Day off = rest right?

Yeah, well we'll see about that...lol!

Work was torture lastnight and we didn't even leave until 1am! I think I was snoring by 1:45am at the latest. I even forgot to set my alarm to get up this morning. Glad I left a message for My Bob to call me to make sure I was up by 8am. I would much rather still be sleeping that's for sure but I have an appointment at the bank with a financial "advisor" I thin she's called. Working on "rolling over" an account I have. Anyway, if it weren't for that I'd still be snoring.

It's a beautiful day at the moment. The sun is shining and the birds are singing. There's even a small breeze which there hasn't been lately. It's been so hot and the air so heavy it takes your breath away. I know that sometime today thunderstorms are supposed to roll through. I'm just hoping I get to enjoy some nice weather on my day off before that happens. Hmmmm....day off....well sorta. I don't have to be at the restaurant anyway. Right in the middle of my day, I have to drive up to Fairlawn, Ohio (about a 40 minute drive north of here) for a food manager's meeting from 3 to 4pm...oh joy! Sure wish it was in the morning so I could have the rest of my day to myself but oh well, I'll survive.

Thought I'd share some photos I took of the kids while we were at the Memorial Day parade Monday morning. Hope you enjoy them.

it only happens after midnight........

My apartment is upstairs.
It's soooooo freakin hot up here you'd swear it was a sauna.
I left work around 11:30pm and it was still 78 degrees out.
Had to be in the 90's up in this apartment.
Found the dog stretched out at the top of the stairs panting.
I have all the windows open and the ceiling fans on high.
Seems to just move around hot sticky air.
I put the window a/c unit in my bedroom window.
I didn't take my time since it was late and I needed to get to sleep.
Naturally it wasn't level.
Atleast I know it works good.
The room was nice and cool and it didn't take long.
I was awaken around 1am with drips of water on my head.
Yes, my bed is under the window~~~ but not for long.
The a/c unit was dripping condensation all over my pillow.
I was forced to get back up and put something under the a/c unit so it would fit proper in the window.
Damn that was my favorite pillow.
Thank goodness I fell right back to sleep.
The dog woke me up around 6:45 to put him out.
While I'm standing on the porch waiting for him to do his business, I looked at my truck that is parked along the sidewalk and discover my back tire is as flat as a pancake.
Great!
Now mind you, I've had this truck for 5 years.
I bought it used.
It didn't come with a jack.
I've been meaning to get one, just never think about it till I need it.
The neighbor guy downstairs is up so I ask to borrow his jack.
I know how to change my own tires.
I've done it many many times over the years.
However, I haven't the "correct" tool to use to loosen the spare from under the bed of the truck.
I just recently purchased AAA again but didn't want to use it for something I can do.
Neighbor finally loosens and retreives my spare.
I thank him and he's now off to work.
Next step~~~~loosen lug nuts~~~~yeah freakin right!!
Why is it that the tire mechanics feel the need to tighten them things so much with those air guns????????
Called AAA after all.
Neighbor guys says it didn't looked "slashed" like I was certain happened.
He says it looked liked I curbed it.
Tow truck driver says~~~~~~~~" Ah, did you curb it on that culvert right there when ya parked it?"
Look ~~~~~~~ I've been parking here for over 2 years now~~~~ I rarely curb it and IF and when I do I certainly KNOW it!~~~~~~~atleast that's my story and I'm stickin to it!
Tire is changed now so how and why it needed it just doesn't matter now does it.!
Now I have to wash my bed sheets and see if I can salvage my pillow.
Pillows are cheaper than truck tires though.
Might just buy a new one.

Just hoping this isn't any indication as to how the rest of my day is going to go.
So how's your morning going?

Memorial Day.........

Memorial Day to me is a day set aside for remembering so much and honoring those that have made our way of living possible. It's also a day to remember those who lost their lives in tragedies. I was given this link last year by My Bob. It's titled "Blood of Heroes". There are several links inside this link. I'm posting this today in hopes that anyone stopping by here will take a moment to look, listen and read the items in these links.

My prayers today are with our troops that are not only over in Iraq but in the service throughout the world. Where ever they are stationed and whatever their duties are required of them, I pray for their saftey and guidance. I hope you will join me this Memorial Day in remembering the families of all who died September 11, 2001. We were all effected by that day, there is no doubt. Some more than others. I'll be taking a few mintues of my day for prayers and thank you's. Hopefully you will do that as well.


LINKS~~~~

www.fdnylodd.com/BloodofHeroes.html

www.fdnylodd.com/enya.html

www.fdnylodd.com/eng40lad35.html

www.fdnylodd.com/343.html

www.fdnylodd.com/index.html

I do hope that everyone enjoys there day together with family and friends. Have great times at your BBQ's. I have to work today from 2 to midnight so I won't be having a BBQ. I'll be thinking of all of my internet friends today and my loved ones that I can't be near. I hope everyone has a grand holiday.


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

ABC Tag

Write 10 words begining with the letter you've been given. Include an explanation of what each word means to you and why. For all who comment, I'll give you a letter so you can play along. CelticLady gave me the letter *B*. Pass out letters to those that want to play along on your blogs.

B is for....

Bob: Now here is a man that is by far the most *real* person I've ever met. He's hard working and caring. He says what's one his mind and doesn't worry about what other people think about him. He's an honest man and one that makes me very happy. Bob is the man that I want to be with for the rest of my life. I love him and miss him very much and can't wait for the day to get here when we can be together.

