like the smell of burning wood on a cool fall night. There's nothing like a September evening in Ohio.
September 06 ohnoshedidn't!!I hate when I'm right about something. Especially when that something is Princess. I knew in my heart that it was going to be drama 24/7 when she came back into our lives last summer. Because it's always drama with Princess. And I knew that it would just be a matter of time before she would hit us up for money. Because she's always hitting us up for money. I had a feeling that was why she suddenly decided she needed to come home for a visit last weekend. Since she didn't make it home last weekend, she tried a different tactic . . .
She had Big Man (grandson #2) call and ask Hubby for money.
Oh. No. She. Didn't!
Oh. Yes. She. Did!
(Imagine neck roll, finger snap, shoulder roll. Actually, it's probably funnier if you could see me attempt that move. But I digress.)
She had her 15 year old son ask Hubby for money.
Believe it or not, Hubby stuck to his guns and said no. He told Princess a couple of months ago that he wasn't sending any more money. So Princess knew he'd tell her no, but she thought that Hubby wouldn't tell his grandson no. She thought wrong. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when Big Man gave that message to Princess.
By the way, we haven't heard anything from Princess since last Saturday night. And I'm betting it's going to be a really long time before we hear from her again.
I'd give anything to be wrong about this . . . just once I'd love to be wrong . . . September 05 Friday NightLots of totally ordinary non-related pieces of nothing . . .
Boring old married people sitting at home. Watching TV and you wouldn't believe the variety of stuff we're watching. America's Funniest Videos. College Football - Navy v. Ball State. NFL Kickoff Weekend Preview stuff. Like I said, we're a boring old married couple.
Hubby made homemade applesauce today. We have a small apple tree in the back yard. FIL started it from a seed in a spray paint lid the year before he died. FIL didn't really want an apple tree, he just wanted to see if it could make it grow. Once it took root and started to out grow the paint lid, he gave it to Hubby. After FIL passed away in 2001, that tree became Hubby's passion. You would not believe the care and attention he gives that tree. And you can imagine how upset he was when Luci was a puppy and was trying to chew on the tree. We've had apples the last couple of years but we could never figure out what to do with them. Last year Luci and Blacky ate most of the apples. This year Hubby decided to try his hand at making applesauce. Better him than me because I am so not the domestic goddess. Does that make him a domestic god? Anyway, the applesauce is pretty good . . . a little lumpy . . . but pretty tasty. It's a good thing, too, because we have three or four bags of apples in the freezer.
We finally got some rain here today. It's supposed to be cooler here tomorrow. And to think I was planning on taking Luci to the Doggie Swim event at the municipal pool tomorrow. Is it ever too cold for a Lab to go swimming? No, I'm not taking Blacky. He's just too much of a nervous Nelly to be able to enjoy something like that. Strange environment + strange people + strange dogs = gastrointestional upset and a very long weekend for me.
Luci and Hubby are playing tug of war in the living room. Luci just cleared the coffee table with her tail. I'm trying not to laugh because they both have the most guilty looks on their faces. And Blacky just went upstairs to hide under the bed.
Just another quiet Friday evening at home with the boring old married couple . . .
September 03 Pure JoyI'll admit that I've been in a bit of a "MOOD" the last few days. All the drama with Princess and the Ex sucked some of the fun out of my lovely long holiday weekend. Then I went back to work and the patients have sucked some of the fun out of my week. Geeze, you'd think that a three day holiday was the end of the world. But I digress. Today is one of my most favorite days of the year. It ranks up there with Christmas, Beggar's Night, My Birthday, and My Anniversary.
It's Luci's Birthday!!!
Actually, it's Luci's THIRD BIRTHDAY. The birthday that EVERYONE told me would signify the end of puppyhood and would be the beginning of a beautiful relationship with a calm(er), loving labrador. See, when Luci was a baby puppy she was a holy terror on four legs. She chewed the latice off the deck. She would dig to holes that Hubby swore went all the way to China. She had trouble with the come when called command. She chewed up my favorite Old Navy flip flops. She tried to chew on Hubby's pride and joy apple tree. She grabbed my Grandma's antique hand made doilies off the coffee table and took them in to her crate with her. She destroyed every doggie bed we bought to put in her crate. She chewed on the antenna of my brand new cell phone. She would get up in the middle of the night to go potty and think it was time to play. Ever see a grown woman in her nightgown chase a little puppy in circles in the back yard at 3 a.m.? Trust me, it's not funny . . . or pretty. But EVERYONE told me that she'd out grow it and she's settle down and be a calm lab just like my beloved Goldie by the time she turned three. After all, Goldie was a bit of a wild child when we first got her (she was 2-1/2 at the time) and settled down around her third birthday. So for the last three years I've been anxiously awaiting THE BIG DAY WHEN LUCI TURNED THREE.
