Merry Christmas

And the journey begins! Travel, friends, family, food... I hope you all have a very merry and peaceful Christmas. I'll bring news of my Christmas adventures when I return home!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

Holiday Snowflakes

WHERE HAVE I BEEN??? Making snowflakes online :) Make-a-Flake See the pretty flake I made? Pretty cool, isn't it... call it holiday therapy!

Wintery weather

I'm not sure what it is about this time of year, but it sure seems like the days and nights are consumed with activity ... but at the end of the day you don't have anything tangible to represent how you spent your time. It just seems crazy to me. I can't really even remember what I've been up to for the past week except Christmas shopping and wrapping.

Weather wise I can say it's finally winter here! We got right around 8 inches of snow between Monday night and Tuesday mid-morning. This would have been fine, except for the wind. All of us had some dandy drifts to either shovel or use a snow thrower/blower to get out of our drives and off our sidewalks last night. Last year I couldn't start my snow thrower, but it was ok because we didn't really have much use for it last year. HOWEVER, Scott over did it yesterday morning and hurt his back, and my back almost always hurts, so we really needed to get the snow thrower started. It took a little over an hour of cursing, walking away then cursing again, trying combinations of buttons and levers until I finally got things figured out (not that I'll remember next time though) and it FINALLY started. I love that snow thrower, cuts a two hour snow removal job in half (or better if you don't have to fight the wind).

Rice Krispy Treats!

Office treat time has started and I'm on the list to bring treats tomorrow and of course I didn't remember this weekend when I actually had time and a bit of ambition to bake. Last night I made a pan of Rice Crispy treats but decided that it didn't yield enough to appease the office staff, so I had to make an ingredient run after work. Since we needed a couple of other items as well, Scott came along. Poor guy was hostage in the truck on the one day of the week that I felt like talking! Anyway, it was kind of sleeting during our drive in, but the roads were just wet, not really slippery. Now the grass is almost covered in snow. It's going to be a fun drive into work tomorrow, but I digress. Back to my adventures with Rice Crispy treats. Last nights batch was fairly soft and gooey (of course we each had to sample the batch to ensure my co-workers were safe from food poisoning). Tonight I melted down the butter and tossed in the marshmallows - which must have melted at too high a temperature because they were a strange brown color, but being the stubborn woman I am, I finished making the batch. Then I made another pan, this time melting the marshmallows at a lower temperature and I must say they turned out even better than last nights attempt. I just finished getting all the treats cut into squares and wrapped in plastic wrap (for easier handling at the office), using the best of the three batches. I cut into the remaining pan to carve off a hunk for Scott and found that they were extremely hard, taste good, but really hard. Now I know what happens if you melt the marshmallows at too high a temperature. Let this be a lesson to all future makers of Rice Crispy treats everywhere!

I almost forgot about Trouble's Christmas tree climb last night. Scott put the tree up on Sunday night, but we decided to not decorate it until last night. While we were eating dinner Scott whispered "Do you see where Trouble is?". I looked at the tree and she had climbed up as high into the tree that the branches would allow. When she finally listened to us and got out of the tree, rather than climb down a couple of branches, she decided to launch herself from the top sending the tree toppling into the corner. I tell you, she has definitely earned her name!!

Getting into the holiday spirit

Today was a beautiful day! We got the outside lights hung and then ran into town to do a bit more Christmas shopping. This is the first year in many that I've been nearly done with my Christmas shopping this early, of course Thanksgiving being later than normal may have had some bearing on this. I finally got tired of fixing my only chair upstairs, so while we were out shopping we went to one of the discount furniture shops in town. I now have a very comfortable recliner upstairs.

To thaw out the Thanksgiving turkey, I ran my sink full of water and let the turkey sit in it overnight and all day Wednesday. When Scott went to change the water he discovered that the drain pipe on that side of the sink had come undone and from the looks of things had been leaking for some time, so I'm looking at replacing the sub-floor, floor and cabinet under the sink. After checking out prices for laminate flooring at the Home Depot, but decided that it's a project we can most likely do ourselves, but will have to wait until after Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and if you are traveling that you make it there and home again safe! Love you all lots!

Pre-Christmas rambling

I did so good last week, getting up every morning to get my walk in. Yesterday I just couldn't bring myself to get out of bed, so I didn't get my walk in before work and I noticed a difference in how I felt during the day (almost fell asleep at my desk two different times). This morning I got back on track and got my walk in before work (hopefully won't see a repeat of yesterday's sleepy self).

With the past weekends snow on the ground, I am in the Christmas spirit. I noticed that some of my neighbors have their lights up. We didn't think to get our lights up while the weather was still nice, much to our chagrin. I'm not looking forward to being on a ladder with that oh so cold wind blowing on my face ... but who am I kidding, I'll most likely coerce Scott into it instead. Last night I started getting on his good side by making Snickerdoodle cookies with Hershey Kisses for him. Three batches and didn't burn one cookie!

exercise break through

I can hardly believe this myself, but for two mornings in a row I've been up and awake enough to get my 30 minute walk in before getting ready for work. I'm still tired pretty much all day, but it's not the same exhausted feeling that I've been experiencing for the past 2 or so months. I'm hoping that this trend continues and that I actually find myself feeling energetic during the day, especially if getting in shape helps me to sleep through the night.

