Coming Up

We are starting to plan our second annual reunion. We don't feel the need to travel down to West Virginia this spring to scope out a spot. The spot is the same as last year. We are going to have an ice breaker the evening before the event, though.

The food, my God, the food! As you can see, we are big eaters. No alcohol. I'm not sure, but the night before may be drinks - I didn't think about it. Not sure if it is in a social hall that allows alcohol or not.

The entire family and booze do not mix well. There are bound to be plenty of fights if alcohol is involved. Best we leave that out of it, but I can't control that many people. We do well enough choosing a park that does not permit the stuff. Now, for my patio party of 40 and less, I can serve alcohol and control the people. I have certain family members who do not drink that would be there to help me and though I may be the youngest in my immediate family I can whip their asses. Ha, ha! Right! Actually I have thrown men twice my size out of a house. They run from me. They were not related to me, though. I was a real peach when I drank whiskey, let me tell you. Most people had to tell me what I did and it was not pretty. I was a mean drunk.

So most of us - if we can't drink - we eat. Trade one addiction for another. I am so glad my drinking days are over. Or appear to be. We never know when that monster will rear it's ugly head again.

Just as my shoulder is healing, I decide to mow last evening. I had to take a break in the middle, but I finished it. My shoulder did not bother me one bit.

My boxer followed me into the bedroom when I got home from a hair appointment this evening and as I bent down to pat him on the head and give him a little lovin' he decides to jump up and onto the bed. He didn't make it. His hard head hit my jaw bone directly under my right eye. I thought he had busted it.

I cursed at him and fell onto the bed. He sulked away. I felt bad and of course it isn't broken, but that is the third time I have had a hard collision of some sort with him. Holy cow!

I certainly hope there is no mark on my face tomorrow. I have a big regional meeting and I have to be there. I can see me trying to explain a big bruise or red mark on my face to people. I am always getting cuts and bruises on my arms because of clearing the yard and brush and rough housing with my dogs. Sigh. Whatever.

Nope. No mark or bruise. It barely hurts now.

Now, to go make it up to the sorry, sad pooch. He is a lot like Eeyore. He is! He hangs his head down (droopy like) and sulks just like the donkey.

Giving them some sunlight

At the back of my garage are some little bluebell flowers. They don't have much of a chance because the rose of sharon is out of control. This is why I was trying to chop them down - so the less fortunate (weaker) plants could have more of a chance.

Like in life. The American way. Helping out the weaker ones so that they can have a better future.

My plant trimming is all on the back burner now that I hurt myself. Maybe by next week I can resume. Maybe I'll buy myself an electric hedge trimmer or something that will cut it easier. It's holding the device up that hurts. I try to run the weed trimmer, but gave up on that also. That upper arm strength. Bah!

Maybe I should start lifting weights.

Rain this week-end. I worked on indoor stuff.

My life is still an out of control circus.

I got a little further into "The Blind Side". I am skipping the football stuff. Boring!

I watched the derby yesterday, but just couldn't get into it. The show was too long. By the time the race ran, I was tired of it all. I think that they are entering horses in teams, three from one owner and set it up so that two of the team take out a contender so that the third member of the team can get ahead. That is what it looked like to me.

No movies to comment on except a television one - the 2005 version of "Little House on the Prairie". I caught this one the other day and watched most of it. Loved it. Did not get to see the beginning, caught it somewhere in the middle.

I slept more than 10 hours last night (I know!), so I am not very sleepy, yet. I have no idea when that kind of sleep is going to hit me. Like Thursday night I slept about 3 hours and could not get back to sleep, but when I saw the clock read 9:45 this morning I could not believe my eyes. It isn't medicine induced. I took nothing yesterday, such as muscle relaxer or Advil p.m. or anything. Who knows?

Some folks say "You must have needed it" - well, I just tried not to think of the migraine monkey today. It didn't happen. Usually after a long sleep I will get one.

So now we have May. Lily of the valley. Another batch of plants I am trying to get going in my yard. Not doing so well. Up the alley from where I walk the dogs, a house has some big pine trees in their back yard. Underneath the grass doesn't grow so well and they have a thousand lily of the valley plants blooming there. They have just started blooming but I can smell them when I walk past. It is the type of flower if you smell just one or two you think "big deal" but when you see a whole batch of them - the smell is quite heavenly.

All right. I guess I'll go to bed. 5:00 comes quickly and I know I won't want to get up. Ugh!

One more movie review...

One more movie review. I had missed this one or did not watch it in it's entirety. "Legends of the Fall". Oh my. That was one depressing movie. Huh. I just reserved the book version through my library. This is way too easy. Another book is on it's way to my library for me to pick up. Just what I need. Or, a novella - there are three stories in this book, I guess. They say the author (Jim Harrison) punched this one out over a long week-end while he was stranded in his log cabin. I read that somewhere and now (of course) I cannot find where.

Dragging my feet

This display kind of creeps me out. It is from the Fireman's Pub where I met some family for dinner on Saturday.

I am dragging my feet this morning. I am going to work today. While walking the dogs I felt some twinging in the shoulders and neck area. I drove last night. Most everything I do uses that right rhomboid muscle. Holding the leash for the dogs, scooping kitty litter, driving, dressing, picking this up, picking that up, loading and unloading the dish washer. It is endless.

So, that is why I am going to work. To get away from work. A lot of you will relate to that remark.

I am also reluctant to return to work because my daughter has a friend staying for a couple of weeks and we have just been goofing off the past two days having "girl fun". It's been great. But all good things must come to an end.

I am also wondering if my painful situation soured my view of Avatar. For those of you who really love it you may (or may not) like this. New release of Avatar coming this summer. My nephew told me this after I talked with him about the movie. He loved the movie. Of course he is one of those that went at midnight when it first came out and saw it in 3-D or something like that.

I will say this much. I loved the blues of the movie and the glowing, beautiful plants. I wish I had seen that on the big screen.

