An Aging Dreamcatcher's Wit And Whimsy

Hooray! The Weekend!!

2012-01-28T05:53:00.002-06:00

I do like weekends, have I ever mentioned that?? And though I don't have any real "social plans" this weekend, it will be a busy one.

I have my Weight Watchers meeting this morning at 7, and from there I have some errands to run. Need to get the car checked for emissions so I can renew my license plates...have to do the grocery shopping...um...gee, maybe that's all the errands I have to run...Oh, pick up Gary's photos at Walgreens...

The rest of the weekend will be filled with stitching and working on items on my Winter Chore List. Last time I checked, I still had 84 (count em!!) items on that list, so I'd better get cracking. Planting season will be here soon!!!

I think I'm going to concentrate on the stitching stash this weekend...go through my charts, organize bins, etc. So that won't seem TOO much of a chore, and it'll check a few items off the list. (Gotta love I-Google....their gadgets make this list thing REAL easy...)

Also got notice last night that the "Verify The Recall" web is up, and I can start entering names/addresses in the database so that we can weed out fake names, duplicate names, etc., from the ridiculous recall effort that is going on.

And I'll fill in the rest of the weekend with stitching, I think...maybe pop in a movie or two while doing that. All in all, I think it's going to be a good weekend...barring any unforeseen complications.

That being said...prayers go out to my internet friend, Ken Calman's friends and family. Ken passed away suddenly and unexpectedly several days ago, much to everyone's surprise. They are having a memorial service for him today in Arizona, where he lived. I wish I could be there, Wild Free Boy....I am, in spirit. God bless you. You will be missed by this old Dreamcatcher.

Cheers from Wisconsin!

Oh well.....

2012-01-16T05:18:00.002-06:00

....was a shame that the Packers ended up losing to the Giants yesterday, but...quite simply put, the Giants outplayed the Packers, and in short, they deserved to win the game....So the season is over for the Packers...time to regroup and get rid of dead weight...i.e. Finley.

All in all, it's been a great season, and Wisconsin has nothing to complain about -- unless you're like some of the people that I've heard in the last several hours, who are grousing about how the Brewers lost in the playoffs, the Badgers lost the Rose Bowl, and now the Packers lost in the playoffs.....

To those, I say.....HEY!! What state can you name this year that had all three teams GO to the playoffs??? I say be proud of your teams and the excitement they gave us, collectively, all year long!

2011 was a fantastic year for Wisconsin sports.....so we didn't win the championships - suck it up. They still, all three teams, gave us one helluva ride, and a lot of exciting moments.

HERE'S TO WISCONSIN SPORTS! HERE'S TO THE BADGERS, THE BREWERS AND THE PACKERS!!! Thanks for a GREAT year!!!

...and on to 2012....

(But please, Packers...get rid of Finley and get someone who can hang onto a ball??)

Cheers from Wisconsin....

Awesome Day.....

2012-01-14T16:59:00.002-06:00

....and what made it so awesome is that I didn't have to go anywhere!!! Love it, love it!! The last several weeks have been SO stressful and so busy...this weekend is a much-welcomed, stress-free, I-don't-gotta-do-nuttin' kind of weekend...

Slept late this morning - until 6:30!! That's good for me. I originally woke up around 4:30, as per usual, thought I'd never get back to sleep, but to my surprise I did...and didn't wake up for a couple of hours. Felt great...

Spent most of the morning taking down Christmas decorations, putting them away, and getting the "normal" stuff back out in its place...I know there will be something that I will spot sometime between now and July that should have been put away with the Christmas decorations, but...I can handle that. Then went about my normal cleaning routine...and finally around noon or so settled down with my stitching. Watched "Grimm", "Dateline" and "Harry's Law"....nothing left on the DVR. Now tuned in the Saints/Niners game and am floored at how many times the Saints have turned over the ball today....not gonna win the game THAT way, boys!!!

Looking forward to a quiet evening...stitching and TV I guess....I really needed this day. Love the holidays, but they can quickly turn into a stressful time....

Okay...dinner's in the oven....gonna settle back with a glass of wine and enjoy the rest of the day and evening....

Cheers from Wisconsin...

...On Track.....

2012-01-12T21:04:00.002-06:00

....two posts in one month??? Say it ain't so....Okay, I could be doing better, but this is definitely better than last year -- so far....

Been a BUSY couple of weeks....er...9 days....Back to work after some great days off with my family...now back to the grind, though...counting the days to retirement. Heh. Only 2,758 more days until that happens...if, of course, Liberty lets me hang around that long. One never knows. Though we are getting positive reports about how our office is the claim office with the best numbers, nation-wide. That's a good thing....God knows the licensing area has been busy -- that's my baby. This week has just been flying by with licensing issues. I don't mind that....

Miss my brother - was nice having him around for a couple of weeks. I did talk with him a couple of nights ago - seems he ended up with a virus on the little netbook I gave him to use. Walked him through resetting the thing to factory settings, which basically makes it like it was when it came out of the box, minus viruses, etc. He did have to reinstall the one program that he'd installed last year, but that was okay. Told him to stay away from the porn sites. Heh.

Gary's cousin Nita stayed with us for a few days last week -- sure was nice having her around! I welcome the opportunity to get to know Nita better... was a lot of fun having her with us for a few days. Hey - one of her many good points - she's a STITCHER!!! A kindred spirit.....

Got our first real taste of winter here today...they were talking about how we were going to get 9 inches or better of the white stuff, but....I think so far we've only had about 3 inches or so. Driving home wasn't much fun though...roads were really getting slippery out there, and I had to stop at the post office and the drug store on my way home. Then I did some shoveling....good exercise....

Okay, that's about all that's going on in this neck of the woods...pondering tonight why some people just try to make trouble for other people....pondering why there are so many idiots in the world....pondering how to ignore so much idiocy and keep my sanity.....and keep the blood pressure down.....ohhmmmm.....ohhmmmmm.....ohmmmmmm....

Cheers from It's Finally Winter In Wisconsin.....

...and Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-03T10:58:00.003-06:00

It's been an amazing visit with my brother this year....and this morning I took him to the airport for his return flight to California. Sigh...probably won't see him again until Thanksgiving. (That's assuming he'll be coming home for the holidays again next year...fingers crossed...)

Anyway..back to reality. I have today off yet, and then back to work tomorrow. And back on the diet TODAY...I am totally ashamed of myself...I let the food take over this holiday season, and it shows. Time to get back to reality and eat like a human being again. As I tell my co-workers, I feel like a walrus right now....

Started working also on my winter chore list....I have a list compiled for each room in this house. This morning, I cleaned out the front hall closet - that was SUCH a mess....pulled out some stuff for Goodwill...and organized the rest of it and moved some stuff to other places. Looks like a closet again, not just a pile of crap behind closed doors....

Lined up 8 of my stitching charts to work on in rotation this year....not sure if I'll get them all done or not, since they're not small by any means, but...will give it a shot. Updated my Webshots ...and I think now I'm going to sit back and do some stitching today....

Okay...back to work....

Cheers from Wisconsin....

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:19:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!!! (Not that anyone reads this blog, apparently! LOL!) So Merry Christmas to me and anyone who may stumble across this nonsense....

My brother is here from California for the holidays....and did the most wonderful thing for me...You see, my parents have been divorced since I was 18...and that was, oh, about 40 years ago. I had no contact with my dad, for reasons known only to him, since that time. He remarried and lived in Scotland until he died about two years ago.

Anyway...Jeff had always been in contact with him. Well, when Jeff was here for Thanksgiving this year, we somehow got on the subject of dear old Dad...and I had mentioned to him, quite casually, that I had no keepsakes from dad, not even photographs...it turns out that he didn't have much either, as Step Mommy Dearest only lowered herself to give Jeff THREE items of Dad's when Dad passed away...

Well, long story short...last night, Jeff gave me Dad's wristwatch - the one he wore when I was a little girl...one of the three items he had of Dad's.

I have to say that was the most amazing gift I ever received....and I truthfully didn't know my brother could be so thoughtful....

I see a new side of my brother this year....and that's the best Christmas present I could ever ask for.

Merry Christmas, Jeff....Love you!

Cheers....

Oh My, Oh My....

2011-11-27T08:55:00.002-06:00

Seriously? September? That was the last time I posted to this blog? Every time I do this, I say I'll do better...and every time, I do not. Sigh....

Oh well....so what's been new with me... I guess I can't say that not a whole lot has been going on, or everyone would be wondering what I've been doing the last several months....In truth, it has been busy here.

Not wanting to go back two months, I guess I'll just bring everyone up to date on what's been happening more recently. Let's see....well, we lost a couple of people from my office a week or so ago. Seems my office is "cleaning house" once again. I thought it odd that we were hiring people, but....I suspect they were hiring replacements before getting rid of the people they wanted to get rid of. Sneaky, sneaky. Have heard rumors of other things going on behind the scenes, but am not dwelling on them. As of this day, I have 2,804 days to go before official retirement (if I stay til I'm 66 years old, and IF they let me...) If I don't make it that far, so be it. I'm too old to worry about such things anymore. At this point, I could officially retire if it came to that, so.....I am, however, a little disturbed by what seems to be a growing trend of ousting older employees...

That being said....I know my Cleveland people are worried about their office shutting down...and I know that they are "centralizing" support functions all across the country, and if they take too much away from my office, well...you know what that will mean. So be it. Not going to waste my time worrying about it. What will be will be....

Am busy stitching (of course)...I have a piece I have to get done before Christmas, as it is a gift, but...we shall see if I can actually finish it....if not, will have to find something else to give that person at the last minute! I have whittled my stitching stash down to 224 charts....(of course I have a couple more on order...eeek)...My friend Deb has developed an interest in stitching tabletoppers....she's going to love them....as I do.

Have winterized the yard....and put up the winter bird feeders and the squirrel feeder. Now starts the unending task of keeping the squirrels out of the bird feeder. So far so good....but I know they'll figure it out sooner or later. Meanwhile, am stocking up on peanuts, both in and out of the shell, for the winter feeders...prices on peanuts will be going up, so...will get as much as I can before the prices do go up.

No snow here yet. Actually, we've had very mild temperatures so far, which is fine with me...not anxious for the winter heating bills....

Okay...all else said, I will add that I STAND WITH SCOTT WALKER...I think this recall nonsense is just that - nonsense. The man eliminated the state's huge deficit...created 30,000 jobs...and did it all without layoffs and without raising taxes. The only people not happy are the union people, since he got rid of collective bargaining for state employees. So be it. If the unions get their way and are successful in a recall, they've only done it illegally....the people of the state of Wisconsin want Scott Walker. It's just the unions who don't. And we all know how dirty they can be....

