Random Stuff

So this is just a post of the random things going on here.

My cat always meows when there is another cat out on our patio so when he started meowing the other night I thought that I would see a cute fuzzy little gray kitty out there. Well it wasn't, obviously. It was an R.O.U.S., I mean an opossum. They are the strangest critters! I guess they are a marsupial, but they look like an overgrown rat. It waddled around for a while, I guess looking for food. Kind of fun to watch. I call this picture "My cat the druggie." Marsh has had an urinary tract infection and for two weeks now, every 12 hours I have had to shove three pills down his throat. He has been great about it, but is starting to not like me holding him anymore. Tonight he takes his last ones... YAH!!!! Also, for the last week I have had bad muscle spasms and saw the doc who has me trying three new meds. It was interesting trying to time mine and Marsh's pill schedule. Since I couldn't do much else I got some much needed sleep which was probably a good thing because the way I had been going the cat and I might have accidentally swapped meds. We are both better now and there were no mix ups.
Okay, so this I just thought was funny. I got this cinnamon bread as a treat and it was ooooh soooo good. But what made me laugh is what the packaging says. See the caption in the little box at the bottom of the picture? "Excellent source of deliciousness" When they advertise something like that you know it is in no way good for you.

Weeding Out Pictures

I know all 10 are very similar, but I am wondering which are the best 3. I was messing with apertures, black and white and sepia. This always leaves me with too many pictures to weed through, and I never know which are worth keeping. Could you tell me which your favorites are?
123710I removed the worst ones that is why there are not 10 anymore. Thanks for your help!

Sunday Sacrilege

Because of our schedule we are attending a different ward, and for that matter a different stake, than where our records are. (This is all worked out with the bishop by the way. No need to worry.) The only really inconvenient thing about this is that none of the ward/stake business, or announcements means anything to us. Occasionally J and I write notes to each other during this sometimes-lengthy portion of the meeting. Perhaps it is not the most reverent thing, but I thought I would share a little collection of the notes I thought were funny. You may find them funny too because you may have noticed the same sort of things in your congregation.

J: Look at that BIG purse.
E: It’s not a purse; it’s a carry on!

E: Have you heard how many people are coughing today?!? It makes me want to stop breathing, we are all going to get sick and die from going to church. At least we all will be well educated as to where we are going when we die.

J: Look at that little girl. Nothing like a big bag of marshmallows to keep the kid quiet and reverent in church.
E: I am glad I am not her teacher. I guess if it glues her mouth shut…
J: Give them Dots
E: Or Jolly Ranchers

E: That guys name was David R. David. Does he go by his first or last name?
J: Yes. It’s like MacGyver.
E: Or Opera, Chare, or Madonna. We should name our kid B.

Which One Do You Like Best?

Took some pictures today and could use an unbiased eye. I show J and he just goes, "hum, nice." He is very supportive of my picture taking, but I think I have asked for his opinion too many times. So I am putting it to you, which one do you like best?

Mae, the white flower is the little nut bulb I was telling you about that I got from you 5 years ago, but can't figure out what it is.

Aaahhh, Sun!

(not my photo)

So I am still not use to this graveyard shift thing. I just can't get use to going to bed and waking up on the same day, and then having the days of the week switch in the middle of my waking hours. It makes it hard to make plans and know what day of the week it is. I am usually one day ahead of myself fortunately, so I have not missed anything important yet. The other thing that it is excruciatingly hard for me is sleeping through the few hours of good sunlight we get. I see the sun set, then rise, than am supposed to head to bed. So far in my life, if I have been up to see the sunrise it meas that there is a dang good reason. Consequently sunrises fill me with a measure of excitement and anxiety that is hardly conducive for a restful bedtime.

In response to Mae's ups and downs post yesterday, here are mine for today. Down: Waking up early at 12:30pm and still missing the first half of this glorious, 85 degree, clear day. Up: After work I took a blanket out on the lawn and listened to my book on my ipod while soaking up the vitamin D. While looking up at the sky I saw a gold mylar balloon. It drifted up and away and I was able to watch it until it only winked at me in the sun and finally disappeared. There was just something very whimsical and fanciful about it. While I watched it I thought about balloons... When I was little and cried at the fair when one got away... When Jenn and I filled a car with them... How tacky and white-trash they can sometimes be... When was the last time you had a balloon get away?