I am not making much progress on my book reading. Darn it all! I have barely cracked "The Blind Side". I moved an extra computer back into my bedroom and am using that for myself. My daughter and her friend have taken up residence at my other computer desk area. Two laptops and my mammoth PC sit there. They are all wireless so the dogs cannot chew the cat5 cable that my other computers need to connect to the router. This one does, but I have the cable strung up so that they cannot reach it.

Oh, another reason for my strained muscle. My purse. Yep, it's too heavy. It hangs on my left shoulder causing significant strain on the right side. What to do, what to do. I am the type of person who carries a saddle bag. I need to have everything in my purse.

Sigh. Enough stalling. It is time to get ready and roll.

In pain

The Hibiscus syriacus has caused me immense pain the last 24 hours.

I awoke yesterday starting out just fine. Walked the dogs, drank some coffee, read some blogs, hopped in the shower. Well, I don't hop anymore - it's more like slide or glide in. I was almost done when I reached up to rinse off my razor in the shower and "slam" I was hit with a twinge in my right shoulder blade.

I immediately stopped what I was doing and waited for the twinge to subside. It did not. It got much, much worse. I manged to get out of the shower and drape a towel over my hair and get my robe on.

I was still hoping that this "twinge" would go away. With each step it became more evident that I had a problem. A debilitating problem. I began to curse under my breath.

I tried to continue, but had to wake my daughter up to comb my hair. By the time she was done I could barely walk. She helped me to the t.v. chair (laying flat was not an option) and began stacking pillows up around me. I had already taken the ibuprofen.

I could not get comfortable. Every breath caused a stabbing sensation in my right lung. She surmised that I had a collapsed lung. I pooh-poohed that suggestion and just hoped it was not a fast case of pleurisy. I have manged to keep that ailment away for some years now.

Warning: Movie spoiler alert! Skip next two paragraphs.

I called the doctor at 7:30, they could get me in at 11 a.m. To pass the time I asked my daughter to put in the movie "Avatar". Since the drug store was out of rented copies, I just bought one. I have heard so many good things about it. I fell asleep during the movie. If you have not seen it, I will tell you this. If you have seen "Fern Gully", "Spirit", "Surrogates" and any movie out there that has depicted how the white man literally bulldozed the native Americans - roll them into one movie and you have "Avatar."

Fern Gully carries the message of how the white man wants to destroy the habitat and does not care about the people or critters who live there. Spirit is a narrated story of a free spirit (parts of Avatar are narrated the same way). Surrogates gives us the scenario where a human goes to sleep and his brain is transported into another creature and he/she walks around feeling and experiencing life as that other creature. Please forgive me if I say I didn't care for the movie.

This movie is long. It helped to pass the time until my appointment. One good thing. At least I had my shower over with. I manged to get dressed (after a double dose of ibuprofen) and my daughter drove me to the doctor's office.

She (the doctor) examined me and determined it was my right rhomboid muscle. There is more to the injury than just the shower. I have decided to begin chopping up (or down) my hibiscus syriacus that has appeared to be taking over the back side of my garage and (if I don't get a grip on it soon) will begin to take over the back side of my house.

The previous evening I went through a frenzy of chopping these dastardly bushes down. I had my clippers and I was seriously angry (or frustrated). Two things contributed to the anger/frustration. It was raining that day. My boxer would not do his "business". The sissy marshmallow would not leave the back porch unless I pushed him off. If I waited on the porch he just hung his head low and stood in the rain giving me those sad eyes.

So, I grabbed the clippers and in the pouring rain began chopping bushes. This at least made him walk around a little bit. He was still being stubborn.

Warning! Movie spoiler alert. Skip the next three paragraphs.

Now, the second thing that made me angry (more frustrated). The movie "The Lovely Bones". Oh my. My daughter and her friend wanted to see it because they had read the book in school. It is the story of a 13-year-old girl who gets raped and murdered by a man that lives in her neighborhood. Through the movie the girl is caught between worlds. In the between world she narrates certain events. She tells of all the young girls this serial killer has raped and murdered throughout his life. In her "between world" all the little girls come together and meet - they are all sweet and happy to see one another. But it hit home. This one man was responsible for almost a dozen lives lost.

Therein lies the anger and frustration. I could not watch the rape scene so I went outside. (My daughter paused the movie to wait until I returned - uh gee, thanks.) Anyway, they didn't show much - it is rated PG-13.

The killer looked very familiar and I finally guessed what actor he was. The girl was just fantastic. I had seen her in "The Atonement". All this with the help of imdb.com. My favorite movie site.

So, the clipping of the bushes (while angry) probably is the real culprit to my rhomboid muscle strain. That and possibly sitting at my computer desk for long periods of time.

I got some muscle relaxers. Blech! I hate those things. They give me a headache that will not respond to ibuprofen and made me feel very restless. I slept about an hour after taking one, and it did take care of the pain, but overall - I'll just stick with ibuprofen.

So today begins my second day off from work. I cannot drive a car. I cannot turn my head. I was supposed to meet my manger at some of my schools yesterday so the fiber optics company could scope out where and how they were going to set up their fiber connection. Drat. This is why I cursed under my breath. My manager didn't know where the wiring closets were. I'm sure they found their way but darn it all! I really needed to be there.

I can get comfortable in my t.v. chair with a heating pad and about 3 large pillows, 1 travel pillow and my neck pillow. I cannot live without my U-shaped neck pillow.

Now, I have been at the computer too long and it is starting to hurt. Ciao - until next time.

Gumballs

Photo courtesy of Sister 1956.

Post 1705

The lilacs are not the only thing blooming this week. My neighbor must treat his lawn with something because he does not have any of these that I can see. Harrumph!

I missed the marking of post number 1700, so 1705 will have to suffice.

Met some family for dinner tonight here.

Have a bit of a headache even if I only drank H20. I'll take some medicine and retire soon.

I receive a new recipe in the mail about once every two months or so. It comes in a postcard from my real estate agent. What has it been, seven years or more since I have seen this woman? How long will I keep getting these, I wonder? This recipe called for jicama. Never heard of it. I had to look it up. The dish does not sound good to me at all. It is called Grapefruit Vinaigrette salad. I don't believe I have eaten a grapefruit since I lived at home back in the early 80's.

Blah. I think I'll pass.