Okay...got some stitching to do, so am going to get at it....once again I promise to be better at this blogging stuff....dare me?

Cheers from Wisconsin...

...BIG MY BAD HERE....

2011-09-05T21:46:00.002-05:00

Hmmm....so it's been like how long since I've posted in this blog? Well...I could say that I've just been busy...or I could say I forgot...or I could say someone stole my computer...or or or .... or I could be honest and just say that it wasn't high on my priority list...

That being said...it's been a long summer...and a busy one. Had a lot of heat and humidity this year...and not much rain. Seemed like every time storms came through, some big huge umbrella opened up over our house and we never got a drop. So tired of watering everything....some things didn't get watered at all. Was a weird weather summer...Today we actually had to dig out the long jeans and long-sleeved t-shirts. BUT I'M NOT COMPLAINING...now we're getting to my time of year, my favorite season....and I'm loving it. Hope it lasts.

Work's been busy...very busy...and that's okay too..makes the days go really, really fast. And that's a good thing....retirement looms in the not too distant future. If I stay to age 66, then I have only 2,887 days to go. "If" being the operative word. Seems to me at the rate that Obama is pissing away MY money, I should retire NOW and collect social security while there still IS some to collect.

But I digress....I hesitate to pollute my blog with the "O" word. He's not worth the aggravation.

Let's see...have been trying to get my recipes in order...seems I have about a million cookbooks...all with one or two favorite recipes inside. So am going through them one at a time, picking out my favorite ones and transferring them to a website called Key Ingredient...and I then download them onto an electronic recipe reader - similar to a Kindle. All those recipes and cookbooks boiled down to Kindle size. I'm lovin' it....but it's a lot of work typing them all into the website. It'll be wroth it in the long run, though. I think.

Been stitching up a storm as well....what else is new? Heh...

Anyway..apologies for the absence....will endeavor to do better this time. I know I've made that promise before, but....hang with me, yes?

That being said....sleep is calling...off to work tomorrow...half days this week though.

Happy Labor Day to all who labor...they shoulda made the welfare and unemployment recipients work today....while the rest of us enjoy one day off...

Okay. Done for now. CHEERS FROM WISCONSIN....GO PACKERS!! GO BREWERS!!

The Aging Dreamcatcher

GO PACK GO!!!!

2011-02-06T12:32:00.002-06:00

All righty then!!! It is SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!! Packers v. Steelers...GO PACK GO!

Have to admit that earlier in the season, I had absolutely NO vision of the Packers ending up in the Super Bowl this year...I never even though they would make the playoffs....

Oh me of little faith, I guess...here we are, a scant 5 hours before the showdown, and the Packers are in it. (And from what I understand, the Pack is the favorite to win today!)

There is a goodly amount of good-natured finger poking and fun-making on Facebook between Packer fans and Steeler fans...as is to be expected. Hopefully, nobody is taking things too seriously....

It is, after all...just a game.

That being said -- WIN OR LOSE, I am proud of our Green Bay Packers for getting this far this season. I'm proud as hell of Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews, Donald Driver, and the rest of the boys. I'm even proud as hell of Brett Favre, who obviously taught Aaron Rodgers a lot of good stuff....

So...win or lose -- GOOD SEASON, PACK!! I'll be cheering you on from SE Wisconsin!

GO PACK GO!!

It's Still Winter....

2011-02-06T12:27:00.002-06:00

....here in SE Wisconsin! Been steadily getting a couple of inches of snow here and there throughout January, but really got dumped on, along with a good part of the nation, last Tuesday and Wednesday...Here at home we got about 24 inches of snow, and the drifting was unimaginable. It took us almost 5 hours to clear our driveway on Wednesday. My company was closed, thank goodness...Gary's was open, but he didn't go in.

And now today, on Super Bowl Sunday, we're in for another 3 to 6 inches here - as we speak, it's snowing out there - but that's nothing compared to what we got earlier this week, so...I guess I won't complain.

Is it spring yet??

Hoping so, and raising my glass in Cheers from SE Wisconsin...

...after further review.....

2011-01-24T16:28:00.002-06:00

...THE BEARS STILL SUCK!!!

Awesome game yesterday between the Bears and the Packers. Typical - very typical - rivalry game, and we came out on top...I was worried for the last five minutes, until we picked off that last pass of Chicago's, but once we did that I knew we'd won the game....NOW ON TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!

Never during this season did I even suspect that the Packers would be playing in the Super Bowl this year....our season was definitely not that outstanding, and I didn't even think we'd make the playoffs....what a wonderful ending to our season!!! Win or lose the Super Bowl, I'm just tickled we made it this far...

Our friend Debbie has already invited us over for a Super Bowl Party, and we have accepted...looking forward to it. This is such a thrill for us.

Seems Chicago's quarterback is taking a lot of heat for leaving the game with "an injury". Now, granted...he knows if he's hurt or not..and only he knows what's really gone on. He didn't seem to be that injured there on the sidelines, but what do I know??

Anyway...what a thrill of a game...looking forward to meeting up with the Steelers in two weeks. Can this magic continue??

Cheers From Wisconsin!!!

Brrrr.....

2011-01-21T10:22:00.001-06:00

…and here we are again approaching a weekend! This is a good thing! So far this year, I have to say that the weeks have been going quickly again. Which likely means that this is going to be a fast year for me again. That’s okay – spring can’t get here fast enough as far as I’m concerned…I’m not one who minds the snow at all, but I do NOT like temperatures below 15 degrees, and this morning it was 8 below zero at my place when I woke up. Way too cold. Factor in the wind chill, and it’s 30 below out there. I’m not liking that…which means perhaps I should rethink my dream of moving to Alaska when I retire. Heh. (Although when I’m retired, I wouldn’t HAVE to go anywhere in that kind of weather….)

Oh well…dreams die hard…Cold mornings like this are a brutal reality check. That being said, it is Friday! With a weekend just around the corner…and they say it’ll warm all the way up to about 20 degrees or so….a heatwave!!! So we’ll put off grocery shopping until tomorrow…once we get home tonight, we’re gonna wanna stay in I think. And anyway, tomorrow we have to get out there anyway, as we have haircut appts in the morning, and plans for dinner with friends…

Busy day at work today, since Kathi is out. Her hubby is having knee surgery..ouch… hope it all turns out well. I’m thinking she may be out most of next week too, so she can help him out around the house once they release him from the hospital. Anyway, being a busy day, it will go quickly…

Not much else to report from this end…I sent my older netbook out to my brother in California, since he was having issues with his Mac and couldn’t get online. We didn’t really need this older netbook, so since he could use it, we sent it out there. He can use it as long as he needs it…he was so appreciative. Glad we were able to help him out.

Okay, this Aging Dreamcatcher has to stop with the wit and whimsy for the time being and get back to work, so…later, dudes and dudettes!!

CHEERS FROM BROOKFIELD…A VERY COLD BROOKFIELD…

Snow Today....

2011-01-17T21:40:00.002-06:00

...and it sure does look like winter out there! Heard nothing but horror stories all day long about how bad the roads were, but I have to be honest, I didn't think they were all that bad. Took me just a few minutes longer to get home from the office today, but not bad...definitely have been through worse than today's drive.

Have been watching Alaska State Troopers on cable over the last couple of weeks. I gotta tell ya, every time I think it's cold here, I'll just tune in to that program! Holy cow! Not unusual to have a "high" temperature of 40 below out there! Sure is some beautiful scenery though...makes you want to move out there until you hear what the temperatures are!

Had a rather relaxing few days...got some stitching done, caught up with some things around the house...glad the holidays are over...We packed so much activity in for the last few months of the year...am now looking forward to slowing down for a few months.

Also am looking forward to getting back on track with my diet! Holy cow, the last few weeks have been murder!! Time to get back in gear and I have made myself a promise that I will get down to my goal by the end of this year! Enough of the fooling around...time to get serious again. I keep looking at that photo I have of myself from a few years ago, and all I can say is that I'm NEVER going back to looking like that again....so time to get serious again.

Wednesday is Cooking With Q day on QVC...24 hours of cooking and kitchen products...such a temptation to stay home and watch QVC all day long, you know? But that would be really dangerous, I think...heh...better go to work and keep out of trouble!

Our telescope arrived today...should be fun playing with that out on the patio when weather permits. Okay, I didn't buy it...I was awarded a $250 level prize at work for coming into the office when I was supposed to be on vacation when Kathi got sick...I had 16 products to choose from, and I chose the telescope...we have often thought about how much fun it would be to have one of those on a clear night out on the patio...now we'll get to experience it!

Other than that, not much going on around here - thankfully...should get going on my winter chore list one of these weekends...before spring planting season arrives! (Is that really so far away??)

Stitching awaits....will put in a thread or two before heading off to bed....

CHEERS FROM BROOKFIELD!!

SHAME ON US!!!!

2011-01-09T08:10:00.003-06:00

My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the senseless shooting in Tucson yesterday, as well as their families and friends. No matter what your political affiliation is, everyone in this country should be absolutely outraged at what happened yesterday. OUTRAGED!!!

And who do I blame? I blame a government and a set of legislators who have bastardized our legal system to the point where criminals have more rights and more freedoms than the rest of us. I blame a society that has come to "accept" what goes on in this country as a "way of today's life". I blame the judges and juries who allow these gun-toting criminals to do their damage, then allow them to relax in the country clubs we call prisons - tax free to them, three hots and a room, a library, a weight room, a TV room, recreation rooms....allowing them to live - worry free - for the rest of their lives while they file appeal after appeal, and ultimately those on Death Row will outlive us all.

Okay, rant over. Here's what we need to do...first of all, we need to make the prisons prisons again. You go to jail, you sit in a cell and we slide food in through a slot in the door. You're there because you broke the law, not because you earned a vacation.

Next, we need to stop babying and mollycoddling the damned criminals. We need to stop worrying about THEIR rights more than we worry about the rights of the people they have shot, maimed, injured and killed, and the rights of their friends and families.

Because we have made it so EASY on convicted criminals, there is no "consequence" for their actions, and THIS is why we keep seeing this happen over and over again. WHY DO WE KEEP ACCEPTING THIS AS A WAY OF LIFE?

THIS IS NOT THE WAY OF LIFE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, people!! Personally, I don't give a DAMN about the rights of Jared Lee Loughner. Had it been up to me, I would have taken him out back and shot him between the eyes right then and there. I don't give a DAMN about his civil rights - as far as I'm concerned, he HAS no civil rights after what he did.