Grant, she has calmed down some as she's gotten older. But some of that is learning to avoid potential problems before they happen. I've learned that a good mixture of vinegar and lime juice will keep Luci from chewing things she isn't supposed to. I've learned to appreciate the "less is more" approach of home decorating and there isn't anything delicate out below Luci's nose level. I've learned that Luci is extremely food motivated - hence her little weight problem. But she still has some of that evil puppy spunk. She likes to romp in the pool and then roll in the dirt - even though there is a beautiful patch of lush green grass right next to the dirt. She will play fetch until she can't run anymore, take a short nap and be ready for action before you know it. She will jump and wiggle and prance if she thinks she's going for a walk and she'll pull me along if she doesn't think I'm moving fast enough. Or if she happens to spot one of her adoring fans waiting to visit with her. (Yes, she has a fan club. Neighbors that know what time we go walking and wait on their front porches just to visit with us. It's the most amazing thing!)
I have to agree, everyone was right. The evil puppy days didn't last forever. We did survive them. I'm starting to believe that she doesn't have an evil plan to make me totally gray. I am sleeping through the night again. Well, except for the night sweats - but that's another story. I'm starting to see a blending of the calm devoted lab that was Goldie and the evil she devil that was Luci as a puppy. Right now, I've got the best of both worlds and it's pretty good.
Yes, we did have a bit of a birthday party tonight for Luci's. Hubby is bowling tonight so it was just me, Blacky and Luci. We had a pool party. It was 95 degrees when I got off work tonight so I thought it would be a perfect evening for a pool party. I changed into my play clothes - no, not a swim suit. Please, the neighbors don't deserve such a shock! Just shorts and a t-shirt. Got out the baby pool and put in just enough water for Luci and Blacky to splash around in. Sprayed them both until they were totally wet. Then put out the sprinkler. That way they could take turns. When Luci was in the pool, Blacky would splash in the sprinkler. Then Luci would get in the sprinkler and Blacky would get in the pool. After the cannonball incident a couple of summers ago, Blacky doesn't like to be in the pool with Luci.
There are gifts - tennis ball rings, squishy balls, tennis balls - and extra doggie treats and even a goofy Mommy singing Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girl. Yes, I'm silly like that. Blacky joined in with the singing, too. At least I think he was joining. It could be the fact that Mommy's singing was really just that bad.
So today (or at least the last part of the day) has been pure joy. Nothing like a birthday party to brighten a girl's day. Especially when I'm not the one getting older. September 02 Drama QueenNope, not me. Although Hubby does complain sometimes that I am a bit on the dramatic side. Especially when it comes to Princess and the Ex. However, this time I am referring to Her Royal Highness, The Supreme Drama Queen . . . The Ex.
When Princess decided to come home to get away for the weekend, she borrowed money from The Ex to make sure she had enough money for food for the trip. Actually Princess had the Granddaughters ask for the money. Of course, The Ex couldn't refuse the Granddaughters and gave them $20. As far as the Ex knew, Princess and the grandkids were coming to Ohio to visit Jr. and Princess' best friend. Princess and the grandkids never mentioned coming to visit me and Hubby. As far as the Ex knew, Princess hadn't talked to Hubby in well over a year. The last the Ex heard from Princess was on Thursday afternoon.
When the Ex hadn't heard from or seen Princess or the grandkids by Monday afternoon, she called Hubby and I to see if we had seen Princess and if they had left to go back to Virginia. The Ex didn't have Jr.'s current phone number and thought that we might have seen Princess and the grandkids. When I told the Ex that Princess didn't come to Ohio after all, that's when she told me that she hadn't seen Princess since Thursday and it's very unusual to go 4 days without hearing from Princess. Well, that set off all kinds of alarms with me and Hubby and we instantly went into panic mode. I called Jr. to see if he had heard from Princess. We started to think about all the possible places she might be if she came to Ohio and Jr. started checking them out. I called the Ex back to get some info on Princess' car and learned that the Ex hadn't even checked to see if they were at home before she called and started the panic.
I told the Ex to go check to see if Princess and the kids were at home and call me back. Turns out that they were all safe at home - and had been all weekend. By now I'm beating my head against the wall and Hubby has gone outside so that the Ex won't overhear him swearing.
Here's the questions I have about this . . .
- If the Ex didn't know that Princess was talking to Hubby, why did she call us looking for her?
- Why did the Ex call us before she checked to see if Princess was home?
- Why didn't Princess tell the Ex that she wasn't coming to Ohio so that she wouldn't worry?
- If Princess needed money for food, why didn't she just ask instead of creating a story about coming to Ohio?
- Since Princess knows that the Ex called and stirred up all this drama, how long will it be before she calls to apologize/explain what happened?
All of the above questions are rhetorical because I will never get answers. Rather, I'll never get a straight answer. This is what always happens with Princess and the Ex. Always. There is always drama. And this is why I enjoy the peace and quiet when Princess drops out of our lives from time to time.
Yea, I know. I'm evil and I'm going straight to you-know-where. |
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