I have to think "What in the heck does a "grape" have to do with this sour fruit?" I researched and I guess the grapefruit cluster on their branches like a bunch of grapes. Okaaaay.

I have picked up the book "The Blind Side" that the library held for me. I started the first chapter. As in the movie, it starts out explaining some football moves. Not a fan. While there I picked up about seven books on managing people in business. I like to read it to see what people do wrong. Ha ha. Actually, with the first book it is more about realizing how I am under my own version of self deception.

Pouting

"You care more about that damn [camera (lilacs, fill in the blank)] than you do about ME!" Arrrrghh! What a baby!

Anyway, the lilacs are in (almost) full bloom and have my entire back yard and half of the front yard smelling wonderful.

Newest Addition

I almost typed "edition". This is the newest addition to our family. Finally his eyes are open.

No computer time. You would think that a house that has 3 computers and two laptops, that I would get more computer time? Uh, no.

For starters only the laptops and my "big" computer have wireless. Wireless is essential with chewing dogs.

My daughter has a friend staying for a couple of weeks so they have been using all the computer space/area/time.

It's all good. I'll live. I mean, really. I am on a computer all day at work. Of course I do not blog, or do personal things. I am not risking getting caught. I am not going to supply them with any ammunition to ever use against me.

Work has been a mixed bag of busy and sad. Some long time friends are retiring. Not direct co-workers, but people I have known and worked with for the past 15 years. Sigh.

Here is a slap in the face. This happens to a lot of folks, I know. A week ago, I told my manager that a device we have on our network should be able to do something we have been looking to purchase. (Remember the suicide incident?).

He gave me the password to the device and gave me the go ahead to look into it. I did a little browsing, but didn't have a lot of time. I would actually have more time next week and next month to really dig into it.

At a meeting yesterday another manager made an announcement to 25 of our school districts that he (and the manager I spoke with) were able to track school district's networks, blah, blah, blah. Exactly what I was supposed to be looking into and had told them the device was capable of doing.

Another rug pulled out from under my feet. I am so glad they figured out (on their own, right?) that we actually have had that capability for a long time. Grrrr.

Later, after the meeting he needed a phone number. I got it for him and gave it to him on a sticky note. He said "Thank-you." I wanted to say "For what? The phone number or the realization that the device can actually record the network flow of our clients' traffic?"

Double grrrr. Spilt milk. Whatever. Okay, griping session is over. Chin up. Grow up. Sit up and just be satisfied that as an organization we are capable of doing this service for our clients regardless of who figured it out. I'm still going to get in there and look at the feature. Just as soon as I have the time.

Jester

Heh, heh. I'm related to this one, too.

Wiggling toes

Like this little tyke I am not doing much today. I tried working outside but I just could not get into it. I got some of the 'Rose of Sharon' bushes cut down. They can take over, you know. It is darn cold out there.

A birthday party I went to yesterday was supposed to be held at the lake, it was changed to indoors because of the weather. Brrrr!

Actually the temperatures are normal for this time of year. It is just that we were so spoiled by the record-breaking warm temperatures a week ago that when we plunged back into the 40's we are crying like little babies.

I had this appetizer "Tropical Crab Rangoon" at the party and just devoured them. I am going to make some as soon as I get the chance. I won't do it unless I have a party/get together to go to or if I have people coming over. I'll certainly eat the entire batch myself and get ill.

We watched "Moon". I have really liked the actor S Rockwell since I saw him in "Galaxy Quest." What I found really interesting is the writer/director is the son of D Bowie.

We also watched "The Box." Creepy and I did not like the ending. It did have some jolting and strange incidents pop up in the movie that kind of kept you guessing.

Slipping Time

Time has slipped away from me

I had two training sessions at work this week. I mowed the grass (for the first time this year). I've been doing this and doing that. The week slipped away from me.

On a positive note, my bad mood seems to have lifted. I had a few deadlines this week and now that they are past, I can focus again on a handful of issues instead of that mountain I was facing for a month or so.

Equal Opportunity

Here are the black olives from Easter dinner.

Sigh. Yesterday got much, much worse. I was out with the dogs in the fresh air and I realized that this headache was not going away with OTC meds. Drat! Another imitrex? Or, generic imitrex, rather.

Yes. If I wanted to get to that birthday party. I tried the very, very hot shower. I moved slow. I lay back down after the shower. My pets hovered around me. "What are you doing?" I dozed on and off. I told my sister I would probably be late. She told me to stay home (in a nice way, LOL!) if I had a migraine. She gets them, too.

My daughter was coming over to watch the dogs for me. She had one hell of a night fighting with her boyfriend. It was all dramatic and tense. It set my headache flying again. She was crying. I listened. Finally, my head hurt too bad and I left for the party. It was breaking my heart to watch her.

I stopped at a store (not walletmart, yeah!) to get myself a new coffee pot. A migraine exacerbates little pet peeves. For starters, I hate shopping. I do like people, as most of you know from my previous posts, I will talk and joke with just about anybody.

This trip was much different. It started in traffic. Everybody was getting on my nerves. While turning into a parking lane, some lady was just sitting in her car (I think she was texting) - not in a parking space, but parked in the lane where everyone had to drive around her (once they made sure nobody was coming from the other direction). She is one of these drivers that makes me want to park my car. Get out and go up and bang on her window and scream 'What the f#&* are you doing?!' But, I didn't.

The lights were excruciating. I grabbed a buggy and it was buggy Nascar in there. You ever have one of those encounters where you are wheeling your buggy down an aisle and there is another shopper coming straight at you? I always try to steer to the right. I did. They steered to their left. I switched and so did they, again - and again! By this time we were getting pretty close to one another. We missed each other but I heard him make a remark to his wife. I was giving no eye contact and no response. Usually I would have smiled and joked about it. NOT today.

Of course I could not find the coffee pots. The only help I could find was a cashier at the very front of the store. And as typical of a horror story, the moment I ask her a question "Where can I find the coffee pots?" somebody (some idiot new employee with butter fingers, I am certain) decided to drop a metal pipe that must have been forty feet long onto the concrete floor of this massive home construction store. It echoed through the entire four counties all three times that I tried to repeat myself to the cashier." Where can I find the coffee pots?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Where can I find the coffee pots?"