And for all you Sarah Palin haters, who have tried to twist this into HER fault -- get a life, would you?? Put the blame where it belongs - ON JARED LEE LOUGHNER.

End of rant....and no cheers from Brookfield this time....

And It Be Friday!

2011-01-07T11:43:00.005-06:00

Okay, okay...I missed a day yesterday. Now, trust me, I did not say that I would post every day - just that I would post on a more regular basis...and that I am doing - so far....yet, it's only January, so....let's see how far I can carry this on...

Made it to the weekend almost....another 3 hours and I'm out of here for the day. Well, 3 1/2 hours. But who's counting?? We don't really have much planned for this weekend, other than possibly hitting up the ham radio fest in Waukesha Saturday morning. Other than that, I do want to get the Christmas decorations put away for the year....we'll see if we can get this taken care of...other than that, I think it's going to be a pretty laid back weekend.

Lots of changes in the office yesterday -- for once, not affecting Support - for now. Seems we are going back to having a dedicated claim team for McDonalds, which is what we had before. AND, the rest of the claim teams are going from three teams down to two...and the "leftover" adjusters are being filtered into the other two teams, so nobody is losing a job. That's a good thing. The remaining Team Manager is being sent to our Complex Unit, as an adjuster, which does not make him happy. Fast Track team is merging into one unit, I guess, rather than two - at least there will only be one Team Manager instead of two....Support remains unchanged, as I said before.

(However...I did hear from a little birdie that the Support Staff is overstaffed by one person. No plans so far in eliminating one of us, apparently....and the little birdie, who is a good source, tells me that she can "guarantee" me that if they do get rid of one person, it's not going to be me, so....I do like the sound of that. I don't think they'll get rid of anyone, personally, but one never knows with this place...)

Oooh, I think I posted a note last week about how I went in to work when Kathi got sick, even though I was on vacation? Nobody asked me to, but I did it anyway. Got back to work yesterday and found out that I was awared a "silver level" Bravo award for that, which amounts to a choice of 16 prizes valued at about $250. had a lot of fun looking through the catalog, and ended up deciding on a telescope for the patio. Gary and I had actually been talking, last week, about how neat it would be to have one when we're out with the fire pit....ask and ye shall receive!!!

Okay...I have to get back to work....they don't pay me to blog, I guess....everyone have a fab Friday....

Cheers from Brookfield!!!

One more day....

2011-01-04T21:58:00.002-06:00

....and then my vacation will be over. I guess I'm ready to go back to work...(never thought I'd see the day that I'd say something like that!) I think I might just sit on my fanny and do NOTHING tomorrow and fully enjoy my last day of vacation.

Seems the Catholic church has gone bankrupt...due largely to the sex scandal lawsuits. Have never been Catholic, but it seems to me that if they would just let the priests get MARRIED, they wouldn't have such a fascination with little boys' behinds. Meanwhile, the church is saying that the bankruptcy won't affect schools or churches...um...what WILL it affect??

Getting a little tired of Facebook screwing around with their website and changing everything. Sigh...don't they realize there are OLD people trying to deal with their website?? heh...

Found a few more books for my Kindle....amazing how many FREE books there are out there for that little gadget. I have a lot of reading to do!!!

Mega Millions....I did buy a ticket today. They've just revealed the numbers...perhaps I should check my tickets and see if I really do have to go back to work on Thursday...hmmm????

Okay..it's late...and I'm tired....so I'm checking out and sending CHEERS FROM BROOKFIELD!

Here I am again!!

2011-01-03T22:13:00.003-06:00

What? Three days in a row?? Yes, yes....will wonders ever cease?? Let's see...what can I blog about today???

Well, I took my brother to the airport this morning...his two week visit is over...and he's back in California this evening. Had a wonderful, wonderful visit with him....and look forward to the next time I see him. Anyway, was off work today, and will be off until Thursday...taking this time to try and "get back to normal" after the visit and the holidays....little by little I'm putting things away for another year...

Progress is hindered by my right arm...between the shoulder and my elbow, I'm in such pain....but hoping it will pass. Actually, my shoulder seems to be getting better, while my elbow is getting worse. I'm thinking this has a lot to do with computer usage....

Wondering when the local news stations here will figure out that it's winter in Wisconsin and that a "dusting" of snow doesn't constitute "storm coverage". Idiots.

Jumping from topic to topic here...my mind is just flying tonight. Heh...

Shall I continue with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel? Wondering what type of morons they hire. Six or so weeks ago, they called me to renew my Sunday paper subscription. Fine. Do it. Send me a bill (because I will not give my credit card information to a ditzy telemarketer that I don't know, nor do I know what he or she may do with said information...). Okay, will do. Two weeks later, another call from another telemarketer wanting to know if I would like to renew. Yes, I already said yes, and am waiting for the bill. Will send you another bill. Okay fine. An hour later, yet another call with the same substance....Two weeks later, yet another call. Same story. Last Friday another call from another telemarketer who basically told me that four bills have been sent out and that I am just not paying my bill, so I may encounter "service interruption". (True to her threat, we received no paper on Sunday.) Got two more calls today, same story. Finally sent an email to the idiots who run that paper to PLEASE RENEW THE DAMNED SUBSCRIPTION AND SEND ME THE DAMNED BILL AND STOP CALLING ME!! We shall see what happens next....

And finally...the moronic teenagers from the inner city who have nothing better to do than take the bus up to Wauwatosa, to Mayfair Mall, so that they can run through the mall, terrorize customers, knock over displays and loot the stores....and when interviewed, explain their actions by saying "we just tryin' to have some fun". Well, ya know what, morons? GO TRASH YOUR OWN DAMNED NEIGHBORHOODS IF THAT'S HOW YOU HAVE FUN!!! Idiots.

Sigh...I think I'm done grousing now....Just wanna know why people can't use the brains God gave 'em...

...and on that note.....heading off to try and sleep....with my arm the way it is, that's going to be a trick and a half.....But be that as it may....CHEERS FROM BROOKFIELD!!

Aha!

2011-01-02T07:45:00.003-06:00

Two days in a row, did you notice? (I'm very good at keeping resolutions for at least a FEW days!)

Last day of my brother's visit from California. Has been a wonderful two weeks spent with him, although I have to say there has been entirely too much food. (Like someone held me down and forced the stuff down my throat, yes??) Time to get back into the routine of things. I take Jeff to the airport tomorrow morning...and don't know when I'm going to see him again, but I'm sure it won't be TOO long...we've had such a nice visit...it's almost like I'm getting to know him all over again, now that he's divorced. Weird...

All in all, the holidays were absolutely wonderful. Though I did get a late start in getting everything done in preparation, I managed to get it all done and have some time to kick back. (Now who is going to put all the stuff away is what I want to know....)

Once all the holiday stuff is put away, then it's time to hit the Winter Chore List...which is quite lengthy, actually...heh...all stuff I want to get done before the gardening season starts up again and I spend my weekends outside! (Will be consulting with my step-brother, Butch, from South Dakota on some things this year....he's quite the gardener!!) Anyway...I did manage to compile a very detailed and organized list of Winter Chores....room by room....at least that much is done!

Also will be working on 8 specific cross stitch charts this year - yeah, let's see if I can get them all done - heh...I don't think so, but will give it a valiant attempt! Starting on Christmas Village this week, by Victoria Sampler. Will work on each chart for a week, and then switch so I don't get bored...a bored Karen is not a good thing....

If you want to follow my stitching progress this year, tune into my stitching blog at:
http://mystitchedstash.blogspot.com

Too bad Wisconsin lost the Rose Bowl yesterday....but they gave it a good try. Have to say their band looked outstanding in the parade....Now the Packers have to win today....

Daily words of wisdom?? May I borrow them from the top of this blog? (Say yes...)

There's a blacktop road...a faded yellow center line..
It can take you back to the place, but it can't take you back in time....

How true....CHEERS from Brookfield, Wisconsin!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2011-01-01T08:41:00.004-06:00

...and with that comes yet another New Year's Resolution TO KEEP UP WITH THIS BLOG ON A MORE REGULAR BASIS!!! Yeah, I know...how many times have I promised that?? Well, I guess I'm just going to have to start taking time for ME once a day, yes? Nobody's fault but mine....and hopefully I'll be able to rectify that this year.

Back to reality today with the weather!! For the last couple of days, we have enjoyed "balmy" weather here in SE Wisconsin....in the 40's and 50's...all the snow is gone...we had rain yesterday. This morning, it's windy and about 21 degrees, so it's back to winter for us now! (Hey, as long as it's above 10 degrees, I'm good!!) And thinking back to LAST year, Christmas Day 2009, we had several inches of rain and flooding...(and the danged sump pump gave out)....All in all, this Christmas was decidedly better...heh...

And speaking of the holidays, we had a lovely time this year...My brother was able to come home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I haven't spent this much time with my brother in years - first we went out to California to help him set up his new home back in June...then having him home for Thanksgiving and now for Christmas and New Year's...it's been really nice. Jeff leaves for California on Monday, so I have a couple more days with him...

Anyway...Christmas was wonderful - so many wonderful gifts - even a Kindle for me and a Kindle for Gary!! You know, that "Universal Wish List" thing that Amazon has is wonderful - anything from any website can now go on your Amazon wish list... made shopping a WHOLE lot easier for all of us - even Gary!!

Spent New Year's at mom's house playing poker. I was doing lousy all night long...until the last hand, when everyone went "all in"....I WON!! LOL! It was great! Saw the new year in (first time in years I've made it to midnight!!) and drove home safely...noticed a few people pulled over by police on the way home - all doing field sobriety tests...glad the cops were out there keeping things safe as they could. Haven't heard yet if there were any horrible accidents - not sure if I even want to hear...

19 years ago yesterday, a friend of mine lost his 4 year old son to a habitual drunk driver...very sad. Drunk driving laws here in Wisconsin are a total joke. First of all, there's a bar on every corner in SE Wisconsin...and the Tavern League is busy paying off all of the legislators... penalties for drunk driving in Wisconsin are way out of line. First offense isn't even a CRIME. You don't get any jail time until at least your 5th conviction...other states' penalties are way harder than ours...perhaps if Wisconsin pulled their heads out of their asses (and their hands out of the Tavern League's pockets) we could actually DO something about the drunk driving situation here in Wisconsin....where we have the distinction of having the most per capita drunk drivers in the country....sad. Very sad.