Pour Speling

I have never been good at spelling. It is something I have worked on very hard my whole life, but spellchecker is still a must. I don’t mind at all when people correct me, and when it is my spelling I feel it is much like when I have something stuck in my teeth or my zipper is down. I would much rather have someone close to me, like a family member tell me, but I would rather anyone tell me than to be walking around with it that way for all to see. Fortunately for me, bad spelling is very common and so many people are so careless about it, it is pretty much a social norm. And here is a little fact about me that I am not sure my mother even remembers. When I was in about second grade I was so bad at reading and spelling they gave me “extra help” at school, and by the end of the year I had progressed enough that I even qualified for the school spelling bee. At that time my spelling was not the only thing slow to develop. I had such bad stage fright that someone had to take my place. My point? Spelling has nothing to do with your IQ, so go ahead and correct my spelling, but don’t imply all us bad spellers are stupid because some of us are smart enough to get the insult. But only sum uf us ;)
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He Makes Me Laugh

I just remembered this fun little incident and thought I would share.
One day shortly after we were married I was playing solitaire with real cards, IE, not on the computer.

J: What are you doing?
Me: Playing solitaire.
J: How ya do’n?
Me, with a pleased tone: I’ve lost 3 games but won 2.
J: How can you not win when you are playing yourself? That is pretty sad.
Me: Ah!

That’s when I became aware that he obviously had never played solitaire before. Even though he likes games, and we often play card and board games together, I still have not been able to make him sit down long enough for me to show him. Also, I am now afraid that once I do show him he will become addicted.

What’s Next?

Sunrise or sunset?

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning, midday, and night; all words that no longer quite work for us. Since our hours are off, I have been living from one task to the next. If there is something that needs to be done I just go do it, no matter what time it is, when that is done I figure out what and when the next thing is. If there is time I sleep, if not I just find something else that needs doing and keep busy. It is a very strange way of life, living from one thing to the next. I am not sure if I am getting more or less done and all of the days kind of blend together. For instance, if you were to ask me a simple question like, “What did you have for dinner day before yesterday?” This is the 10-step process my brain would go through.

1 Well, first off, what is today?
2 And now, what day was the day before yesterday?
3 Did I eat “dinner” that day?
4 What time of day did I eat dinner?
5 Do you mean, a meal that is made up of dinner kinds of food, or a meal that was eaten at a normal dinnertime?
6 Man, I need to go to the store!
7 I guess I had pasta, no, that was breakfast yesterday at 5pm… I think.
8 umm….
9 Why did you need to know this???
10 And what am I going to fix for “dinner” “tonight?”

I think I am just going to start referring to them as meals. But then it would sound something like this

Me: Hey J, what do you want for Sunday 7:30 meal?
J: AM or PM meal?
Me: Scratching my head. I don’t know! We will just figure it out then. I am going to sleep. See you in the… um… “morning?”
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Smoothies

(not my photo)

I am on a smoothie kick. I have been craving fruit for breakfast but it has been so expensive and sour I got a bag of frozen mixed berries and yogurt and I have been doing my own little concoctions. I was on the phone with Jenn at some point when I was making one and she suggested adding a little vanilla instead of sugar for sweetness. It worked great! Thanks Jenn! I also have lost 6lbs since I have started having smoothies for breakfast. I should say I lost the first three when I had bronchitis a month ago. Since I have decided to try to eat a little healthier to keep it off, and eating smoothies has helped and I have lost 3 more pounds. Does anyone have any favorites tips for smoothies, or other healthy, yummy, and quick snacks? I know I could goggle for ideas and recipes, but I want to hear what you like.
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Whaaaa!

(not my photo)

Another update on my adjustment to graveyard shift.
So now that my hours are as messed up as a bag full of angry ferrets, the phone has become a major issue. I think we are going to have to turn our ringer off in order to get some decent sleep. The problem comes when you are expecting a call. You can’t tell so-and-so to please get back to you as soon as possible, but not to call until after 2pm. Scheduling has become a nightmare; literally, I answered the phone when I was asleep and scheduled something. Then the lady was 30 minutes late picking me up and I had to call her just to be sure I had not dreamt the whole thing! I am learning to write everything down. I don’t even know what day of the week it is!