"Sorry." She gave me a bewildered look.

"Where can I find the coffee pots?" The echos were still resounding through the store. I sighed.

She motioned towards the sound. "Can't hear you."

Sigh. Finally, she was able to answer me. Of course! The coffee pots were all the way in the BACK of the store. So, back I go. Then there are the people who block an entire aisle. When I stop to browse or read something, I pull my cart in as close to my area as I can, thus leaving room for another buggy to get by. Not most people. Every aisle I tried to go down, had one or two people on one side of the aisle looking at something and their buggy would be stretched out (at an angled position) blocking the entire, frickin' aisle! I was livid. I was fuming. See? I despise migraines for doing this to me! It is no wonder older people can be so cranky. If they are always in pain, that is. And, I think most of them are.

And, that isn't the worst of it. If you are defeated and actually have to wheel up one of the blocked aisles, they don't notice you. I make as much motion and noise as I can before I get to them so that they have plenty of warning. I cannot believe people are so oblivious to their surroundings that they cannot see another shopper standing less than 2 feet away from them with a buggy, trying to pass. I REALLY have a hard time believing that people are this clueless to their surroundings. What must they be like on the roadways? I fidget and ahem. Then just say "Excuse me! May I pass?" Then they act like they are being inconvenienced. Arrgghh!

They were lucky I had a migraine and was moving slow that day. Or, I would have plowed into their buggy like some crazed snow plow driver that had worked two too many shifts and was pushed way over the edge! I can see it now. Purses and merchandise would go flying up into the air (heaven forbid they have a toddler sitting in the front of the buggy) and the silver buggy (that never had a chance against me and my demon buggy - buggy Nascar, I tell ya) wouldn't know what hit it as it goes skittering across the store's waxed floor. The people would stand there mouth agape, in shock. I would nod as I passed them and say "That's right! Get the hell out of my way next time! Idiots!"

They are fortunate I don't get physically sick much anymore with these monster headaches, or I would have to vomit on their shoes as I pass them. You can bet your sweet arse they would get out of my way, then! Again, I do not like the monster that I become.

Ah, yes. So, the next time you witness one of these crazy lady buggy drivers in a store, try to remember. We do not want to be there. Sometimes we do not have a choice. I only shopped because I absolutely HAD to get a coffee pot or I was going to go insane with caffeine withdrawal. Migraines make us monsters! Beware, and please forgive. In retrospect I should have waited and shopped at a small drug store. Whew!

And if you do ever read in the newspaper about some lady in Ohio that went berserk at a store or while driving, remember that I am not always like this. It is the migraine monkey coming out in me that tortures me.

Green or black?

Are you a green olive person or a black olive person?

I like (and eat) both, but I prefer the green ones. I love salt! I put the black ones on all Mexican dishes that I make. I am making a seven-layer taco dip for a birthday party today.

I've probably posted the recipe before.

I use a pan or dish with a lip on it because the sheer weight of the ingredients pushes the bottom layers down so that they ooze out.

First layer is (1) refried beans.

I mix (2) sour cream and (3) small curd cottage cheese together and spread that over the beans.

Next is (4) salsa. (I use mild or medium).

Then (5) shredded lettuce.

Then finely (6) shredded mild cheddar cheese.

Then (7) sliced black olives.

We dip tortilla chips into the mixture and eat it up.

You guys are probably SO tired of hearing about my headaches. I had one yesterday. I even had to take a second pill. AND my coffee pot died on me! I had to drive to Mickey D's to get a cup. It was awful! Just awful. The taste of their coffee has really deteriorated. I am drinking hot tea this morning to get my caffeine fix. Funny how I only like creamer in my coffee (no sugar, blah!) but for my hot tea it is no cream and two teaspoons of sugar. Weird.

What really irks me is that we had a beautiful day yesterday and I could do nothing. NOTHING! I slept most of the day. Bending over to put the harness on the dogs was pure torture. Everything makes too much noise. The tea kettle this morning pierced my head like a high powered cross bow shooting an arrow into my skull. A dog bark will send me into a raging fit of anger.

Sigh. It has abated today. I am still taking the OTC meds like generic ibuprofen and generic acetaminophen. Huh. I guess I AM on meds! That lady at the G Corral last month guessed right.

Talking to my nephew last night he said that when he looked at the weather, it said that the indices were high for aches and pains like migraine, arthritis and sinus sufferers. Well, then.

With any luck I will be able to get through today on the generic OTC alone. I hope I can find a good cup of coffee. And, I suppose I will leave early for the party so I can shop for a new coffee pot.

One very nice thing happened yesterday. I had our old faithful dog Sable and the ever so rambunctious boxer out in the front yard. No leashes or harness on either, though I was carrying the boxer's harness and leash in my hand. The lady across the street was mowing and had sat down to take a break. We waved at one another. She hollered "Is that one of those puppies?" That was all the boxer needed. He bounded across the street and right up to her. I was following close behind telling her that he was friendly.

Thank God no cars were passing. I mentally kick myself. Dogs are so unpredictable.

She fussed over him a bit (he is a big marshmallow) and I told her that the two pups were inside and I had also found this dog. She said "You have four dogs?" I said "Yeah, just shoot me now." My standard response when somebody asks or points that out.

She and I proceeded to talk for about half an hour. I had the harness and the leash on the boxer by that time and dear Sable just plopped down in some grass and waited. We talked of the economy, we talked of movies, we talked of what I do for work. We told each other our names for the umpteenth time and laughed how neither one of us could remember. I think we will now.

She is a great lady and I have always admired how she gets out there with her electric lawn mower and mows away. She looks to have ten years or more on me. She has health problems (pain in her legs) but does her best.

It was a very nice visit and I didn't want to overstay my welcome. I went back home and she returned to her mowing.

The blues have it

I browsed the pictures at DQ and decided on this puppy image to put on my daughter's ice cream cake. It was delicious! I used to hate the taste of grainy sugar in my mouth, but the flowers were so soft and melted very quickly. Yum!