Anyway....here's to a glorious 2011!! I hope all my family and friends have a wonderful year. And yes, I will try to keep up with this blog better than I have been...(but does anyone really read it??) Heh..who knows...just in case they do, though, I will endeavor to keep giving them something to read...And to those who do read this blog....if you enjoy it, "follow" it....you never know what might turn up here...

Happy New Year, my friends....Cheers from Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Gotta love days off of work....

2010-11-10T07:09:00.002-06:00

...and I do! This is MY time of the year, I'll tell ya. Normally, I save MOST of my vacation time for fall and winter - this year got a little messed up because of an unplanned trip out to California, but that's okay...had a GREAT time out there!! Anyway, I have the day off today...and then I have the week of Thanksgiving off...and then the week after Christmas....so all is good...

Today I'll be doing some shopping with my mom...and keeping my eyes open to what she displays an interest in as well...sometimes she's not the easiest person in the world to shop for. I do have a few items for her already, but need a few more....But today is primarily for Gary's Christmas gifts... we shall see what we can find...

Anyway, I see it's been not quite a month since I posted the last time...given how my performance has been this year, that's not too bad!! I have said it a thousand times, and will say it yet one time more, that I will do better at keeping this blog updated....heheh...

Let's see, what's been going on around here...well, there is an issue with the School Board wanting to close one of our district's elementary schools....my neighborhood has been fighting to keep ours open. Hillside School is nestled right in the middle of our subdivisions, and it's such a nice school - and budget dictates that either Hillside or Tonawonda in Elm Grove - or both - may have to close. My thoughts? Why does this tiny school district need THREE - count 'em - THREE assistant superintendents? There's some budget that can be trimmed!!! Also, why do the school board employees have to have "Cadillac" pension and benefit packages? Everyone else in this country has had to deal with cut hours, wage freezes, benefit cuts...why not the school board employees? Why are they exempt from this? It's been shown that a 2% cut in benefits and/or salary would completely take care of the budget issues....why not do THAT, rather than close one or two schools? Ah, the fight continues...

Gary and I went to see "Young Frankenstein" at the Performing Arts Center last Sunday. Even though we have both seen the movie a thousand times, this "Broadway" production was fabulous! We had SUCH a great time!!

We also did a dinner and hayride at Apple Holler a week or so ago...that was fun too - although a little chilly! I didn't know their dinner theater was OUTDOORS!! The December show we have tickets for should be REAL interesting!!!

Elections are over for this round...thank God...if I got one more phone call or had to listen to one more TV ad....sheesh! They drive ya nuts! That being said, I am pleased with the results, for reasons you all know. A change was needed - quickly. And state by state, we are going to take this country BACK. (Either that, or I'm moving to Canada!!)

Okay...I'm going to get my day started...just wanted to give you all a hearty "Happy Harvest" and wave from SE Wisconsin....

Cheers!

BACK OBAMA??

2010-10-14T11:23:00.001-05:00

Respect the Office? Yes.Respect the Man in the Office? No, I am sorry to say.

I have noted that many elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans, called upon America to unite behind Obama. Well, I want to make it clear to all who will listen that I AM NOT uniting behind Obama !

I will respect the Office which he holds, and I will acknowledge his abilities as an orator and wordsmith and pray for him, BUT that is it. I have begun today to see what I can do to make sure that he is a one-term President !

Why am I doing this ? It is because:
- I do not share Obama's vision or value system for America ;
- I do not share his Abortion beliefs;
- I do not share his radical Marxist's concept of re-distributing wealth;
- I do not share his stated views on raising taxes on those who make $150,000+ (the ceiling has been changed three times since August);
- I do not share his view that America is Arrogant;
- I do not share his view that America is not a Christian Nation;
- I do not share his view that the military should be reduced by 25%;
- I do not share his view of amnesty and giving more to illegals than our American Citizens who need help;
- I do not share his views on homosexuality and his definition of marriage;
- I do not share his views that Radical Islam is our friend and Israel is our enemy who should give up any land;
- I do not share his spiritual beliefs (at least the ones he has made public);
- I do not share his beliefs on how to re-work the healthcare system in America ;
- I do not share his Strategic views of the Middle East ; and
- I certainly do not share his plan to sit down with terrorist regimes such as Iran ..

Bottom line: my America is vastly different from Obama's, and I have a higher obligation to my Country and my GOD to do what is Right ! For eight (8) years, the Liberals in our Society, led by numerous entertainers who would have no platform and no real credibility but for their celebrity status, have attacked President Bush, his family, and his spiritual beliefs! They have not moved toward the center in their beliefs and their philosophies, and they never came together nor compromised their personal beliefs for the betterment of our Country!They have portrayed my America as a land where everything is tolerated except being intolerant! They have been a vocal and irreverent minority for years! They have mocked and attacked the very core values so important to the founding and growth of our Country! They have made every effort to remove the name of GOD or Jesus Christ from our Society!They have challenged capital punishment, the right to bear firearms, and the most basic principles of our criminal code! They have attacked one of the most fundamental of all Freedoms, the right of free speech!

Unite behind Obama? Never ! ! ! I am sure many of you who read this think that I am going overboard, but I refuse to retreat one more inch in favor of those whom I believe are the embodiment of Evil!

PRESIDENT BUSH made many mistakes during his Presidency, and I am not sure how history will judge him. However, I believe that he weighed his decisions in light of the long established Judeo-Christian principles of our Founding Fathers!!! Majority rules in America , and I will honor the concept; however, I will fight with all of my power to be a voice in opposition to Obama and his "goals for America ." I am going to be a thorn in the side of those who, if left unchecked, will destroy our Country!! Any more compromise is more defeat!

I pray that the results of this election will wake up many who have sat on the sidelines and allowed the Socialist-Marxist anti-GOD crowd to slowly change so much of what has been good in America !

"Error of Opinion may be tolerated where Reason is left free to combat it." -
Thomas Jefferson

GOD bless you and GOD bless our Country! ! !
(Please, please, please, pass this on if you agree.)
Thanks for your time, be safe.

"In GOD We Trust."
I Agree with that guy arrested @ the Alaska State Fair...IMPEACH OBAMA NOW.....

(and I defend MY AMERICAN RIGHT to say that!)

Summer's Gone....??

2010-09-24T06:58:00.002-05:00

Well...I can't say I'm sorry. This past summer was one of the more brutal summers that I can remember in recent history. While last year I only ran the A/C maybe two days, this summer I think I had that many days when the A/C was OFF....hot and humid for long stretches of time.

And now comes my favorite season of the year... autumn....love it. My kind of weather. Falling leaves, burning leaves, crisp air, harvest decorations, fire pit on the patio (yes, we finally got it put together!!)....what's not to love?

And with autumn comes my annual chore of compiling my winter chore list...heh...have done that. Also have to kit up some stitching projects....will do that soon.

That being said, where has this year gone? It seems to be moving by so quickly...but I hear that's what happens when one gets older. It seems like just a short while ago we were celebrating Christmas - and now here it is right around the corner again...better get my shopping started, yes?

Well, as John Denver once sang, "It's really fine to have a chance to hang around...and talk of poems, prayers and promises and things that we believe in...." Hence this blog....which I get around to every now and then (You will note, of course, that this time it didn't take three months for me to get around to posting again...pat on the back for the Kaymeister...)

Have been taking the time to get involved with neighborhood things....the block party, the debate on whether or not Hillside School will close...(Gary and I hit the meeting this week, and we are really fired up about this...) Some former neighbors moved back into their former home across the street, and it's really NICE to have them back again...Got a chance to go to California to visit my brother...

Yeah...it's been a good year. Even with the terrible weather, even with the gardens not doing as well as they should..it's still been a good year. And Gary and I have a lot coming up yet this year - a couple of dinner shows at Apple Holler...a weekend trip to Mall of America...tickets to see Young Frankenstein at the theatre...tickets to see John McGivern....

All is good. And what isn't good, we deal with. That, my friends....is life....and I'm lovin' it.

Cheers from Wisconsin!!

Labor Day 2010

2010-09-06T08:46:00.002-05:00

Okay, see? I can do this! I didn't wait three months this time to post in this silly blog!! My good!

Anyway..here it is Labor Day weekend...the end of summer, yes? Well, not on the calendar, but you know what I mean....Personally, I'm looking forward to autumn, which everyone knows is my favorite season.

Didn't do a heck of a lot on Friday evening...went grocery shopping, and to my surprise, saw someone working there that I used to work with at Liberty Mutual! I haven't seen her in at least ten years...and I am ashamed to say I did not recognize her at first....I heard her saying "Well, Karen Winter" (my former name), "I would recognize that voice anywhere!" I looked at her, and while I saw her name tag, which said Kathleen, I did NOT recognize her...until she took her deli cap off! Then I knew immediately! Was really nice to see her again, and I hope to see her more in the future - and not just while she's working and I'm shopping!!

On Saturday, after some errands, we had friends over for a barbecue and solving the world's problems around our new fire pit....had a lovely time! First time we've used the fire pit, and it was really neat...looking forward to using it many times yet this year.

Been raining this morning...had a severe thunderstorm warning earlier, and the rain came down in buckets, but we didn't have any damage, so that's a good thing. Streets aren't flooded either, which is a nice change of pace.

One more day off and then back to work tomorrow....why do the weekends go so quickly???

Cheers from Wisconsin...

Ouch...My Bad....

2010-09-04T06:34:00.003-05:00

Okay, it's totally been over three months since I've posted to this blog. I am my own worst enemy!! LOL! Sorry, readers...been a busy summer, I guess...

That being said, it has also been a very warm and humid summer...and I am sick of air conditioning! Though I have to admit that our new furnace and new central air is apparently much more efficient than the old stuff, because as much as we have had to run the A/C this summer, the energy bills have been quite a nice surprise...

We've also had another rain "event"...on July 23 we had 9 inches of rain. Our new sump pump that was installed on CHRISTMAS DAY last year in the LAST flood event, gave up the ghost. I called the company that installed it, since there should be a warranty, and they told me that it would cost $1600 to install a new one! HUH??? The LAST one, which YOU installed on CHRISTMAS DAY last year cost HALF THAT MUCH (Yes, I know we could have done it much cheaper, but there was no place to buy a sump pump on Chrsitmas Day!!) The guy said to me - no kidding on this one - "Hmmm...Christmas Day must not be one of our union paid holidays." Um...and July 23 is??? I told him I would buy water wings before I paid his company another dime.