Here it is, November 18, and the temperature is supposed to reach the upper 50s. That is sooooo not late fall weather. I want to see a substantial snowfall, like a foot or two. Many people are very glad I can't control the weather.

More joys of exercise

I couldn't sleep anymore, so I got up around 4:30 this morning and took a leisurely 30 minute stroll on my treadmill. I did it at my own pace this time and while it didn't burn nearly as many calories, I didn't feel like I was going to die that the end either! And on the plus side, after my shower I decided to try to sleep again and got in another two hours. I'm not sure how I am going to work walking into my morning schedule, but I would rather get it done in the morning. Guess I'll see how things go on Monday morning.

The joys of exercise

This morning I went for my first 30 minute walk on my treadmill. I probably tried to do too much for just getting back into the exercise routine because before I was 4 minutes into the walk I had a horrible cramp in my calf, got dizzy, and was sweating so much I could have started my own salt water pond. I think my pulse was the highest that I've ever seen it (got up to 150). My head was so wet from sweat it looked like I had just gotten out of the shower. Tomorrow I'm going to try just walking for 30 minutes at a rather constant pace and work myself back into the rigors of the preprogrammed options that my treadmill has.

Heart health

Oh, how I love vacation days! Today (in a little over an hour) I get to go to the doctor for an annual check up. One of the older gentlemen at work loves to tell me all about his doctor visits and all that I get to look forward to later in life. I think one of the worst things about going to the doctor is that no matter what you go in for they insist on weighing you. I think the only doctor that didn't weigh me at all was my ear, nose & throat doctor.

Well, that was fun ... three words I never wanted to hear come out of my doctors mouth when referring to me have always been "high" "blood" and "pressure", especially strung together. Unfortunately, those were the words I heard today. Our family has a history of high blood pressure, so I wasn't really surprise - disappointed, but not surprised. So, the plan is for me to spend 30 minutes everyday on the treadmill. I've been a slug for too long and getting back into a regular exercise routine will be difficult to say the least! I have to have my blood pressure rechecked in 2 months and if it's still not down I'll have to explore other options. That could be why my ankles keep swelling up like balloons I suppose, and why I feel exhausted all the time.

With the support of family...

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I decided that thinking of all I have to be thankful for is long overdue... most of all, I'm thankful for my family and friends. So much has happened in my life that I doubt I would have gotten through as quickly and relatively painlessly had it not been for their love and support. One of the biggest happenings in my life occurred nearly 10 years ago now when I filed for divorce and moved to South Dakota, what lead to that decision would have crumbled me if I had not been able to turn to my family and friends for encouragement and occasional advice. I love them all very much and am grateful for having them in my life.

Thanksgiving clip art? Anyone??

Today I've been searching the web for clipart to use for a Thanksgiving theme, but am surprised at how little there is. I found tons of Halloween clipart but am finding very little Thanksgiving clipart.

What a week it's been

Ok, all the fun stuff that happened this week ... hmmm ... on Monday I got my ears vacuumed and can hear again (major plus). On Tuesday, Scott's granny and uncle Donald arrived from Chicago and spent most of the day with him and then took both of us out for dinner. I wish they could have stayed longer, but they headed back home on Wednesday. Wednesday morning we had a powwow with the branch manager to try to clear the air over some issues (it helped, but there is still quite a bit of tension). I've started to think about Christmas and what I want to buy for whom, but that's all the farther that's gone, I've thought about it.

Belated Halloween greetings

I trust all had a happy and safe Halloween! We had more kids come by this year than last, and we still have candy leftover... not sure that is a good thing either because I didn't buy candy I don't like this time. The temperature has been in the low 40s most of this week and snow has been forecast, though I don't really think it will happen - time will tell.

I finally got the pictures developed from the trip I took home in September to surprise my sister on her birthday. It actually surprised me to find that there were pictures from APRIL on that roll of film. I'd like to say I have lots of ambition and will get some of the pictures published on the web this weekend, but we all know that isn't really true... however, I do want to get some of them up soon!

Snow? NO!!

There were snow flurries in the air today! Didn't amount to anything other than little flakes in the air. Everything insta melted when hit the ground. I think it's safe to say that winter is definitely closer than I'm ready for this year. Not to much new to talk about today. I went to bed too late the past couple of nights and really paid for it this morning when I couldn't even open my eyes to see what time it was. Don't you hate that, when you know you are awake, can hear everything but your eyes just refuse to open?