Yes, it is 4:30 a.m. I have been up for over and hour. I can't sleep yet, again. I am not drinking any caffeine in the evenings. Well, I did drink an extra cup of coffee at a meeting yesterday after lunch. Maybe?

I am dizzy when walking the dogs. It is stress-induced, I am sure. I have to sign a retirement paper and it is affecting me so deeply. It is like jumping off a cliff into the unknown. All I see down below is pure darkness.

I do not have any 'faith in' or 'respect for' the people (person) who are (is) deciding my work fate.

Yikes!

19 today. This photo is an old one (of course). We actually do not have a lampshade on the floor. My daughter was standing on the back of the sofa. She loved the rubber rats and spiders of the Halloween holiday.

I can remember every night giving her a bath and putting those cute pajamas on her. Then I would comb out her long, blond hair. It was a ritual and one that I wish I could still do today.

Take me back, oh time machine. Take me back.

A simpler place and time

I so want one of these light up toys. I found them at the Tractor Supply store and gave them out to the kids. Now, I want one for myself.

My co-workers backed out of the legal endeavor. Whatever. What will be, will be.

I find myself mentally (and physically) exhausted these days. I'm sure it is stress (as my migraines have increased quite a bit) and my insomnia is kicking in. Two of the jobs I wanted to apply for were already filled. The third is much more complex and I must re-structure my resume to fit it better. There are a few things on the qualifications list that I have covered and a few things that I don't. I'll give it a go. Of course if I wait any longer, I'll let it slip through my fingers as I so easily do.

I can barely get the trash out and the sink cleared out let alone find the mental energy to come up with a fresh and professional looking resume. There is a song out by Matchbox 20 ( a couple of years old, actually) that is called "Push". I changed some of the lyrics to fit my present condition:

I don't know if I'm up for an interview, I'm a little bit rusty,
And I think my head is cavin' in.
And, I don't know if I have a future with this job, it's a little uncertain,
And I feel the walls are closin' in. And, I'm a little bit angry.

So don't stand there, sayin' nice things to me.
I've been cheated, I've been wronged.
You don't know me.

Yeah, yeah. I've been singing it nonstop for two weeks, now. Now my head is really starting to hurt. I can go along just fine for an hour or two and then "wham!" just out of the blue I get a real bad pain. I'm sure it is from getting up too early this morning, and it only lasts for about 30 seconds or so.

But hey! I have not had any foot pain for a long time. I'd do the happy dance, but there is the headache and ... oh, you know.

I've been drinking lots of water because the weather here in Ohio is unbelievable! We marched straight into summer, skipped the spring cool air altogether. I've had the air conditioner on for about four days now. My office at work is hotter than an oven. The building was arranged poorly and they moved the server equipment room so a brand new air conditioner had to be put there to keep it all cool. Well, in the room next door to the server room is the thermostat that controls my temperature in my room. Since that A/C cools the equipment down so well that thermostat barely kicks on. I swelter.

But, I can't say anything because I don't pay any rent! I just roost there from some arrangement that was made in 1995 between a retired superintendent and one who has passed away. Nobody really knows what to do with me.

With the changes coming up at work, I'll probably have to drive to the home office every day. That is 60 miles one way. I will be an "at will" employee. I know, I know. Just be glad I have a job, right? Right. Be glad I have insurance, be glad I have dental coverage. Be glad I get sick days and vacation days. Remember my mantra. Just do the best you can and hold your head high. All well enough until that headache zaps me again.

Oh, and I was SO disappointed in "The Men Who Stare at Goats".

Age of Innocence

Before the world and life affects you. Sleep a peaceful sleep.

It's gettin' ugly out here. They predicted a cold rain for Monday this week. That's why I said last week I didn't mind working today. I got cheated! It was a beautiful, sunny day. Big deal. Boo Hoo. I had a migraine anyway. I took medicine at about noon and it was gone by 3. Fun city.

I've been asked to head up a team for legal issues concerning my tabu subject. The subject of where I should watch what I say. I'm not sure we are going to get five to approve the action. We are hesitant as to who we trust.

My work history:

Cook (summer of 74 and 75)
waitress (summer of 76)
Ice cream parlor (summer of 77)
animal cage care (fall/winter of 77)
office secretary (78 - 81)
data entry operator(83 - 85)
office manager (85 - 88)
data entry operator (88 - 91)
PC Specialist (91 - 95)
network technician (95 - present)

I have three jobs lined up that I am going to apply for this week. Big breath. With this economy and there are still reports of hundreds of applicants for one job, we'll see if I get any calls.

Sigh. I'm either nuts or very, very desperate. You will probably notice the gap between 81 and 83. I spent the summer of 82 in El Paso caring for my nephew while my sister was in the army and then I spent a year writing poetry and floating and finding myself. I became a semi-recluse.

Well, the ham is in the oven. It was so funny. When I unwrapped it and was putting it into it's baking pan I looked behind me. The three (newer) dogs were sitting in the kitchen lined up as if to say "What are you COOKING? And, can we have some?"

Sable? She knows better. She was lying in her usual place by the back door, acting oblivious to everything. But if I give one little treat to any of the pets, she knows it. She isn't all that oblivious to what is going on around her. She knows.

Watching Shrek

I babysat for this little tyke last Saturday. He is the son of my nephew's girlfriend. We watched Shrek and an Elmo video (that had to be repeated no less than three times). I had not seen Shrek in a couple of years (perhaps longer). It was interesting to hear about onions and layers and building walls to keep people out.

I repaired the computer that was in my sister's home. A song had been downloaded from the dreaded "Limewire" program that carried a virus. It took a while to clean up the system and perform all the updates. At one point I found a complete and unopened box of an anti-virus program which I proceeded to load onto the unit. They should be good to go. Of course they got a little lecture from me about downloading from this dreaded site (Limewire) and I told them about a program that I use at mp3panda where the songs are a nickel each. Yes, that's right: a nickel apiece.

Edit: I just logged into the site. Songs are now ten cents each and albums are no longer 99 cents but $1.14. BOO! I can see where this is going. In a few months they will be a quarter each and before you know it they will be a dollar each. Sigh. It never ends.