Books: I occasionally will pick up a book to read and it's usually a John Grisham novel. I'm all for a good mystery as well. I will be honest and say that biographies tend to put me to sleep. However, I do enjoy reading.

Bible: This is a book that I feel I need to read more of. This is also the one book that can put me to sleep in a matter of minutes. *Honestly* I know there is alot of controversy over this particular book and I won't go into details as to why I feel I need to read it more.

Brandywine: This is a local ski lodge. Back in 1988 I learned to ski there. That saturday was a great day and I stayed on those slopes from the time they opened till they closed them. I finally grasped the hang of skiing down the slopes without falling on my keester or face for that matter or crashing into a snow fence. Did I care that I had strained the ligiments in my left knee and was on crutches for a week after? Nope. I never skied after that though. I would go again in a heart beat.

Briefs: Lets just say when you have a rearend as wide as mine, you need it covered. Say no more.

Bubblegum: I can chew gum like it's going out of style. I have been chewing just about every flavor of ORBIT gum there is. As much as I talk to people with the line of work I do, I'm constantly concerned about bad breath. The gum helps.

Babies: Ah yes, God's miracles of life. So inisent and sweet. Carrying a baby in your belly is an experience that I feel men truely miss out on. Just feeling that life growing is a miracle in it's own. I love how soft babies are. I love the fresh clean smell of a baby. Babies are so precious and they always bring a smile to my heart.

Billiards: Now here's a game that I truely enjoy. I suck at it, but play with all my heart when given the chance. I was in a beginners pool league a few years back and got hooked. Now though I rarely play and my pool cue is collecting dust.

Bananas: Best when eaten in a peanut butter/banana sandwhich. I can eat alot of bananas. Some day I'll get brave enough to attempt to make some homemade banananut bread.

Blogging: Since I started blogging over a year ago, I have been able to open up in ways I haven't been able to before. I enjoy meeting new people and reading a variety of different topics. It's been fun and rewarding.

Minor correction

reference to jan's previous post...first of all...ty honey a wonderful thought for you to post that pic...actually regardless of who was in it very fitting....it was actually taken at Parris Island at Bills Graduation...i do look fat in the pic but remember im standing next to a fresh cut Marine hehe...think he lost about 25 pounds at boot camp.....hmmm wonder if i could still kick his ass.....anyways...fyi...he is maintaining at Camp Taqqadum about 13 miles south of Fallujah(could care less if i have the spelling of those correct)...seems very content there and wants to return already even tho he has leave and goes back to Oki in approximately 126 days(but who's counting?)...my mom is amazed that every so often he calls and we can talk to him while he's right there....she compares it to WWII when ya just waited for them to return and never really heard anything unless via snail mail or bad news...not sure how i woulda coped with that ...its relieving just to get a quick email from him from time to time...dont matter what it says really just the fact that he's ok is what i need to know......his major beefs are with the way things are portrayed in the media back home here....not even close to what its actually like...but leave it to sensationalseekingmedia and oblivious politicians to take advantage of the situation...a lil reminder to all......the people that KNOW whats going on there are the people that are there....not a politician sitting in a/c all day and trying to garner votes...neither the media...who would wanna watch a child go to school thats never gone before...even tho he's 13 now and just started....who would watch a whole platoon bein served dinner by a grateful iraqi family....noone would watch women going to vote...driving.....boring...not newsworthy...but the truth...yes dear im sorry this is not a political forum and im not trying to turn it into one....all im sayin is when ya consider information...consider the source...consider the motives...seek the truth