I called our usual plumber and he was there in a couple of hours and installed a new one for us for a reasonable price...pennies, compared to the other company. Anyway, since I got NO satisfaction from the other company - I feel justified in naming them here and warning everyone who reads this --

NEVER CALL BLAU PLUMBERS!!! THEY ARE THIEVES!!! $1600 for a sump pump installation is not just insane, it's OBSCENE!!

They did call me in response to an email...told me they would get to the "bottom of this" regarding the information I was given, then also asked me to send them my plumber's bill when I received it, which I did...haven't heard a word from them since, and that was over a month ago, so...CALL ANYONE BUT BLAU!!!

Yesterday a front came through...and brought the HIGH temperature down to about 68 degrees. What a change from the last few weeks! A welcome change, at that. Today is to be more of the same, which is fine with me...

What have I been up to this summer...well, in addition to STITCHING, of course....Gary and I spent four days up at Wisconsin Dells in late July...what a nice time - and we actually had PERFECT weather. Four days of perfect weather...we did the Upper Dells boat tour, the Lower Dells boat tour, the Ducks tour, and we also did the Lost Canyon Tour, which was by horse drawn wagon...very nice....had a lovely, lovely time.

Gardening this year was not the best...between the alternate heat and flooding, some things really took a beating. The only GOOD thing about it is that most of my plants are perennials and no matter what they look like NOW, they'll look great next year....

I also planted potatoes for the first time, as well as asparagus...we have harvested the potatoes, and they were tasty!! The asparagus, of course, will not be picked for another couple of seasons so that it can reseed and spread and get really abundant...

Summer appears to be on the way out....which doesn't really bother me, as I do like autumn the best out of all of the seasons. Friends are coming over for a barbecue tonight, so I am really looking forward to that.

Now I have a cat bothering me, so I must sign off for now....again, sorry for the huge delay in posting...one of these days I'll get it together, I really will....heh...maybe? (How many times have you all heard this anyway??)

Cheers from Wisconsin....

TIRED OF THE NIMBYS!!!!

2010-05-18T06:19:00.002-05:00

For those unfamiliar with the term, a NIMBY is someone who emphatically states "Not in MY back yard!!"

Okay, the issue is sex offenders who have been released from prison. Okay, they've done their time (such as it was) and have been released into society. I can understand their having to register with the community as sex offenders...that I can understand.

That being said -- PEOPLE, THEY HAVE TO LIVE SOMEWHERE!!! Every time anyone gets wind of a registered sex offender living in their neighborhood, the NIMBY attitude comes out. "We have KIDS in this neighborhood!!"

Okay, here's a few points....

1) Just because a person was convicted of a sex crime, this does not mean that he or she is a pedophile. There are MANY different sex crimes, not all of which involve children.

2) Keep in mind that a person may be a registered sex offender because he or she was 18 or older and his or her partner was under 18 and that partner's parents decided to prosecute him or her for having sex with their darling offspring. (Is that person dangerous?? I don't think so...)

3) If the person is no longer a "threat to society", leave him/her the hell alone!!!

4) If the person IS still a "threat to society", LEAVE HIM/HER IN JAIL!!

5) THEY HAVE TO LIVE SOMEWHERE....

Oh, but Not In My Back Yard...

Okay then...where?? Suggestions?

What a Weekend!!!

2010-05-17T06:21:00.004-05:00

Very productive weekend -- and looky here, it hasn't been MONTHS since my last post! Pat me on the back please!!

Saturday morning, Gary and I headed off to Stein's Garden Center to get some more mulch.. and we did get the mulch, but we ALSO got....let's see...geraniums, vinca vines and spikes for my front planter...celosia for the rock garden...lemon verbena for the rock garden...two blueberry shrubs for the perennial garden...a potted tomato plant, a potted pepper plant (say that three times fast!), and a hanging strawberry plant basket....woo-HOO!!

Actually got everything planted when we got home, PLUS I planted asparagus and potatoes... and I weeded the rock garden, and then weeded and mulched the perennial garden. I was out in the garden for about 7 hours. Felt GREAT....Looks even GREATER!!

Now when Memorial Day comes around, all I have to shop for are my two hanging baskets, a flat of impatiens and a flat of zinnias and I am DONE planting...I am so thankful that we had a decent spring that I could use to go out there and get some "pre-planting season work" done.

I still have to hit the "back 40" where all of the hostas are and clear out some of the lamium and violets, and then mulch around the hostas...and sometime this season I would like to put in some of those borders around that area so that the grass doesn't keep creeping in there...

All in all, the yard is coming along...nicely!! Unfortunately, I also did a number on my right hand. I have several issues with my right hand and wrist - ganglion cyst, carpal tunnel, DeQuervain's tendosynovitis....Apparently I really annoyed the DQ out in the garden. I'm paying for it. Have embarked on a treatment plan of ice, meds and splint and will see if that helps. Ugh...

Have I mentioned that I have discovered the beauty of iPods?? Was so sick of not being able to listen to music at work - not because it's not allowed, but because I can't get a radio to work decently there with all the computers and lights....(and since they won't let me turn off the lights and computers, there was a problem!!) I looked into getting one of those HD radios at the local tech shop, and they told me I'd likely have the same problem with that, and I asked the guy there then what should I do...he held up his iPod and said "get one of these"...so I did, along with a docking station/speaker.

Once I got past the issue of iPods being packed with ZERO instructions other than "to turn on, press here, to turn off, press here (!!!) and figured out the whole iTunes thing, I had a ball!! I went through all 400 plus of my CDs, picked out favorite songs from all of them and swooshed them over to the iPod. I now have about 1200 songs on there, and I finally have music at the office!! BUENO!! The Kaymeister has tunes again....this is a good thing...

Let's see, what else is going on...oh yes, I will be heading to California next month, with my mom, to help my brother set up housekeeping in his new house. He's newly divorced, and has never had to deal with issues like sheets, towels, window treatments....and he's legally blind, so there is a huge problem there...Mom and I are going to see what we can do to help him out. Should be there about 10 days or so....

Other than that, Gary and I are trying to do more fun things on the weekends this year, and with that in mind, we have several things lined up to do...(another good thing about getting this gardening done EARLY!!)...We have tickets to a few Brewers games, and we're going to the Dells this year (already made reservations at the hotel)...among other things. Need to do some fun stuff with the hubby...

Mother in law is still up in Manitowoc with Nancy...there are issues, of course, but Nancy and the rest of us are trying to deal with them...my biggest issue is Medicare...ugh...anytime the Government runs anything, it's doomed... Anyway, mom's blood sugar is out of control, but she doesn't care....and she's smoking more and doesn't care....you can lead a horse to water, but...

My brother in law and his wife have been renovating mom's old house...and they will be moving in there once renovations are done. They are doing SUCH delightful things to that house, I cannot wait to see what it looks like when it's all done!!!

Okay...other than that...I'd better get going I guess....Hoping all is well with anyone reading this...and if not, hoping things get better....

Waving from Wisconsin...

Spring is here...

2010-05-14T14:41:00.001-05:00

...and as you can imagine, I've been busy with the yard. I wish I could say that is the ONLY reason that I have been bad about posting to this blog, but it's not. Truth is, I just plain forget about posting I guess...my bad!! Will try (though I've promised this before, many times) to do better in the future.

Gary's mom is still living up in Manitowoc County with Gary's sister...they have their moments, but for the most part, things are going well up there. There have been squabbles and arguments, and that sort of thing, but that's what happens when you move someone in with someone else and both of them are used to being queen of the house! We have to remember how hard it must be for mom to NOT be living on her own anymore....She's so used to doing things her own way, when she wants to, how she wants to, and WHAT she wants to...Nancy has HER way of doing things, and at times they clash...but at any rate, this is better than a nursing home. Though we all do wish that mom would be better about taking care of herself. Almost seems at times that she is giving up and is ready to pass on...she's only 75!!

For the first time in years, we've actually had a decent spring...and I've been able to get out into the yard before planting season and clean up the "winter crud" and take care of the perennial beds, which is nice....I won't be planting very many annuals this year...now that I've discovered perennials, that's the way to go, in my book!!! Will also try growing potatoes and asparagus this time around...let's see what happens!! Now if we could only get everyone in the subdivision to get rid of their garlic mustard!!!

Have been reworking the borders on my gardens - mostly with bricks...have been making some good progress. The last couple of weeks I've not been able to do much outside, as there has been a lot of rain, but this weekend promises to be a good gardening weekend!!

Had a new furnace and new central air unit installed this week...hopefully more efficient than our older units...time will tell on that too...came with a nice programmable thermostat too!! I'm liking that!

My brother is going through a divorce now...kind a took us all by surprise. My sister in law, who is younger than the rest of us, seems to be going through a midlife crisis or something...all I know is she wants out for whatever reason...says she's been thinking about this for over a year, to which my brother replied "and you couldn't have TALKED to me about it?" Merry Christmas, I want a divorce..yeah, she sprung that news on December 26....sigh...

Anyway, Jeff has bought a new house and will be leaving his home so that Kelly can move back in. Don't even get me started on that....heh...Mom and I will be heading to California next month to help him set up his house, etc.

Other than that I can't think of anything that's been going on. Have been doing a lot of stitching, of course....that goes without saying....

In closing....what profound statement can I come up with...hmmm....nothing lasts forever? Sad, but true...I just hope that decisions some people make don't come back to bite 'em in the ass later...(though I'm sure that they will....)

Eternally hopeful....

I AM SINCERELY EMBARRASSED....

2010-01-29T06:35:00.002-06:00

...to see that it has been MONTHS since I posted in this blog...busy has nothing to do wit it - or shouldn't anyway...why can't I seem to find a few moments here and there to post into this work of art (!!!) I have created??

Well, it has been a busy few months, I must admit..but I'm not using that as an excuse. Let's see...where to begin....

Well, my mother in law took a nasty spill at the end of October - outside her house. Fell flat on her face down a couple of stairs and apparently was out there for a couple of hours, knocked cold. When she finally woke up, she made her way into the house and, thankfully, her sister happened to stop by and see her. Her sister called 911 and they took mom to the hospital. She had a broken nose and several stitches. Her eyes were swollen shut. Quite frankly, she looked as though she'd gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson and lost!!

She ended up staying in the hospital for two weeks - mainly because the hospital staff was not used to mom's...um...eccentricities. They kept telling us that they are not comfortable with her going home to live by herself, that she can't take care of herself. Four times we tried to check her out of there, and four times they declined, saying they didn't advise it, that they wanted her in a nursing home. Now...we know mom...they don't...but they decided to have a staff psychiatrist evaluate her...and he deemed her to be incompetent...let's see, they asked her a bunch of questions...she knew her name, her age, her birthdate, where she was, what date it was...but she couldn't name the last five presidents (something that most kids in the Milwaukee school system can't do either) so they said she is incompetent...