You must have a credit card or some way of starting out though, and that can be tough to come by for this younger generation who do not have any credit established.

Meanwhile, we are off to a wonderful week-end here in the Peruby household. It is full of people during this Easter holiday. I am going to kick into "Mom" mode and start to cook and bake and feed people. 'Cause that's what I do best. Besides fix computers, that is.

Open wide

I have kept this photo in it's original size (2592 x 1944). Still using my 5.1 mp camera from 2003. If you care to look at this sort of thing click the photo to see deep inside the mouth of this massive muskellunge fish. A.K.A. "muskie".

Note: You may want to set your browser to "NOT" re-size the photo automatically. For some reason when I download the photo (before I changed the browser settings so that it did NOT re-size the photo automatically) it saved it in a 400 x 300 pixel size. Boo!

In Internet Explorer, choose Tools. Choose Internet Options. Choose Advanced. Scroll down to the Multimedia selections. Remove the check mark from "Enable Automatic Image Resizing" and click Apply and click OK. You can view the photo in it's large format, now. You can return the browser to it's previous settings by going back through the steps and checking the box for "Enable Automatic Image Resizing."

In Firefox, choose View. Choose Page Style and select "No style". Warning: Your page format will change. Click on the photo to view the larger format. When you are finished viewing the photo, return the browser to it's Basic Page Style setting by choosing View. Choose Page Style and select "Basic Page Style."

My nephew (1984, I think) caught it last year or two years ago. They are just now getting it back from the taxidermist.

I can't sleep this morning. I awoke about an hour ago with a headache. I took some acetaminophen and am drinking a cup of java and reading blogs. The dogs are a bit confused. The cats are just angry that I have not fed them, yet.

I work today and am off tomorrow. That is all for the Easter break. Back to work on Monday. I am not minding so much because the weather forecast for early next week is lousy. Beautiful today and tomorrow. It may be tough getting through today. I am thinking of going to my little home town this evening for a benefit dinner. With not much sleep, I don't know how I will be feeling. I usually get a little "manic" when I am sleep deprived. Sigh. I suppose somebody will ask my daughter (if she goes) if I am on meds again. LOL!

Oh, and no April Fools' joke from me today. I love that Google changed their name to Topeka for the day. Of course they are trying to appear as if they changed it (as in for good) as an April Fools' joke. I know better.

Not welcome here

About a month or so ago outside the kitchen window of sister 54's home.

She said it was eating her bushes. I would have chased it away. I didn't use to feel this way about deer. Anymore I am like "Get out of here! Go away! You are not welcome here!"

Maybe I'll return to a person who loves to watch them and is in awe of them, but for now - no thanks.

I have some company in the house last night and today. I've taken the morning off from work. I have a nephew moving in with me for a while. Problems at home. That is okay. It will be nice to have a big strong guy around for a while.

I felt a bit sorry for him at first though. The dogs are relentless. Even my big black cat Casper was trying to get into his lap.

The horns sounded

The trumpets blared and I Peruby, after more than a year- walked into a walletmart today.

My intent? To purchase one item and one item only. A DVD of "State of Play" for the measly price of less than $14. My video store would have charged me $30 because my boxer chewed the movie up. That is not a photo of it up there. In fact, that is a CD he chewed a couple of days ago. I was sick. Not because of the CD. Hell, I don't even know what was on it. It might have been blank for all I know. There was nothing written on it. I was sick because what would happen to my dog? I checked his tongue and gums for bleeding. Nothing. He seems to be having no major issues with what he chewed.

As for the movie, it wasn't actually chewed up. There were a couple of teeth puncture marks on it and we tried to play it, it stopped in the middle and that was all she wrote, folks. The case was chewed beyond repair.

The case stated that it retailed for $29.99. That is how much my video store would have charged me, I believe. So off to walletmart I went and bought one for half the price. I returned the damaged case to the video store, and they said "No problem."

And, a little extra. When I purchased the DVD it had a movie attached. Two for one price. It was "The Good Shepherd." I think this is one I missed watching, so I'll watch it someday.

I'll also have to re-rent "State of Play" because we watched part of it and it was pretty good and now we want to know how it ends and who killed the girl. More than likely when I re-rent the movie, it will be the one I purchased. How funny is that?

And, hey. Don't think I can't live without walletmart. If I had a Target within 10 miles of me, I would have purchased the movie there. They had it advertised for only $13.00 instead of $13.96. I may not have received the extra movie, but big deal. If only Meijer would get with it and build a store in my area! They probably aren't any better than walletmart. But, I would shop there.

No idea

Not sure why this tyke opened wide when I snapped this photo.

Too much food

You have to understand. I get out and about. Quite a lot, actually. I like to eat at restaurants. I don't have to cook and clean up and usually the restaurants fix better food than I can. I am not a shy person. I used to be. But, not anymore.

I think this may have been my third or fourth trip to the Golden C (in my life). I went last year. I don't go often enough to remember how it is set up. The photo above is off the Internet, not my photo. I downed two iced teas (sweetened) by the time we went to get food. It MUST have been a sugar rush.

I was like "Look at that chicken!" "Look at all this fish!" "Look at the desserts!"

There were 12 of us. I was jacked up. My head was spinning as I tried to talk to everybody.

My poor daughter. During one trip, I looked around the corner and blurted out "Ice Cream!" and trotted back to the table.

A lady turned and asked my daughter "Has she been here before?" My daughter said "Yes." The lady then asked, "Is she on medication?"

My family got a good laugh out of that one when my daughter relayed the story.

That about matched an earlier incident. I told sister '49 - "Look, WHOLE chickens!" A nice looking gentlemen to my right laughed and said "Want to split one?" I laughed. I get this a lot.

My daughter thought the cook at the steak counter was really enchanted with me. He kept telling me story after story while I was getting some food on my plate. I laughed and chatted back to him. I do this all the time.

Hey, life's too short, man. I just have a good time. I get jacked up, I crash. I am not bi-polar. Honest.