Scavenger Hunt Saturday

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

In Honor of Memorial Day. Today's theme is Red - "White" & Blue.

~~~~EDIT~~~~
This photo was taken at Camp Lejeune in N.Carolina at Bob's Son Bill's Marine bootcamp Graduation last year.
**it's the only photo I had in my collection to be ready for my first post to participate in the photo scavenger hunt. It's not one that I took**

It's nearly a month away........

but I'm finally getting some time off. June 21st thru the 24th. Bob suggested we go here. I've been checking out the site and I'm looking forward to some time away. I'm hoping now that the weather is nice to us. I'll help him out atleast one day at the addition he's working on. I find it fun and a chance to learn something new. He thinks he might be siding by then. I've been checking out flights since I can get there faster and actually a little bit cheaper than if I drive with the gas being so high. I get so tired when I make that drive but I'm always willing to do it.

I have the day off today and yes it's raining again. Lastnight there were tornado warnings. It was storming pretty bad. I love a good thunderstorm but not when I'm working. Too many people around me freaking out that a tornado is coming. Come to think of it, I have no clue really what we would do at the restaurant if a tornado came. What do you do with a diningroom full of guests. Oh yeah, it was full enough. A local high school had a graduation and people stopped by afterwards. You would think that with all the lightening and thunder and rain with the tornado sirens going off that people would just go home....but nope, they came out to eat. Oh well, I'll never understand the general public...lol.

I have a couple new pictures of Isaac from Wednesday when Heather and I took Mom to the Golden Corral for lunch. The batteries were dying in my digital, so everytime I had a good shot of that cute ornery grin he's getting, the camera would take forever to go off and I got a different shot of him since he moved. I'll share them anyway because he's a little cutie pie.



He has a new thing now~~~~his tongue is always out of his mouth. He makes this "bear growl" sound this so funny. He makes what I call a monkey face. I'll try to capture it one of these days to show you what I'm talking about.

Snapped one of Deydra being silly. She was having quite the hair day also. She wanted it put up her way. I think it's goofy but Heather let her.



Self expression is so important. Especially when kids are little.













Here's a photo of the Hybiscus I think it's called, that I bought my Mom for Mother's day. Now wouldn't you know it, it bloomed yellow. Mom's house is painted the ugliest shade of yellow I've ever seen and with the house as a background, you really can't see the flower to well....lol



Well, it's 10:30 and the day will slip by me if I sit here much longer. I'm out of here......................
Hope you all have a great day.

Yes.....I'm a Dork!!

The day started off rather well~~~don't get this post wrong, it's ending well also~~~just had a dorky moment I need to discuss.
After taking my Mother to lunch at Golden Corral Heather and I came back to my house until it was time to pick up Deydra from school. We all went shopping~~~~for once I didn't spend any money~~~~and decided to spend the afternoon outside on my porch since it was such a gorgeous day. (stay with me, I'm getting there) I thought what a great day to try to get some photos of the kids. I packed my camera bag to bring outside and started to get everything out when the UPS truck pulled up. I was instantly excited because I knew my new zoom lens was on his truck. I felt like a kid at christmas that already peeked at the present but was still excited to open it and finally have the contents inside~~~~yes I peeked at christmas presents!!!! I thanked the UPS man and told him he had impecable timing that he'd just delivered my new zoom lens on time for an afternoon full of taking pictures of the grandkids. He was happy he made my day. So by now Heather and Deydra are sitting with me waiting on me to rip open the box. There it was~~~all wrapped up nice and secure in it's own little box inside the big box. ~~~ Yes I know ~~~you're still waiting for the dork moment~~~~well here it is. I open the box and un wrap the lens ~~~~~~~~~~only to discover~~~~~~~~~I JUST BOUGHT THE SAME DAMN LENS I ALREADY HAVE ON MY CAMERA!!!!!!!!! ~~~~~Go ahead~~~~ I'll wait~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, tell me that wasn't the biggest dork move of all time. No wonder it wasn't $700. To think I was so happy with the huge deal I had. I sat there on the porch just staring at it. Heather says~~~~~~send it back. I looked at it some more, in total disbelief of my brilliant move and put in on my camera and thought to myself~~~~~what the hell, my camera is 7 years old and deserves a new lens that isn't scratched and all dusty because I was carless in Yosemite 7 years ago and lost all my lens covers. So there you have it. I'm a dork!!!

~~~~~~and ya wonder why I don't spend money on myself very often~~~~~~~~~

Just another day off.........

Well, let's see how today goes.
I have defragged.
I have deleted cookies.
I also did a disk cleanup.
Reset the time~~~though it's useless to do that.

Heather will be coming over today.
She and I are taking my Mother to lunch.
Mom likes the Golden Corral so that's where we'll go.

I'm hoping my zoom lens will be delivered today.
I already received an email stating that it has been shipped.
I refuse to sit here all day and wait on the UPS truck though.

Wow, so far so good at posting "freeze" free.

I missed my morning chat with My Bob.
He's out and about early today with tons to do.
The addition he's been building is coming together nicely.
He received the go ahead from the inspectors.
This week he's getting all the insulation put in.
Soon the drywall will go up and he'll be able to start the siding.
I can't wait to see it completed.
The home owners are very happy with the progress as well.

Perhaps since today is going to be the first really nice day we've had here ~~weather wise~~I'll get some photos taken.
Never knowing what the subject will be makes taking pictures more interesting to me.

Now to go and get cleaned up and get this lovely day started.

Still here

So yeah, nothings improved over here at all~~~~~~still taking 1/2 an hour to download 6 pictures that My Bob sent me last night. Pages are still freezing. I still want to chuck this PC out the front window and watch it smash to pieces on the sidewalk below, but I won't do it. I just want to really bad.

The time ~~~according to the local time/weather station is 10:57am. Just don't look at my computer or you'll be severly late for everything in your life as it tells me the time is 5:43am. I suppose the good part of the is it's atleast on the same day of the week.

A week before I decided to be brave enough to change the battery in here myself, I emailed Dell with questions about it. I never heard back from them. You all know I successfully bought and changed the battery myself. Only for this piece of crap to start malfunctioning all over again. So guess what's in my email today~~~~~~~~yep~~~~~~~not just one, but two emails from Dell asking for my home phone number so they can call me to talk about a possible problem I may be having. If that is their response time I'm ready to email them back to tell them to come over here so I can shove this computer up their asses. ~~~Again that's something I would never do or say~~~~~~~I'm just that pissed off over this thing. I've come to the huge conclusion that I rely on having this this way too much. It has been very useful over the years and I do alot on here. Banking, bill paying etc. and to loose that convience makes it very unpleasant at the least.

I've been out of the house already today to enjoy what little bit of sunshine there is here today. I was only sitting on the front steps reading a book so that Cerebus could be outside too, but it was relaxing. It's still abit chilly around here so I'm naturally back in the house. I have to start getting ready for another evening of work soon so I won't be on here long. I'll be glad for my day off tomorrow.

I need to make a decision soon about what to do with this computer. I either need to shut the hell up about it and just deal with it, or take it to a computer repair shop or call the geek squad out or try to sit here on the phone with Dell and try to explain to them ~~~while making some sense~~~about what this thing is doing/not doing. Even now while trying to type this short simple rant~~~~~ it's taking nearly 1/2 an hour since the page freezes while I type and I have to sit and wait for it to unfreeze. Makes it less fun to post let me tell you.