Late Night Ramblings

J took a shift change so he can gain experience and build his resume. Unfortunately this landed him on the graveyard shift. He leaves for work at 8pm and gets home at 7:30am (4/10s). Since I only have one day of work this week I figured I would go on his schedule with him so we would at least have some time together. This has only sort of worked. I do have scouts and other things going on which means that things are not quite as structured as they should be in order to get a normal amount of sleep. I have found that I am really just sleeping when I am tired and setting an alarm so that I go when I have to be somewhere. Last night I went to bed at about 5:30am. At 8am someone called about scouts. She was trying to set up a meeting and I had to ask her what day it was, then repeat the time we had just planned to meet. I am sure I sounded extremely ditsy. Also, most of the times, when people call and wake me up I don’t get that sleepy voice, so they don’t know they woke me up. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not because then it is not obvious why I sound like my IQ is the same as my age, and I don’t want them to feel bad for waking me up so I don’t tell them. Well it is now quarter after three in the morning, and as much as I like watching Mr. Ed I am going crazy with boredom! So far I have finished my book, played with the cats, rearranged my spices, cleaned the bathroom, and played solitaire until I won. I still plan on folding some laundry. Unfortunately I have found that activities are limited during the dark hours. I have some gardening I want to do, I guess I can turn the porch light on and go do it. Really I have this burning desire to vacuum, but I don’t think the people living on three sides of me would appreciate me busting that out right now. Also the library does not open ‘till 10am! I need to get cat food too… what time do they open?... Graveyard shift…Humph! I guess you will all just be hearing a lot more of me through this blog because I don’t have anyone else that I can talk to at this hour. And if my posts start to take on a silly and more random tone, and my grammar and spelling takes a dive, it could be because I am comatose board, or maybe because I am strung out on lack of sleep. Hehehe, this blog could get real interesting all of a sudden!

It's Been One Year

It has been one year since my first blog post! I have found that it is a good way keep up with others, and share what is going on with out having to repeat myself to each person I talk to. At first I had a hard time talking so much about myself, (and sometimes still do) but then I realized that reading a blog is a choice, and that in essence talking abut yourself is what you do on a blog. At the same time I hope that what I write is at least somewhat amusing to those who read it. So after a year, here is your chance to give input. What part of my blog or blogging in general do you like? What things do you just skim over? Do people skip any post that is over 200 words or based on an opinion? Do you get really tired of how I am always rearranging the colors and layout of my blog? Are all the pictures annoying? Or the silly little things I write about just not worth your time to read? Or do I just talk too much about my cats? Does my poor writing and bad spelling drive you nuts? Well, what ever you want to say, I want to hear it. I probably won't change anything, but I am interested in what you think. So bring on the critique!

He Makes Me Laugh

J was just telling me about a dream he had last night. In it he was telling people that he designed and sold tractor suspension. What makes me laugh is that he then pointed out that heavy equipment doesn't have suspension because it would compromise it's strength. It would be like selling blinker fluid, muffler bearings, or piston return springs. So next time you are at a meet-and-greet or class reunion and people are asking what you are up to these days, I dare you to say, "Oh, same-old, same-old. Just designing and selling tractor suspension!"
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I Know I Shouldn't Have...But I Did, And Love It!

I am really excited about yesterdays purchases, an just had to share. I went to Kohl's to get pants since I am down to two jeans that have never fit right. I finally found some that fit perfect and were on sale. Something in and of itself to rejoice in. (I despise clothes shopping, grrr.) But then I decided to cruse the home department to look at a quilt I had been drooling over for the last four mounts. Ok, here is my justification. There always is one when you do something you know you shouldn't, right? Well, J and I got married four and a half years ago at which point I found that sleeping in the same bed with another person, instead of a cat, was much less restful. Since, I have been contriving ways to make sleeping and my bed more of what it was before I had to deal with someone else's elbows and our temperature differences. Three years ago I decided on the specifics of what I wanted, and a year ago I decided on colors. I wanted a king size bed, down comforter, and a heirloom quilt. I also thought this would never happen because all of these things are massively expensive. Well, here was this heirloom quilt the exact pattern, and colors I have been wanting, but it was $200! Then I saw the sale sign, $79.99! I thought, "Wow, that is too good to be true." I have had my eye on this sort of thing and was shocked, they can run up to $500 or more. After 45 minutes of walking around the store trying to talk myself out of it, I gave in and took it to the checkout counter where it came up at $100. I told the lady that even though that was a good deal the sale sign said it was $80 and I just could not do $100, so I was not going to get it. Well apparently they have a policy that if something is mis-marked you get it at the marked price! So the king sized quilt, and shams together originally cost $300, and with the mis-marked prices and my %15 off coupon they came to $93.50. That is a $206.50 savings! How could I have passed this up, and when would I ever find the exact thing I want again? A question... if any other woman was in my shoes could she have passed this up? Here is a picture of the pattern with the embroidery floss I bought a year ago when I decided on colors. The colors are an exact match by the way. So now that I have justified it, I plan on fully enjoying my beautiful, soft, perfectly colored and designed, high quality, heirloom, king sized quilt!