Long story short, to get her out of there, my husband Gary had to hire an attorney and have himself appointed as mom's legal guardian and then place her into rehab. That cost about $1700 for the attorney and the guardian ad litem. We put her into a rehab center, who told us that Medicare would cover up to 100 days. Well, about 50 days into that, Medicare gave us two days notice that they wouldn't be covering anymore. Sigh...

Well, we scrambled....and Gary, his two brothers and his sister collaborated to get mom out of there..problem was, where were we going to go with her? One of her sons is single and lives alone, but he didn't want the responsibility - or headache - of living with mom....Long story short, Gary's sister, who lives about 130 miles north of us, agreed to take mom in, bless her heart. We moved mom up there on January 10...so far so good. There are good days and bad days, but we expected that....we are hoping we won't have to move her into assisted living, but we shall see.

Meanwhile, what to do with the house....Brian and Vickie do want the house, but it's uncertain if he can get a mortgage...if not, they may want to rent the house....all of that is still up in the air.

Okay other than the MIL situation, then there were the holidays...which were busy, to be sure, as everyone else's were...Had a lovely holiday with my mom and hubby...and my ex-hubby...I know, strange...but we're good friends now that we're divorced!!

January has been a whirlwind...and the last few days have been COLD....but all in all it's been a fairly mild month - as January goes.

Have been stitching - probably too much - and putting other things off...have to get back to normal activities I guess and put the stitching down every once in a while. I have pulled out 12 projects for this year...some are WIPS, but 9 of them are newbies...have finished 2 of them so far - one newbie and one WIP....am trying to NOT buy new stash...heh...(how's that working, Karen? Oh, not so good...) However, so far THIS YEAR (!!) have only purchased one chart...

Okay...I'm off to work...with a feeling of satisfaction that I have posted in my blog...and a hopeful promise to do better in the future....

Waving from cold Wisconsin....

...and finally....

2009-10-16T06:51:00.001-05:00

...here I am after what appears to be a HUGE absence from my blog. Can it really be that the last time I posted to this blog was in the middle of July?? Doesn't seem possible. On the other hand, it was a busy summer.

Let's see, back then I was screaming for rain....well, up until a few days ago, we were STILL screaming for rain! This summer was SO dry...the pepper plants did horribly. The onions were okay, but I expected more. The tomatoes were pretty sad too. Definitely a bad year for vegetables in my yard. Coupled with the rain issue (or lack thereof, actually!), it was also a very cool summer. I think I turned my air conditioning on one time all summer long. Now, mind you, that's fine with me....I do not get along with heat and humidity. But I guess that also contributed to the vegetables not doing well. Can't have it both ways I guess!

Be that as it may...the perennials in my yard did beautifully...as did the zinnias and the impatiens. My yard really looked pretty all summer long. I was very proud, even though I know I still have a lot of work to do out there. Can't be done in one year, that's certain.

Weather here has turned cold....seems we are to have no autumn this year, we're swinging right into winter. Temperatures have been down into the 20's and 30's overnight, and highs barely getting to 40 during the day. Gary and I hit the yard last weekend, trying to get some of the "winterizing" done before it was too cold to get at it. We picked up all of the branches that had fallen during the last storm...cut the stalks off of the hostas...cut some of the perennials down...put away the hoses and sprinklers...turned off the outside water...put away one bird bath and filled the other and put the heater into it to keep it from freezing during the winter (birdies still like to frolic in the water in the winter!)... put out the winter bird feeders...we got quite a bit done. Not all of it, but a good majority. We're at least on track. Maybe this weekend we can finish it up.

Work has been very busy....the licensing aspect, anyway. It's a big push to get all of these adjusters licensed in 34 states before the audit next month. So I'm working hard at that. Meanwhile, Kierryn's husband, who has been in Iraq, is home on a two week leave, so she's spending time with him - and rightfully so!!! (They are SO cute....)

Went to Cranberry Fest in Warrens, Wisconsin, with my friend Debbie a couple of weeks ago. It had been a couple of years since I'd been there, and it was a nice chance for me and Debbie to get together and have some fun... Anyone who hasn't been there doesn't know what it's like...this is a town of 360 people that totally shuts down for three days and turns into a huge craft fair and farmer's market...it's really a sight to see! Managed to find a couple of Christmas gifts there, as well as all sorts of cranberry products - cranberry salsa, cranberry cheese, cranberry honey, cranberry summer sausage... lots of things to try...I also bought green olive salsa and garlic onion salsa...yummo....

The weekend after that, Gary and I went to Door County on a bus tour. We had a lovely time! Went to a fish boil, visited a winery...did some shopping at Founders Square (found more Christmas gifts there!!). Gary and I were actually able to get out a few times this summer and do some day trips, which was nice...we haven't done that in a few years.

I was off work this last Wednesday and mom and I headed out to Delavan, Wisconsin, to Millie's - which is a restaurant and shopping community. I'd heard about it on the bus back from Door County, a lady told me there was a stitching shop there, so of course, I had to check it out!!! Mom and I hit the stitching store, of course, which was actually a combination of cross stitching, quilting and needlepoint supplies...wonderful store, I really enjoyed my time there, and managed to find an item or two...We also hit the other stores, and had lunch at the restaurant. It was a really nice day out with mom.

On the stitching front, I've been busy stitching ornaments for gifts...I have quite a few stitched, now just have to "finish" them. So that's my plan for the next few weeks. Next year I plan on working on a few BIG projects....we shall see if my plans hold..

Okay, I'm off to work...have to earn money to buy more stitching stuff with...speaking of, I think I will be posting a list of charts that I want to get rid of...maybe put them up for sale on my stitching blog....

Everyone have a lovely...and I will try to be more current with this blog...

Waving from Wisconsin....a very chilly Wisconsin!

Need Some Rain!

2009-07-15T11:24:00.001-05:00

Been a busy few weeks, as you can probably guess from the lack of posting here lately. And I probably should NOT have ranted and raved about the flooding situation last June, as we haven't had but a drop of rain since, and now we need it badly! LOL! Would be nice if it would come here and there, rather than all at once and then not at all! But Mother Nature is apparently being snarky about something, so I go out and water every day.

Have been working on the perennials…need to get a few more to fill in some areas on the east fence line. But I'll buy them as they go on sale at the garden centers…now that the planting frenzy is over for the season, lots of things are going on sale.

Anyway, am proud of how the yard is shaping up…will post a link here that will hopefully put you in touch with my latest garden pictures…via Webshots….

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/573401191DewItY
If the link doesn't work and if you're interested in seeing the pictures anyway, give me a holler and I'll shoot another try at you…

Gary and I are trying to get in more "us" time on the weekends…the last few years have been pretty busy and we've not been able to get out to local festivals and that sort of thing. So, this year, we're going to try to get to some of those. This weekend is Festa Italiana, and that's one that I really love going to, so we're really going to try to make that one this weekend.

Other than that, let's see…have a growing ANT problem in the house….little buggers are driving me nuts. I don't know why I'm so creeped out by them, but I am….and I want them GONE…if I didn't have a cat who ate everything and chewed on everything and licked on everything, I could possibly use some bait that would really work, but….sheesh….they're killin' me this year…absolutely killin' me….

On the job front….work has been busy, busy, busy….but that's a good thing, I say! I call it job security! Let's hope it keeps up that way and that the layoffs here have stopped….keep your fingers crossed….

On the stitching front…have pulled out about 40 small projects from my stash…I will not buy any more charts until those 40 are done!!! My stash count is well over 300, and it's getting out of hand, so…if I get these 40 done, I'll be under 300…IF I DON'T BUY ANYTHING MORE UNTIL THEN!!! Let's see how long THAT resolution lasts….

Okay…back to work…just keeping in touch….send some rain my way….but not like June 19!!!!

Waving from Wisconsin…..

A SOGGY - AND FIESTY - GOOD MORNING!

2009-06-22T05:42:00.013-05:00

This Aging Dreamcatcher is beginning to get the itch to revolt...heh...reminiscent of my "hippie days" back in the 1970's (yes, I AM that old!!)

Here in Brookfield, starting Thursday night, we were dumped on with an unbelievable amount of rain. And, as per usual, flooding ensued. Both Gary and I were home from work on Friday trying to deal with the mounting problems. Here are a few photos of our streets Friday morning. (Obviously, nobody could leave for work ANYWAY...)

And to add to it, here are a few pictures of my back yard - which is not supposed to be a lake!!

This happens EVERY time we have significant rain in Brookfield. The storm sewer situation here is totally ineffective, inappropriate and apparently non-existent.

The rain started on Thursday night...and around midnight I noticed that the sump pump appeared to be running and running and would not shut off...Gary and I checked it out, and sure enough, the pump was pumping...but the water was going nowhere. At this rate, the motor for the pump would burn out for sure. We had no choice but to shut it off. That being done, we moved everything out of the way of the impending water flow....thanking the Good Lord that we had not gone to the expense of carpeting the basement....

The problem appeared to be, at the time anyway, in the wee hours when we couldn't see what was going on outside, that the amount of water coming IN to the pump was more than the pump could physically pump OUT of the system...It was POURING into the system.

Once the sun came up, we could see the real issue -- the flooding outside. Again. The storm sewer system, the ditches, the roads, everything was flooded - as you can see by the enclosed photos. With the sump pump pumping water outside via an underground pipe - which leads to the storm sewer system - the water had nowhere to go, so the pump could pump all it wanted to, but the water had no place to go.

In desperation, we disconnected the sump pump pipe from the underground pipe and had the pump emptying above ground....which, thankfully, did the trick temporarily (the only down side to this is that it was emptying close to the foundation of the house, which meant that it was seeping back into the system)...but at least the pump was working - albeit running every 30 seconds or so.

Now started the cleanup process...which was no simple task. Gary and I were exhausted. We worked on it all day. And then Friday night...the storms came again. Just what we didn't need. All I could say to Gary was...."keep your fingers crossed that we don't lose power"....another problem we usually have during storms in Brookfield.... I no sooner uttered those words when the power went out.

All of that work cleaning the basement was for nothing...the sump pump, of course, overflowed again...and we had water, water everywhere.