So now that it's unfroze again~~~~~I'm out of here.

I'm done!!!!!

It's happening again....I just replaced the battery and today it's way behind again. I don't have the funds right now to get this thing repaired or to purchase a new one. If I wasn't so tired from working all these nights I'd atleast have the energy to lift this piece of shit and toss it out the damn window.

I'm shutting it off! IF I feel like messing with it in a day or 2 I'll turn it back on .... and hope it comes on!

Not much to say today so check this out.....

I was visiting some of my favorite blogs the other day and came upon this from Kim. You should check her blog out because she writes some hilariously funny stuff. She doesn't post daily but when she does, I'm usually cracking up or feeling her pain.

Have a great weekend.

So Yeah.....I deserve it!!!

I did it.
I splurged on myself.
Went shopping for one item today.
Started at pawn shops in my area.
You can find some awesome deals there.
Unless you are me and looking for one important item.
Awhile back when Bob was here, we looked online.
I found the right one but wanted to wait and shop around.
Well, the pawn shops were a strike out.
Retail shops want your first born plus $300 -$600.
I went back online and ordered this.
Hopefully I'll get it within a week.
Yep~~~~~I deserve it.

It's nice having pay day off.
Not like I'm planning on spending alot..just a nice feeling to have it off.
I have some financial planning to check on this morning.
I'm not going to Mom's today~~~ I need a break.
I'm selfishly taking this entire day just for me.
Wish I had more than one day off.
I need a few in a row to really unwind.
I need to take a road trip and have no time off to get one.
I miss Bob and need away from here for a few days.
I got my schedule for next week.
Looks like a rubber stamp of the last 3~~~~all nights with Wednesday and Friday off again.
No offense meant towards Tab~~~but I'll sure be glad when she's done with training.
These nights are kicking my ass.
Somewhere on this junk pile of a computer desk is my doctor's appointment card for June so I can get that day requested off.
Suppose I should add cleaning this desk off to my list of things to do today.
Well sitting here all morining isn't getting me out the door with an early start.
Guess I better squeeze in some puppy time too.
I was hoping the weather would be nicer~~~ I haven't taken pictures lately and need to get my camera going on something out there.
Well, I'm out of thoughts so it's time to head out.

News article to share

Bob's son is over in Irag. Here is a news article Bob recieved in an email today and I thought I'd share it. I just hope the link works.

The Marine in the photo is Bill...Bob's son.

Holy cow...was I a potty mouth or what yesterday ~~~~hangs head in shame~~~~atleast until the next episode....lol Sorry folks~~~ you just never know what you may read when you stop by here.

It's nice to have the day off today. Sure wish this rain would stop. It's certainly not as bad here as in New England states that's for sure. I'll try to remind myself about that each time I complain today that I want the sun to shine instead of feeling like a duck in water. Atleast my truck isn't under water and my home is dry inside. Hopefully soon New England states will dry up a bit and those people haven't lost much.

I'm about to head out for the day. Still not sure what all I'm going to do. Most likely just hang out with Mom. It was funny~~~she called me on Monday ~~~saying "I just called to see how you are"~~~~like I've been away for along time~~~was just over there on Friday. Anyway, she found out I was off today and didn't ask what I was doing, instead says "oh, well I'll see you on Wednesday. Ever get the feeling you were just told where to be on your day off??? I kow she didn't mean for it to be implied that I come over, she just knows that usually on my days off I end up at her house. It's just that now I feel obligated to go over...lol.

I have to stop by my restaurant too. I got a call from the opening supervisor. I took an order for a cake to be made and she can't read my writing for the name. I couldn't remember what it was supposed to be so I have to stop over and decipher my own writing. It's not a big deal. I have all day to do nothing so I can stop by there. Maybe get the pup an ice cream cone.

I'm out of thoughts for now. Hoping all of you have a grand day today.

Mid afternoon rant......

Ever think to yourself that the trip to the store for bread, milk , bananas and laundry soap really just wasn't that important and could have waited another day??? Let me explain why I feel this way.......


I'm driving down the road with my intermitten wipers on keeping the window clear from this dreaded rain that just won't go away when here comes "Mr. Big Rig" who OBVIOUSLY doesn't understand the concept of what the hell a DOUBLE YELLOW LINE represents. As I swirve ever so slightly to my right (to avoid having my children cash in on an insurance policy prematurly), the guy on my right practically has to curb it all the while blowing his horn and waving some jester with his left hand at me as though I'm the DUMBASS who just got their license from a cracker jack box!!! The nerve of that truck driver thinking he can drive however he wants to on a city street full of cars!! He doesn't own it!!! If this wasn't bad enough, the woman in the parking lot that was driving that SUV (clearly way larger than she needed to be driving as she herself appeared to be only 12 years old and should be driving a damn motorized BARBIE CAR) pulls right in front of me and nearly making Cerebus leave his K-9 nose print in my dashboard forever. I swear he'll never sit in the front seat again thinking that if he does I'll throw him through the window. Already having a crapping time of things this morning and really feeling that I was keeping my cool, I get to the cashout (at our local dollar store because yes folks, I'm cheap at times) only to discover they hired this really HUGE woman (and i'm not really knocking on heavy people because I think that's just rude...I'm merely painting the picture here) who either doesn't care about herself or store uniform policies at all. I nearly called to the manager but bit my tongue. Ladies...come on...if you are anything larger than a 34A...WEAR A FUCKING BRA IN PUBLIC!!!! If I had time. I'd take a nap before work. Seeing as now I have to leave in an hour, I'll just hope a hot shower helps. The nerve of these people!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How was your morning?

odds & ends

Rain....rain ....rain.....sheesh!! I know they say April rain brings May flowers, but it's May already and we have flowers!!! I'm not a duck...I don't care for this weather one bit. May rains is bring mud and muck and way too chilly temperatures. Enough already!