Halloween is only 6 days away, do you have candy for the little tricksters on hand? Oh, and don't forget to set your clocks one hour behind (WHEEEE I get to sleep one extra hour on Sunday!!)

TC (aka Terror Cat)

I can barely remember the mean she-devil kitty that Terror Cat (a.k.a. TC) was back in 2001. TC was originally owned by a friend of Trudy, who is a co-worker of mine. Based on what I've heard, TC has had a rough life and didn't trust people much at all. After her original owner got married and his new wife refused to allow the cat to live with her, Trudy found TC a new home with Web, another co-worker. I really can't remember how long Web had TC before he decided that she was just too wild for him to tame. He would come to work with tales of the demon cat and he reached a point when he decided to put the cat down, and well, I just couldn't bear the thought of it. I told Web that I would take TC in and see if I could work with her and perhaps even rehabilitate her. My aunt let me borrow her "cage for troubled cats" (it is a very large cage with elevated ledges/perches) and that has been TC's home for the past two years.

We try our best to make sure she is let out for a couple of hours every day to run around now, but it has been a very gradual process. At first TC would bite and hiss at whoever or whatever approached her. She would eventually settle down after you had been in the room for a rather long period of time, but if you left and came back in she would start in with this eerie jungle cat shriek of a growl again. Each time I fed her I would try to pet her and after getting bitten for the umpteenth time I too almost reached to point of deciding to have her put down, but being the stubborn woman I am, there was no way I would admit defeat, so I persisted. I started letting her out of her cage under supervised conditions and would put her back if she started biting or fighting with the other upstairs cat. This was the routine for nearly 18 months, so when I let her out of her cage this past Monday and she crawled up on Scott's lap and stayed there for the better portion of an hour I could hardly believe it. She still needs to learn to control how aggressive she is when trying to get attention, but I swear she's not the same cat!

random rant

It is amazing to me how, sometimes, the most brilliant person can be reduced to a barely erect Neanderthal when his/her beliefs and ideas are challenged. I can't help but shake my head in dismay when the most intelligent response he/she can come up with is "because".

OLD??? no, it just looks like it

Friday morning I woke up a bit earlier than normal, so I wandered down to my office to check emails before heading off to work. Well, I tried to power up my laptop and nothing happened. I continued to try until it was time for me to leave for work. I tried to get my laptop to work again Friday evening and it still wouldn't boot up so I contacted IBM support. It boils down to having to take it to a shop that specializes in both IBM and laptops to get it fixed - and the good news is there are two such shops here in the Sioux Falls area. Sadly, most of the pictures I was going to add to the website are also on my laptop. Perhaps I should start digging through my pictures again and scan them in - UGH, that would be organizing them and I can't have that! More later...

Today I spent most of the afternoon sleeping again. Whatever is making me so tired all the time, I sure hope it passes soon. Strange how I can go from being awake and active to exhausted in what seems like the blink of an eye. It even seems to take energy to log on the computer for more than a couple of hours at a stretch and I used to be able to stay online all day. Yesterday, someone thought I was Scott's mom - I can't tell you how much that hurt to hear. Even if he looks very young for his age, it still means that I look old, and I can't help but wonder if maybe my being tired all the time is having some affect on how I look physically as well as how I feel. Oh heavens, no wonder I'm feel so depressed most of the time!

MAGIC training

Today and tomorrow I'm in a phone/customer service training class ... all day ... both days. I have been surprised so far to find it both fun and rather informative. We had to take a personality test and I was amazed at how close to the mark it was. I've been accused of needing too much detail when I am trying to make a decision, and that everything usually has to be "by the book" - now, I do have some of the other personality traits, all of us do, but I think the most interesting thing that I finally admitted to myself is that I really am a rules person. These are the rules and everyone should work within those rules and it must be fair. It's kind of like seeing a long line waiting to be seated in a restaurant, some would see ways that things could be changed to make the restaurant run more efficiently, some be thinking "this is going to be great, just look at all the people waiting to get in!", others would be thinking, "this will be a great place to spend time with friends, but make a note that to come back at a better, less busy time", and finally there are still others that would be thinking "this place is too crowded, making sure that there is a list and that they get their name on that list, and that people who were there before them are seated first, not those named further down on the list AND then make a note to come back at a different time"... (I'm in that last group if you were wondering) Some of my coworkers made comments about fitting into a certain mold, or changing your personality type because of the job you are in. I have that theory some thought and then concluded that I've been like that pretty much all my life and that the job that I'm in is just a perfect fit for my analytical, rules and order oriented personality.

Oh, I also learned that when my boss lets me loose around other people in a setting like that I am prone to talk, and talk alot!!

Packing mix up at Proctor & Gamble??

Ok, so I'm convinced that the people at Proctor and Gamble were not paying attention the day they packaged the box of DayQuil I bought last week. Non-drowsy formula, indeed. I took two of those and all I wanted to do was sleep. That same evening I took two NightQuil gel caps and had a horrid time trying to get to sleep.