Thankfully....our new neighbors came over with an extension cord and told us they'd gotten their generator up and running and wouldn't we like to plug our sump pump into their generator?? BLESS THEIR HEARTS!!! I could have hugged them!!! So it wasn't as bad as it could have been that night....

Our power came back on about 3 hours later...and Gary and I have spent the weekend cleaning the damage in the basement. We're still not dried out, but it's a lot better than it was. Meanwhile, streets in our area are still closed, but we do have a way to get to work today, which is a good thing.

My next challenge...I will be taking on our stupid mayor - whom I fondly call "Mr Happy Pants". Mr. Happy Pants seems to be obsessed with things like plunking a building down on every open piece of land he can find, turning all of our lovely two lane country roads into four lane highways, and he seems to be further obsessed with whether or not it would be aesthetically pleasing to Brookfield's image for McDonalds to have their golden arches up, or if the new HOOTERS restaurant should be allowed to paint their building with their usual colors. WHO GIVES A RAT'S ASS???? FIX THE STORM SEWER SITUATION, YOU MORON!!!!

I will be taking him on. With the amount of taxes that Brookfield residence pay, we shouldn't have to worry about flooding every damned time we get a storm. What if we had been out of town? I shudder to think of the damage we would have had!!!

I have the ball rolling....and Mr. Happy Pants will be very tired of hearing from me until he gets this nonsense fixed...there are more important things in this community, Mr. Happy Pants, then putting up McDonald's arches and painting Hooter's!! Idiot.....

end of rant....

waving from a Wet Wisconsin....

IOWA STASH RUN

2009-06-20T06:28:00.007-05:00

I'm about a week late in posting this about my trip to Iowa with Mom....We had such a lovely time! We went in search of quilting shops (for Mom) and stitching shops (for me, of course!) We did find some lovely shops, that's for sure!

We left on Monday June 8....started driving and we were not really sure how far we would get on the first day - or any other day, for that matter...we didn't have any hotel reservations made ahead of time, just figured we'd stop where we stopped and hope for the best! LOL! What wanderers, yes??

Our first stop was in Burr Oak, where we visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum there. Not much else in that little town, but that just meant it was easy to find the museum! We stopped in the "bank" there, which apparently was the bank back in those day, but today serves as the welcome center for the Museum. Across the street was the hotel that the Ingalls family lived in for three months...and the Mercantile....

Then on to Decorah....all of you stitches, if you are ever in the area of Decorah, Iowa (and even if you are NOT) the stitching shop we visited there is well worth the visit!! Vanberia Scandinavian Imports....LOVELY shop. The entire front of the shop is filled, of course, with Scandinavian imports and souvenirs....the back of the store is stuffed with STITCHING!! Scandinavian stitching! Lovely, lovely charts that I had not seen anywhere else, designers I'd not heard of, and all of it was lovely, lovely, lovely.....I dropped $150 in that store!!!

Another shop worth blogging about - REALLY worth blogging about - was in Osage - the name of the shop is The Stitchery Nook. WONDERFUL shop! They had just moved to this location, and the organization is unbelievable...everything is where you think it should be! Easy to find charts, organized by designer, which I much prefer....threads and fabrics, scads of them....and for you scrappers, the back of the store has scrapping supplies as well. This was, truly, one of the BEST stitching shops I have ever been in. Again, well worth the trip.

We visited quite a few other shops, but the only other one worth mentioning is in Amana - Heritage Designs....they had both quilting and stitching supplies, so it suited both mom and me. Had some nice stuff there, and the staff was pleasant and very helpful.

Aside from stitching and quilting, and the museum, we also stopped in Winterset and visited John Wayne's boyhood home and museum...lots of stuff there!!! And we visited several of the covered bridges in Madison County...and at the end of our trip, we headed up to Dyersville to visit the Field of Dreams site...

All in all, was a lovely stash run...mother is a hoot to travel with, and we had a wonderful time. Here are some photos...

This is the Mercandile across the street from the Ingalls museum in Burr Oak.

This is the hotel where the Ingalls family lived for three months while they were building their home.

John Wayne's boyhood home in Winterset.

Here's mom and her Mini Cooper driving through one of the covered bridges in Madison County!

This is the Cutler Bridge - the bridge that was used the most in the movie "The Bridges of Madison County".
And from Dyersville, the famous "Field of Dreams" of movie fame....I'm told that it looks much more impressive in August when the corn is high!! But we had a great time there anyway....

All in all, it was a GREAT trip with Mom....

Waving from Wisconsin....and signing off for now....

Busy Few Weeks....

2009-06-02T21:44:00.002-05:00

...obviously! It's been several weeks since I have posted anything in my blog, and my only excuse is time...or lack thereof!! I think this has been my busiest spring yet.....

Have been doing LOTS of work in my yard on the weekends...last year we tore out our rose shrubs and I put a rock/perennial garden in place of one of the former rose gardens....and in the other one, I planted dwarf zinnias, since they bloom all summer long and will look so pretty there. I have perennials, herbs and such in the rock garden...along with some rocks, of course, and a bird bath. I have two hanging baskets next to the zinnias - one is a Million Bells, which the hummingbirds love, and the other is a hanging strawberry plant....lots of berries on that plant, which we will enjoy if the birds don't get them first!!

Also have sectioned off a section of the east fence line and planted some more perennials there and lined that area with bricks....looks really pretty there....Along the edge of the back lot line, we planted another 18 hostas to create a border there....And, of course, I planted my usual tomato plants and pepper plants, and this year I added onions..we shall see how they do.

Now that it's all planted, I have been throwing mulch on all of it...so far have gone through 16 bags of mulch, and need at least 10 more....So I have been busy in the yard....

The office has been very busy for me as well...since we gave up the Wausau brand and have become totally Liberty Mutual now, many of our adjusters will be handling Helmsman account claims, which apparently dictates that they get individual licenses, rather than staff licenses, and I have TONS of licenses to process....Not only do I need to make sure the applications are filled out properly, they also decided that I can be the one to request letters of certification from Texas (which we use as our home state), and then also request checks from our Home Office for payment of the license fees....This week, so far, I have processed 177 license applications.

Next week, Mom and I are headed out to Iowa. We don't have any specific plans, but we have a few points of interest we want to check out, on no particular schedule. She would like to stop at
Fons & Porter...and I want to see a Railroad Museum, plus one of Laura Ingalls' museums, and John Wayne's boyhood home...and some of the bridges in Madison County....Along the way, of course, we have a list of stitching shops and quilt shops that we want to check out....Should be a great time, we're really looking forward to it.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to...been super busy, so that's why I've not been saying much in this blog....

Spring is definitely here....and I'm looking forward to more yard work, and the upcoming summer. Gary and I plan on grilling out more this year, spending more time in the yard, and we also want to hit some of the festivals that will be in the area this summer....been a long time since we've been able to do that.

So....time for me to shut down for the evening....hope all is well with anyone reading this...

Waving from Wisconsin....cheers!!

Let The Games Begin....

2009-04-28T13:52:00.001-05:00

…one wonders how old some people have to be before they stop acting as though they're still in kindergarten. I find myself wondering this more and more here at the office. It's pretty apparent that one can never let one's guard down with certain people when the chips are falling where they may fall.

Case in point…A couple of weeks ago, I think I may have mentioned the fact that my office laid off 12 people - the layoff is effective as of June 19, which I think is a huge mistake letting these people hang around and try to poison co-workers. Be that as it may, it was not my decision to make, so all I can do is roll with the punches. One of the people that was "laid off" is my "friend", Debbie, whom I have known for 30 years or more, and whom I considered a friend of mine.

Debbie is, of course, upset. I don't blame her for that. I would be too. But she's using her bad feelings against other people here….which I don't need or appreciate.

I can honestly say that, with the exception of Debbie, I can say that the others that are being let go are being let go because of performance. That's not the case with Debbie, and I can't explain it. She has 20 years in with the company, is a good employee….I don't get it, but it wasn't my decision to make, and I had no say in it at all, of course.

She's made comments to me - and to others - how she doesn't understand it, she is a good employee, she does her job…and there's another person on our team who spends a lot of time reading the newspaper and doing crossword puzzles…and she compares herself to this person, as well as to others. I guess I would too.

What I would NOT do is go to the Claim Director (who is relatively new and doesn't really know everyone very well). But she did…she went to him and complained about why she's getting the boot while there is someone else who reads newspapers and someone else who looks at recipes and someone else who has an attitude problem, and blah blah blah….basically what she did was stab each one of her co-workers in the back….and tried to make herself out to be the perfect little angel who never does anything wrong.

Bottom line now is that the claim director came to our supervisor….and now everyone on our team is afraid to even talk to anyone, afraid that someone will say they're not doing their job.

What REALLY churns my butter is that she made a direct reference to me and said that people are afraid to come to me to ask questions because of my attitude -- which is a total lie. I do admit that some years ago, when I was going through a rough time in my life, I did have an attitude issue, and she remembers that. However, since I straightened out my life, about 8 years ago, I have made every effort to rectify that situation and bury the past. I have been cooperative, helpful and friendly with everyone in this office, and people know when they want answers, they can come to me. And nobody - NOBODY - is afraid to come to me with questions, problems or favors. Nobody.

I had a little meeting with my supervisor this morning, and I asked her point blank if she has a problem with me or my attitude, and she vehemently said NO!! She echoed what I said in the last paragraph. She knows that she can come to me with anything, and so does everyone else in the office. She says she has no issue with me, and she has heard of nobody else having any issue with me. I told her I appreciated that, and that things being what they are, and with all the layoffs and all that, the last thing in the world I need is someone spreading that kind of feeling about me.

Also am getting tired of this person saying things - every day - like how the jobs that we have here "anyone can do" and "you guys will be next". It may be true, and if so, there's nothing I can do about it, but I don't need to hear that on a daily basis.

Anyway…I just wish people would grow up around here…it would certainly make the next 3,747 days until retirement much easier.

End of rant….

Waving from Wisconsin…

The Proverbial Shoe.....

2009-04-22T06:31:00.002-05:00

....continues to fall at my office. This week, two more of my co-workers were "laid off" as of June 19. One of them had been hired last October, and the other one has been with the company for 13 years. Still no rhyme or reason as to how they're deciding who is going and who is not. It seems to, still, have nothing to do with age, pay scale, seniority or lack thereof, or performance level. We just don't get it. Atmosphere is very somber in our office....

Meanwhile, today is administrative assistant appreciation day or some such thing, and the head of the claim department told my supervisor that she should bring in lunch for all of us. Looking forward to that....the supervisor is bringing in lunch from Ruby Tuesday. I happened to have a menu from them, as well as a nutrition chart, so I took a look to see what I could eat while still sticking to my diet....