So yesterday as I was leaving for work...I saw on the sidewalk a most disturbing sight. Seems this little guy was in a bad way.
It was raining out and he caught my eye by going in little circles trying to find the grass by the tree. It's obvious he's blind. He is missing a right eye too. Was he mauled? Was he born that way? I wanted to help him but #1 was sure that if I even tried to get close he'd bite me. Not sure my boss would like that reason for a call off 20 minutes before my shift. So, I left him alone. I feel sort of bad because I had every intention of calling animal control to see about finding a wildlife rescue number. When I got to work there was so much going on I completely forgot about making that call. He's no where to be seen today. Atleast he's not road kill right by my house. That would suck and make me feel even worse. Hopefully nature will take care of him the way it's supposed to, but not by my house I guess.

We had a coloring contest at work for the kids. We picked 2 winners. One boy and one girl. The little girl stopped by lastnight to claim her prize. It was a beach bag filled with tons of little girl things. She was extremely happy.


I took her picture so we could post it at work on the community board. Doesn't she look happy she won? I think she was only 4yrs old. She liked the Barbie kite best of all. It's fun watching little kids be happy. Some of the smallest things just light up their world.











Tab sent me this in an email yesterday. Thanks Tab. I thought it was cute and should share it.

Not much more to post on this morning. It's pretty quiet here. Better get up and away from the computer and get some stuff done before I leave for work at 1:30.


*****EDIT*****

The poor little guy didn't make it very far yesterday. I suppose the good news is he didn't end up as road kill. I found him up by the cement steps that lead to the basement. My assumption now was that something got ahold of him and mauled him. The garbage men have already been here today so now I'm not so sure of the best disposal method for a dead squirrel. I'd hate to have him bagged and sitting in my trash can for a week. The next street over gets their trash picked up tomorrow so I could easliy drop him in a bag and place him in someone's trash can that is in the alley. I just really don't want to mess with a dead squirrel carcas...ewww. Someone has to do it so it might as well be me.

The Year was 1981........

It seems like so long ago at times.
Yet again it seems like only yesterday.
May 15, 1981
4:55pm
10 lbs. 4 oz.
20 1/2 in.
David Philip




I miss being able to see him on his Birthday. With him living in Jacksonville, Fl. now I can't do that. I spoke with him on the phone yesterday morning as he called to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. He's doing great and that's important.





This is the most recent photo I have of David. This was taken when I flew down to Florida for my own Birthday back in January of this year. David stands at 6ft tall now. I love it too!!! This was taken at Fernandina Beach.
I'm proud that he's doing so well. He didn't always try and that used to anger me. He loves his job as a plumber's assistant.



Happy 25th Birthday David!

Happy Mother's Day

It's nice that there has been a day set aside to honor Mothers. I personally feel blessed to be a Mother. I wouldn't want to know how my life would have been had I not had children. Life sure does throw you lots of curves and unexpected challenges to over come yet being a Mother has many blessing. When we were kids growing up, we had no concept of what being a parent was all about. All we knew was how tough it was being a kid and putting up with our own hardships and hurdles to overcome. My Mother is the most tenacious person I know. She has had to endure so much yet strives to live her life to the fullest that she can. It's evident that she's slowing down now and freely admits she can't do the things she once could, but it still doesn't stop her from trying. I've always been close to my Mom. Oh sure there were times in my youth that I didn't want a thing to do with her and was even embarassed by her, but even still was drawn to her. I was mostly Mom's protector in my mind. I watched her endure so much that I felt sorry for her. I love my Mom and see her now getting old and slowing down and that's hard too. I was over at her house on Friday and we spent the afternoon together since I have to work nearly all day today. She enjoys it when I'm over and tells me so.

I love being a Mother myself. It's had it's fair share of hurts and heartaches, but overcoming those moments and looking back on all the rewarding ones has a way of evening life out. I've learned alot by being a Mother. I have learned unconditional love above all. I'm proud of my own daughter as I watch her as a young single Mother of her own 2 kids. I can relate to her hard times and her joys. I actually feel as though with her being a single mom, we have bonded in away we never were able to before.

The Mothers in my family have come through alot in their own lives. I'm proud of them all.......Gloria....Serenity....Diana...my Mother....Heather and myself...to all of you and me I wish us all a very Happy Mother's Day.

To all the Mother's out there...may you have your own reflections on what being a Mother means to you. I wish you all a very Happy Mother's Day.

Hmmmmmm............

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (34%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. Left Brain (54%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?(word test)
personality tests by similarminds.com


I thought this was pretty interesting. I forget who's site I was on this morning and saw this test or I would send you there. I thought I'd take it and see what the results were anyway.

I feel really good this morning. I was asleep by 11pm and didn't get out of bed this morning till 6:30. I got a good 7 hours of sleep. No tossing or turning or back hurting. It was great.

Got to talk to my son lastnight too. It was good to hear from him. He was telling me about something he wanted to get for me for Mother's Day but just couldn't get it. I told him that hearing from him was good enough for me. He thinks it sucks that I have to work on Mother's Day, but it's no biggie to me. Just another day really.