On a more serious and solemn note, my niece who just had the baby was admitted to the hospital this evening with pre-eclampsia. Her blood pressure diastolic reading (bottom number) was over 100. They are working on getting her blood pressure down and relieving the headaches.

They almost sent her back home because she did not have an unusually high amount of protein in her urine, but they decided she did have the pre-eclampsia after all.

This didn't stop my nephew from bringing the baby to the buffet. The (full head of hair) baby slept through the entire meal. My nephew then bundled him up and he and the 12-year-old went off back to the hospital. He said his wife was just sleeping anyway. She wasn't up for much of a visit. The four-year-old went back to Grandma's house where he has been staying the past couple of days.

When we left the restaurant it was snowing. What?! Arrgghh! Enough, already!

Pink Lemonade

Very watered down pink lemonade at that.

Sister '54 called this evening. They just got back from Sin City. Six days out there in the desert. She was ready to come back. First time flying for both she and her husband. He was very nervous, she did okay.

Sister '49 is very sick. She lost her voice and is coughing a lot. I go to a birthday dinner tomorrow evening out of town. Golden Corral. (Not my pick - birthday boy's pick). Humph.

Should I Stay or Should I Go

Another toy from the shower used as a table center piece.

I watched "The Blind Side". I really wanted to see this one and I really liked it. It was very touching and very poignant in places. Of course (most of you know) that I have been waiting for S Bullock to break out of her cookie-cutter preppy, cheer leader-type role that she plays in each and every movie. Gag.

In this movie? At least she changed her hair color. I think she looks great as a blond and with bangs. It softens her looks a lot. Kudos to her. I liked Bullock in the role. I thought the husband character was a bit of a pushover. Then again, a lot of people are.

I have liked McGraw in "The Kingdom" and he was okay in this one. J Head was annoying as I am sure he was supposed to be.

Nothing of this post has to do with the Title. Which pertains to work and I am not going to elaborate on this situation. Well, of course I am! I talked with a co-worker over my lunch hour. Many, many ugly things she had to say. It just makes me very glad that I work in a branch office miles away from the central office. Whew.

Rainy days and Mondays

It is raining buckets outside. The pups and Sable didn't seem to mind but the boxer pranced around like "What? Are you kidding?" After walking down the alley and patiently waiting while they did nothing, and as soon as I gave the signal the boxer was off for the back porch like being shot out of a cannon. Baby.

The above photo was from a centerpiece on the table at the baby shower we had about a month ago. Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future.

Spring is here and my back hurts from bending over and cleaning up flower beds and raking oak leaves out of the corners of my yard. We have so many oak trees in the neighborhood that keep their leaves all winter long. UGH! Super UGH! They blow around and make a mess in the spring. I have one full garbage can of old, yucky, brown oak leaves.

I read this about why they don't lose their leaves in the fall:

  In young oak trees, however, for reasons that are
 unclear, abscission cells form but do not complete
 their work. Therefore, oak leaves often stay
 connected to the twig until pushed off by new leaf
 and twig growth in the spring.

Yeah well, whatever.

Tryin' to keep it all together

Met up with family last evening for some good food and good talkin'. This morning I thought I would break a couple of eggs open and fry them up with toast. Hmmm. I can usually expect one double-yolk in a dozen, but will each one be like this? I always buy the "jumbo" size. Maybe I need to back off to the "extra large" size.

Anyway, the family get together brought me out of my funk for a couple of hours. I laughed and pushed my problems to the back of my mind. But, as expected they came roaring back as the evening closed and they were there to greet me with the rising sun. Uh, the problems - not my family. Good grief!

Bursts of cleaning mixed with little walking trips (dogs) outside today. All the while the painful reminder of time ticking away until I resign and re-sign. What? That is weird. Resign and re-sign. The English language. Huh.

Things are getting ugly

Not like this beautiful photo of some honeysuckle I found in May of 2006 near my house. I talked with some co-workers yesterday and today that I don't see very often because they are located in the home office. There are some angry people. Very, very angry people. Stories came out that I had never heard before.

Headed for disaster? Oh, I think so. Hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

As for the presentation. I didn't give one. I got the company that sells the product to send an engineer. Big mistake. Nobody liked him. (Not even my coworkers). Yikes. They complained and wanted what I did last year. Okay. I hear you. I'll make it up to them with some training sessions over the next few months. No problem. I had no idea he was going to be so difficult to follow. He didn't seem to know the material. I at least figured he would call me and brainstorm with me. Not so. I had sent him my presentation from last year and the password to our system so he could look inside and see what our techs were doing. I looked at the logs. He never logged in once. Lesson learned.

I learned a few things, though. :D

I wonder

This was from a YMCA outing six years ago. My sister worked with inner-city children and brought them to the park near my house back in 2004. I wonder where these kids are now.

The bright orange shirts were for the more difficult children. They all loved getting their pictures taken. I tried to be fair and take pictures of all of them, which meant aiming for the shyer ones that kept getting pushed aside by the bolder and more aggressive ones.

I have a presentation today. I am just not in the mood for it. I am in day five of the realization that I am going to lose my tenure at my job. After 15 years. I have another 15 years (give or take) to go. That will be on a year to year contract.

Curious

Chong wonders what the future holds and so do I.

2 flies

There is a fly on the seat and possibly one on the handle. Not doing much today. Don't feel well. Not a migraine for once. I am working hard on not saying anything about work. Changes are coming. My organization is going to lose our continuing contracts. Ugh.

It really stunk that I happened to watch "Up in the Air" after getting news like that at work. It was an "okay" movie. Not a big Clooney fan. I was very, very disappointed in "2012". The special effects were so hokey it was laughable. No problem with J Cusak and A Peet. Have always liked the two of them.

The baby is here

My second grand nephew, (I have one grand niece). I have to ask my brother if he is certain that these are "grand" nephews and nieces. Since my sisters are the "grand" mothers, that makes them my grand nephews and nieces he said. Sigh. Just sounds weird to me.