Well, I'd better get my laundry done and see what else I can get into. Oh yeah, I can finally read my owner's manual and see what information I can gather. It's always good to be informed. Never know when it will come in handy.

Here goes nothing...........

Bought a battery at Radio Shack for $3.99 + tax. Disconnecting the computer to change it...if I don't come back for awhile...you'll know I screwed something up....hopefully I don't touch a wrong "something" or stay "grounded" like the manual says to and blow the Motherboard.

Honey...feel free to post in my absense.

Well signing off now....wish me luck.


***EDIT***


Wow..amazing...I didn't fry my computer after all. That only took me 1/2 an hour. I cleaned out alot of dust too while I had it open. I wonder what all has been effected by that dead battery? Time will tell I suppose. Now I'm off to read my owner's manual and get some education. After all, you never know what your capabilities are if you don't read and see what you can and can't do. I was pretty scared to start messing around inside the computer.


*** I sure hope Bob doesn't put his steel toes through that floppy slot or any other slot on his computer. I may be able to find us both solutions to them running like crap. Personally I think they just have sympathy for each other...but what do I know.***

I have the day off today and I'm not sitting around here all day that's for sure. I have no exact plans other than to go out and purchase something for my Mother and my Daughter for Mother's Day. I just might take the entire day to do that. I do wish the weather was nicer. It's only going to be a high of 55 today and it's very cloudy and overcast. Sure looks like more rain at anytime.

I have no thoughts that don't seem to be wishy washy thoughts to me so I'm not posting much at all today. I have decided to try and locate this battery thing for my computer as a last ditch effort to keep it from flying out the front window. The time is currently 9am here in Ohio but my computer is in a different time zone as it's only 4:22am. Atleast for now it's on the same day. I have long ago swtiched away from internet explorer as some computer geek somewhere once told me that if I swtiched over to Mozilla Firefox all my troubles would end. They have improved I'll admit that. Having highspeed DSL and having your computer act as though it's in a neanderthol (sp) period of dial-up is a major frustration at it's best. I get those stupid windows that open and say Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close...if you were currently working on something all information could be lost....would you like to send an error report?....No shit I would...but I don't because nothing comes of it. Well, now I'm getting them on Firefox as well and both yahoo messenger and msn messenger either close on me or just freeze up in the middle of a converstation. I thought modern techonlogy was supposed to make our lives easier not stress us to the point to where we want to become distructive. I bet I could make a pretty interesting puzzle out of this computer if I tried. But who would want to put it together? I know I wouldn't.

Okay..I'm done bitching about my computer for now. Perhaps later today I'll post a better post that doesn't contain vulgarity and pissiness. I think that shopping trip is in order about now...................................................

The rain has arrived..................

Yes folks, it's raining outside. Not just a sprinkle either, but rather a large downpour. The winds are blowing strong as well. I can pretty much say that although the ground needs this rain, I do not. I'm glad that yesterday was such a nice day since I had it off. I won't be out in this stuff at all. I'm not a duck and the water doesn't just roll off my back. Unless I'm in a shower or swimming, I have no need to be that wet, thank you very much. I'll just stay indoors today until I have to go out for work later.

I rented a movie lastnight called "Rumor has it". Not having seen any previews I didn't know what it was about. I saw that Kevin Costner and Shirley McClain and Jennifer Aniston was in it...so how bad could it be?. Well, it had some humorous moments (thus it was a comedy after all), but for the most part I didn't like it. Just the simple content alone I guess didn't sit well with me. I'm not for people "testing the waters" so to speak before they get married and I'm sorry, but if you found a man that you thought just might be your Father from a fling your Mother had with him before her own marriage..AND...that prior to that this same man had a fling with your GrandMother (back when they were younger and way before she was your grandMother), would you even let your mind wander to the possiblities of how handsome this man is and let him suduce you???? That's just gross people come on. Is it just me? Ruined the movie for me. So what that it was a myth movie and the spoofed that it was based on the book/movie the "graduate". I simply didn't like it. So why did I watch the whole thing? Beats me...other than the fact that I paid to rent it, I have no other excuse. So what was the last movie you rented that you didn't like but ended up watching the whole thing anyway?

Hmmmm...guess I'm out of thoughts now. This one bedroom apartment seems small when you decide to sit in it all day because it's raining outside. Sheesh, might as well tidy it up some for something to do.

Today is Bob's Son's Birthday and he's over in Iraq. Keep them both in your thoughts if you would today...I know I will.

Hump Day and I have it off!!!!!!

It would be nice to wake up in the morning and actually feel refreshed from the sleep you just got. These nights are defenately kicking my ass.The last two nights we have been busier than normal with school programs going on and people stopping by our restaurant afterwards. Now don't get me wrong, I'd rather be busy than not and have to find "busy work" just to have something to do. The worst part about me working these nights is that I'm NOT a night person. Long gone are the days I can stay up all hours of the night and still get up in the morning and be able to function.

Yesterday was a long day for me since it started out at the Nursing home with Mom and I having a conference with them about my Dad. We talked about why/how he had gotten so bad that he nearly died and was in the hopsital. I was really thinking they were just letting him go and deteriorate. To an extent they could well be doing that with being under staffed and under paid. Is it acceptable?...NO. I'm staying on them about his care if for no other reason they attend to him to keep me shut up. Whatever it takes. Dad is failing, there is no getting around that. When he's strong enough and eating enough on his own (something he is now back to being able to do with pureed foods only), we as a family made the decision to have the feed tube removed and never go that route again. This will be months down the road, but a decision made none the less. Dad has pneumonia right now and is on meds for that. He's getting physical therapy again for his legs so they aren't being so curled up into himself when he lays in the bed. (like a fetal position). After Mom and I were done at the Nursing home she went with me to pay a bill downtown then we had a quick lunch. (quick was all I had time for). I no sooner got back here, that it was time for me to get dressed for work and head out. I left the house at 1:30pm and pulled up out front lastnight at 12:05am. Yep, long tired day for me.

I'm going to try to enjoy this day off I have today. The weather looks to be promising for a good day. High of 74 degrees so not too hot. I love the sunshine. Makes me in a good mood no matter what seems to be going on. I have to get the oil changed in my truck this morning then after that I have the entire day to do anything I damn well please without having to be somewhere for anyone. (though I did promise Mom I'd stop by at some point today). If Mom feels up to it, I was thinking of scooping her and her bitch of a dog up and taking them with me and Cerebus to the Wilderness Center in Wilmont. Bob and I took Cerebus there for a nice walk and I think Mom would like to be out. Guess that depends on how bad her feet and ankles are hurting her today. So we'll see what happens. I do know that today would be a great day to try to get some photos. Of what??...That depends on what I see.

I should go shopping so I can get my Mom and my Daughter something nice for Mother's Day. I'm just not in a shopping mood so that can wait till Friday...woohoo my other day off this week!! (it's the little things that get me excited). Guess I'm not getting anything accomplished sitting here at this desk, so off I go...............................

Completely goofing off.....

Yesterday morning my Daughter and Grandkids hung out before I had to go to work. I guess we were all in a goofy mood and Deydra was being quite the ham of it. Heather grabbed my camera and snapped a few of those moments so I thought I'd share them.















Not the best pictures ever but then again we weren't trying for good ones....just goofy ones. Isaac is a natural no matter what. I thought the floppy hat looked ever so cute on Deydra.



I have a short morning since I have to be ready for work and leave by 1pm. I need to run to the store for a Birthday card for my son so I can mail it with his gift I bought him the other day. He has been collecting dragons I guess and I know he likes to burn incense, so I found a 4 headed dragon incense burner. You put the little cones of incense in the dragon and as it burns the smoke comes out of each dragon's mouth. I'm sure he'll like it. It's nothing that I'd have, but then I wasn't looking for something for me. I want to get that off in the mail today and hope they get it to him by Monday. For some reason it seems to take forever to get mail down to Jacksonville, Florida. I still can't believe he's going to be 25!!! I don't feel old enough to have my kids be this old...lol.

Well, I better get a move on..the day is wasting away.

Random mumblings

I sure do wish this weather would make up it's mind. I had to go around and close the windows I had open yesterday. Supposed to have a frost tonight so I better bring in my rose bush that is springing back to life.

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Seems like the worries I had at work didn't have the horrible outcome I thought it would. So at this point and time I'm not "job hunting"....enough said about that.

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I called and talked with my son lastnight. That was a really good conversation that actually lasted about an hour. I was shocked he kept talking that long. He really does hate talking on the phone. We got alot discussed and we both feel better about a few things. It's nice that he and I can openly discuss areas that tend to be uncomfortable and yet come to understandings without making the other upset or angry. Even if it does come to that (which it has before) we talk through it then get over it. He and I have always been like that. I certainly hope it stays that way forever. He has a birthday coming up on the 15th of this month. I sure would love to see him but that's way out of the question. I haven't a clue what to send him. He's one of those guys that says.."don't get me anything". Am I the only one that thinks birthdays are special and should be celebrated? They aren't just for little kids. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

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Just going to throw a question out here.......... I was told a long while back that my computer needs a battery. The reason I was told this is that it keeps loosing time on the clock. Currently it's 3 hours behind normal time. Every time I reset it, it slows down again. Sometimes it gets so bad that it's an entire day behind. The question is this.... Where do I find a battery for it? I looked on the Dell site this morning but since I have no clue what I'm searching for, I gave it up. All I could find were batteries for laptops. I'm also wondering if the need for this battery is the cause of some of the other irritatiing problems this computer gives me. Is 4 years old considered ancient in computer life?

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I just remembered that yesterday was payday. I have already paid my bills and since I "need" to shop for a birthday gift, I'm feeling the need to run to the store. I'm not a "shopper" and really try to avoid going to the store often. This morning is an exception though. I'm just in a mood to "browse" and see what I find. Perhaps a new pair of work pants are in order to justify this shopping trip. Come to think of it, I was low on laundry soap when I did my load of laundry this morning. Well there....I've justified my trip to walmart after all. Now to get there and get back so I have plenty of time to relax before leaving for work at 1:30pm. (working till midnight tonight...oh joy).

Next couple of weeks is gonna suck........

Work wise that is....
Getting the new Assistant trained means I go back to the crappy schedule I used to have nearly every week. Here's a sample of what I'm talking about......

Monday........ 1:30pm to 11:30pm (turns into nearly midnight each night)
Tuesday.........2:00pm to 11:30pm
Wednesday.....(off)
Thursday.......3:00pm to 11:30pm
Friday...........(off)
Saturday.......2:oopm to midnight (turns into nearly 1 am)
Sunday........2:00pm too 11:30 pm

I hate those shifts but that's what I'll be working for a couple of weeks before I get back to the schedules I've been working lately. I so hate working night shifts. They just don't agree with me and the worst part is it takes away from my evenings of talking to Bob. I feel robbed as it is with us being apart. I'll get through it though.