I almost ripped my cable television box out of the entertainment center and sent it sailing across the room this evening. Then I couldn't stand the noise my computer was making so I got the bright idea to take it all apart again and clean it out (fans and all). I barely got it put back together (I really should take pictures before I go and remove fans and pieces and parts) and had a heck of a time getting it back up and running (blue screen of death and all). That battery must really be going bad.

I almost put my foot through it. It is still making a god-awful noise. I removed each hard drive one at a time and then started the PC without any hard drives and it still made the same scratchy noise. Must be one of the 6 fans in the sucker.

Grrrrr.

Anyway, ain't that some head of hair? The mama had a harder time with this one. This is her third boy and this is the last one. She has one 12 (from another relationship) and one four (with my nephew) and this one (with my nephew). I may go visit on Friday if they are up for company. I think she will still be in the hospital, I don't know.

Books: "Inside of a Dog" by Alexandra Horowitz. Finished the other one I mentioned the other day.

I know why I am probably in such a sour mood. With all the snow melting I have one really bad spot on my sidewalk where the water lays. I literally dug a huge ditch in front of my patio (where my flower bed usually is). I could care less about the hosta plants - they are all getting out of hand anyway and the moonflowers I can replant. The hydrangeas are too far away and I stopped when I got to them.

I've been digging a ditch. It is about four feet wide and about a foot deep. It is full of muddy water. I am angry that I can't do better. Grrrr.

This was too creepy and funny. I came home at lunch yesterday to take the dogs out. I stepped out of the car and dropped my cell phone onto my cement driveway. The back flew off. Oh no, I sighed. I put it back together and it looked okay. I got a text message as soon as I walked into the house. It was from my carrier. "Do you need a new phone?" the text began.

Absolutely true story.

For the shower we used baby toys and items as table centerpieces. This little lamb was too cute.

I didn't fully realize until this week-end how particular I am about the creamer in my coffee. I was too lazy to go to the store (because creamer was the ONLY thing I was out of) and used milk in my coffee. I HATE milk in my coffee. I was even too lazy to poke around my cupboards for canned milk. That MAY have made the coffee drinkable.

After two days of drinking gray, murky coffee, I called my daughter Sunday afternoon and told her to go to the store - get me some creamer and come home to take care of these dogs for a few hours and give me a BREAK! I was in the throse of a monumental migraine.

She came right over. She brought creamer for my coffee (that I am enjoying as I type this). She took care of everything for me. It was great! She took care of the dogs, even taking them out at 1:30 a.m. so there were no accidents for me this morning to attend to. She even told me I should have called her sooner. Stupid migraines! I hate them.

It was probably my own fault. I had cleaned a little too much Sunday morning and sprayed too much air freshener. I knew it was a mistake almost as soon as I did it. I harnessed up the dogs and we took a walk and sat outside for a spell, while I left fans running in the house.

I've been reading a lot. I borrowed "His Oldest Friend" from the library. Written by Sonny Kleinfield. It is about a young boy who visits and befriends an elderly woman in a retirement home. You know how I love biographies.

More babies

This tyke above (photo taken four years ago) has a little brother due any day. Maybe as I am typing? And, AND - another sister has just informed me that she will be a grandmother. Her son and his girlfriend are expecting. Babies, babies everywhere!

And here I am, stuck with all these hounds. I won't be getting any babies from them. They are all fixed. Every cat is fixed. No babies here. My daughter better wait to have babies. She still can barely fix toast, let alone care for a child. She hates fixing food and she hates the kitchen.

Wait. The fish had babies. Or, so I was told. I don't look at them. Sometimes I feed them, but I don't look at them. I think it is because of my headaches. People with migraines do not like to look at that blurry, distorted image of an aquarium.

I had extra pinwheel stuff left over from the shower so I took the batches (pictures I posted Thursday) into work and people loved them. They all wanted the recipe. The all agreed. You can't eat just one. Once you pop one into your mouth, you can try to walk away, but eventually you will walk back to that tray. Just one more. Pop! Into the mouth it goes.

In the movie arena, I am sorry, but I really, really dislike "West Side Story." I have tried to watch it a couple of times over the years. I have looked up reviews on the accent from N Wood. Most say she hit it spot on, but it is so painful for me to listen to, I cannot watch the movie.

Come to think of it, I have not seen one N Wood movie. As an adult. I have seen "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" and "Miracle on 34th Street." Maybe I should watch a few more N Wood movies to get a better idea as to what kind of actress she was.

I stumbled upon a couple of episodes of the first season of "Bewitched" the other day. I always admired E Montgomery. I think it was her looks, since I don't know her personality at all. I loved this show. I think mostly because I always wanted to be able to twitch my nose and the house would be clean. Nothing else she did with the magic impressed me. Just the house cleaning. And I certainly did not care for her bumbling husband (regardless of which character he was played by). The one episode I saw had Adam West in it. I don't even want to mention the 2005 movie of the same name. Whoops, just did. UGH!

Pepperoni Pinwheels

I start out with the two ingredients that I use to make my ever popular cheese ball. I let them come to room temperature. Well, the cream cheese, that is. The jarred cheese was never refrigerated.

I picked these flour tortillas because they were huge.

I mix the two cheeses together in a bowl.

Yes, I have broken spatulas mixing them together. I think this is also part of the reason I am developing tendinitis in my forearm. Computer work, fixing my hair, putting on make-up, writing, drawing, and much, much more causes pain in my right forearm.

I pick up mild banana peppers.

I let them dry a little bit on a paper towel.

I spread the cheese mixture onto the flour tortilla.

I add sandwich-sized pepperoni. I really loaded this one up.

I break the peppers into a line so that it will roll up more uniformly.

Then, I roll the flour tortilla up.

I refrigerate for an hour or two (at least) so that it slices easier.

Pretty in Pink

My Grand Niece at the baby shower on Sunday.

Sugar overdose

My niece brought the above cupcakes to the baby shower. I vacillated between the vanilla cream cheese with raspberry and the chocolate with caramel filling. The caramel filling won. It was like eating pure sugar.

In this circumstance. You CAN eat just one.

I should have brought a few home to sample today. I was so overdosed on the sugar though, I couldn't even fathom eating another one any time soon.

She said she bought them in Hartville, Ohio.