Not much else to say this morning as I need to go get ready for my 9:00 am to 7:00pm shift today.

Back to work I go.....

It was nice having the 2 days off and not having to be there until 3pm today. I love the break. Hopefully when I arrive today I'll not have bad news about my little situation that I can not discuss. I'm certain I'm bothered by it way more than I need to be at this point, but hey, that's me.

I made today pretty productive. Although it's pretty breezy out there I managed to take the dog to the park and walk him around quite a bit. I took my digital camera with me in hopes to snapping a few photos. I came upon a family of geese that would have made a rather cute photo but alas, that batteries were dead in my camera. So, that ended that idea in a hurry. I'm thinking now that buying stock in a battery company could be a good thing. (Not that I know anything about stocks). I have the rechargables charging now.

I'm happy to report that the baby rose bush that Bob sent to me on Valentines Day is growing once again...(I thought I killed it). I have transplanted it into a rather large floor pot and it's currently outside on the porch banister and has tons of new life growing on it all over the place. I'm hoping it will also produce some new roses and not just leaves. Though at this point I'll take what I can get. I'm much better with green house plants than flowers of any kind. Is it really that hard to kill a rose bush?

I have been reading a few new blogs of interest and thought I'd share them with you. Michael Manning TV . I have found his blog to be interesting and oh so funny at times. He gives a movie review once a week and I've forgotten about some of my favorites that I'll just have to add to my collection. Another blog of interest is Denny Shane's "Not So Normal News". I find his humor enlightening and his blog something I can relate to. I discovered both of these gentlemen from the comments made on my friend Kelly's blog. Another blog I feel you should check out for some good heart warming stories and fabulous humor in her comment boxes. Trust me you'll be glad you checked them out.
(Not sure how I went from posting about my plants to plugging blogs but oh well...lol.) Kelly has been linked to my blog for quite some time now. As well as my good friend Fraidy who has been telling some pretty fun stories herself lately. I still make my rounds now and then to the rest of my favorites but for some unknown reason I have been doing more reading than commenting. I have been kicking around the idea of taking a break from blogging altogether but I need this for awhile longer yet so you're stuck with me for awhile.

Time get off of here and finish getting ready to go cook tonight. I certainly hope the guests are easy on me tonight as I'm really not up to a fast paced crowd tonight.

Enjoy your reading.

The BBQ was rained out......

but that didn't stop us from enjoying Savanna's Birthday. It was good to see some of the family members I haven't seen in awhile. Some were awkward to be around but when you haven't spoken to each other in years it's understandable. It's like what do you say? Savanna is defenatley a Momma's girl. Poor liisa can't leave her sight or she cries alot. You can see the frustration on Liisa's face everytime it happened. Here's Liisa and Savanna.


Shes' a good Mommie and loves having the kids. She's a bit coddling I'll admit but her kids are well taken care of. There sure were alot of little kids there yesterday and I think that was part of Savanna's problem. There aren't that many in their house at any given time. It can be overwhelming to adults let alone a one year old. I'll post a few more pictures I took. I was upset that alot didn't come out. But then again it's not easy taking photos with a 4 month old in my arms.
Here's my Ex-Mom-in-law with Isaac. (Not a good picture....good thing she won't ever see this....lol)












Some of the kids watching Savanna eat her birthday cake and sampling the icing while waiting for their own pieces.












What a mess she made with this cake....lol












It was time for us to leave since Deydra needed to get to bed. After all she's a school girl and had to get up early in the morning. Savanna was touching the baby and picked his ear and Liisa had to scold her a bit...lol. It was too cute as she then when for his binkie.





































Trying to get all their attention at once for a group picture wasn't happening so I took what I could get.

















It rained the entire trip home and I didn't get the kids back to Heather till about 9:10pm. Deydra slept the whole way home so she's should have been fine for getting up ontime this morning. We had a great time and can't wait to visit again.

Well this is my weekend I suppose......

It's nice having 2 days off in a row. I don't get that too often. It's 53 degrees here currently and looking like it's going to be a great day. I took a goofy picture of my floppy $5 hat and thought I'd post that today. ( So what if it's out of focus...lol) I took even goofier pictures of my hair to show how red it is now. My Daughter says to me "I think this came out orange...I'll have to fix it". These aren't the best pictures and I can't tell in the mirror because the lighting in my apartment sucks.

All I know is that between my contacts and this new hair color, my eyes look greener to me. That's one thing about having hazel eyes, they change color. (no I don't have tinted contacts....I love the color of eyes God gave me)



This evening I'm going to take the grandkids down to my Niece's house. Her little girl's 1st birthday is today and they are having a family BBQ style party. It's more for a family get to gether than a birthday party. It will be nice to see everyone. It's my ex's side of the family and I haven't really seen them much since my ex passed away 6 years ago. Liisa and I stay in the most contact with each other than any of the rest of that side of the family. Anyway, I should have a great time. I'm sure I'll have lots of photos to share.

I'm trying to stay in a good mood because I have some not so good work issues going on at the moment. I'm not going into details as that isn't important and I promised not to mention work in my blog anymore. It's just really on my mind alot. I'm supposed to hear some information from my GM today over this issue and it will determine wether or not I start looking for new employment or not. Now to move on from that subject.

(Sure wish I could just write what the hell is on my mind in here since it's my journal and all, but I can't)

I'm going outside and enjoy this nice day. Hope all my readers enjoy it too.