I was amazed to see that the two salads that I had been interested in were LOADED with fat and calories....LOADED....one had 733 calories and 47 grams of fat; the other had 945 calories and 28 grams of fat -- that this is WITHOUT any salad dressing!!!! Needless to say, I will NOT be having a salad....I am on 1200 calories per day, and either of those salads would destroy my diet! Anyway, I'm going to settle on the white bean chicken chili....235 calories and 7 grams of fat. That's more like it!!!!

Still cool here in the mornings...we're at 32 degrees right now. Supposed to warm up to the 50's today, so am looking forward to a nice walk after work tonight. And the temperatures are supposed to warm up for the next couple of days before we head back down into the 40's on Sunday.

Meanwhile, daffodils are blooming, tulips are coming up and budding....there IS promise that spring is coming.....it's just a little slow this year!!

Okay...I have to get to work...while I still have a work to go to. 3,753 days until retirement. Will I make it???

Waving from Wisconsin....

MONDAY AGAIN!!!

2009-04-20T06:46:00.005-05:00

....and a rainy one at that...Brings the Carpenters to mind...Rainy Days and Mondays....oh well! Only 3755 more days until retirement!!

How about an update from work? Last week I said things were going well....hmph....Wednesday morning, the managers had their usual managers' meeting....and then at 3:30 Wednesday afternoon they had yet another meeting, which made everyone a little nervous, as my company is FAMOUS for pulling the rug out from under people at any given moment....

Thursday morning, all of us in the claim department got an email stating there will be a short meeting at 10:00....at first glance, it looked as though we all got the same email; however, there were apparently two emails - one from Kim, stating that the meeting was in the claim training room, and one from Jeff stating that the meeting was in the claim conference room....

Those of us in the training room were safe....those in the conference room were told they were being laid as of June 19. One member from my team was in the conference room...the other 9 were claim adjusters.

Looking at the people who were let go, we can't figure out the criteria....seemed to have nothing to do with age, seniority or performance. AND we were told that the decisions were not even made in this office - that our team managers had no input at all. It's almost as though whoever did this threw all of our names in a hat and drew out ten names. Very scary stuff.

Don't know if that's the end of it or not...time will tell, I guess....All we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

On a lighter note...went to a quilt show with mom on Saturday...she's the quilter, not me! But she comes with me to stitching shows, so I return the favor! This show was just HUGE...we were there from 10 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon and didn't come NEAR seeing everything or even visiting all of the vendors there! Mom found quite a bit of stuff she couldn't live without - kinda reminded me of myself at stitching shows!! LOL! Had a great time with mom, but I tell you, we were both wiped out at the end of the day!!!

Other than that, let's see...oh yes, yesterday I finally picked up a new vacuum cleaner. I have a cat, as you may know, and I have just had it with my carpets not looking clean....on a recommendation, I decided to buy the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser vacuum cleaners. While Gary was putting it together, I ran the Hoover around the carpets....and when Gary had it all together, I vacuumed again with the new Bissell.....I cannot BELIEVE what the Hoover left behind!!! I picked up at LEAST 3 cats worth of hair!!!! My rugs look great again!!! The Hoover is going to hit the bricks....

Okay...time for me to get to work...let's all chant now, 3755 days....3755 days....3755 days....

Waving from rainy Wisconsin!!!!

KP

Still Waiting.....

2009-04-15T11:48:00.001-05:00

…for spring to show up over here. I'm beginning to think that our furnace is just going to keep running and running….with no end in sight. I have to admit that it is getting warmer out there…but we're still just above freezing when I wake up in the morning, and we've not been able to open up the windows and enjoy the days yet. I'm anxiously awaiting that…I am such a fresh air freak…I miss it…plus, I want to get out in my yard and start raking away the winter garbage and all that sort of thing.

On a good note, I do have little green things poking up out of the ground…tulips and daffodils mostly I think. Time will tell if the perennials I planted last fall will spring back to life when the weather warms up. I sure do hope so. Would hate to have to replace them all, especially since I have a lot more, in the way of plants, that I want to buy yet this spring…

Let's see, what else can I talk about…taxes? It is tax day…how very nice of The Exalted One to give us more "take home pay" on our paychecks…..but here's the catch -- he didn't lower taxes, he just lowered the withholding amount on our checks! Which means - you guessed it - next year at tax time, it's going to hurt us big time. I received an extra $30 on m paycheck last week….times 26 paychecks per year, that comes to a whopping $780 less in taxes that I'm paying…which is about half of our Federal refund. Now, the same thing will happen to Gary….which means next year at tax time, not only will we not get a refund, we'll likely end up PAYING Federal taxes….

Nope, not gonna happen….I went in and changed my withholding amount to be increased $30 each payday. I'm giving it right back to him. Gary will do the same. I like getting that nice refund at the beginning of the year, and I aim to keep on getting it!

(Honestly, doesn't anyone look at what that man DOES????)

What's next….work…let's see, things are going well there, although I was out most of last week with the flu. I was sick as a dog on Monday, felt fine on Tuesday, so came in..Wednesday, I felt fine until around 10:00 in the morning and ended up going home, and there I stayed for the rest of the week. Sure did hit me like a ton of bricks! Strange, though, that I felt good that one day…

The on Saturday night, I had SUCH a case of acid reflux that I was up half the night….in my sleep I apparently also inhaled some of the acid, which did a number on my lungs. I could hardly breathe. Gary wanted to take me to the hospital, but I didn't want to spoil Easter! Luckily, I found an old asthma inhaler and took a puff or two off of that, and that helped quite a bit. I still have a bit of a cough residual to that whole ordeal, but it's slowly getting better.

On the stitching end of my life, last week contributed to a good deal of stitching time, so that's coming along well. I should be able to finish the Gingerbread Trio by Little House this week….keep an eye on my stitching blog for photos….

Okay. Back to work….waving from Wisconsin...

Spring?

2009-04-07T14:54:00.005-05:00

I keep waiting...and waiting...and wishing...and hoping....for spring...so far it's been very elusive here. I keep seeing signs that say "THINK SPRING" and I do, I do!! Yet we keep getting snow and sleet...today, at least, it's dry outside...rather windy, but dry...it was 28 degrees this morning when I woke up, so....it's still not spring!!!

Be that as it may...it could be worse...I could be unemployed....for all the whining I do about having to go to work, it's a fact in gold that I have to work another 11 years....well, 10 years and a couple of months anyway, before I can even think about retiring. And I keep hearing in the news about all the layoffs...and a very good friend of mine, my BFF actually, just got laid off last week. Very scary stuff happening....

By the grace of God, Gary and I still have jobs...still working full time....we're hoping that is a trend that continues, but one never knows. We keep hearing that The Exhaulted One in the White House is going to save us all, but....personally, I have my doubts about that one....things don't seem to be getting any better, and in fact, they appear to be getting worse...and The Exhaulted One is beginning to show signs that He Knows Not What He Does....(which is no surprise to me, but that's another story....) (don't get me started...)

...sideline to Mrs. Exhaulted One -- YOU DON'T TOUCH THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND!!!!! (And when the State Department gives you a list of protocols to follow, for garsh sakes, FOLLOW THEM!!!!....IDIOT....no class....absolutely no class at all....)

Stepping off outraged soap box now....back to more delightful matters....

Have had a busy few weeks!!! Weekends too....but all in all, it's been pretty good around here. Have been able to set aside some stitching time, as well as some chore time....have been working on my winter chore list (now that spring isn't here!!) and I think I have it down to about 15 more items...which will likely not all get done by the time spring rears its lovely head.....

Okay, in defense of spring....I do see tulips and daffodils poking their heads out of the soil in my yard, so all is not lost!!! And, the threads that I put out for the birds are being used for nest-building - in fact one of them is being built right at my front door, behind the porch light...it's looking very colorful so far....

Have been working on my recipe collection as well....and have now graduated to FIVE of the Lang binders...now my only question is will I live long enough to try all of the recipes I've been collecting???

All in all, I am content...for the most part....busy, but content. Taking life a day at a time and cherishing every moment of every such day. Life is, after all....what we make it!!

Waving from Wisconsin.....

I DIDN'T DISAPPEAR!!

2009-03-18T15:10:00.001-05:00

Really! I'm really still here!! Okay, it seems that the harder I try to stay current with this blog, the worse I become. Perhaps I should have made a resolution this year, yes? (Not that I've ever kept one….)

It has been a busy couple of weeks on the home front….I've been selling a lot of audio books on Ebay - making money to buy more audio books with, of course! Have been wanting to get rid of some CDs too, but I don't think they're getting much of a price anymore, since a lot of people are just buying bootleg copies of CDs they like -- something that I won't do. But I have over 400 CDs that I don't listen to, and it's time to see if I can turn some of them into a little jingle.

My winter chore list has been falling by the wayside….we had Gary's birthday last weekend - bless his heart, he didn't want anything fabulous for dinner, he wanted sandwiches from Jimmy John's!! Works for me! I have also been trying to get some scrapbooking done. I would like to finish my Alaska cruise scrapbook. I have to try to put my stitching down once in a while to take care of some of that. But it never happens!!!

Work hasn't been very busy, but we're all still here. The underwriters are still here, and will be leaving in May, June and July. The sales department is already gone. Seems our lease at the Brookfield office is running out next month, and they are moving the National Market department and the Loss Prevention department over here to take up some of the space vacated by Sales and Underwriting. The proverbial revolving door keeps on turning….

We did qualify for the VIP bonus, which was nice….we didn't make nearly as much as last year, but truthfully, I'm surprised we made it at all. We made 97.7% of our goals, which compared to 175% of our goal last year, so the bonus was a lot smaller, but a bonus is a bonus!! I ended up with, after taxes, about $850, so….some went in the savings account, some went to purchase cross stitch fabric, some went to QVC (of course!!) and I even shared some with Gary at his favorite hobby shop. Have to stimulate the economy a LITTLE bit, yes?

Spring is definitely on the way…robins are in the back yard. Yesterday was a gorgeous day - sunny, 75 degrees and breezy. Today it's back to reality, only in the 50's, but…we did enjoy yesterday. Spent some time outside after work, windows open…it was great.

Still not going to touch on politics….ugh..

Still stitching on Christmas stuff…I did finish that Papillion for Lynne. Cute piece…and I finished it in a flatfold, following Meari's wonderful instructions. Really worked well! (for pictures, please see my stitching blog!)

Finally figured out how to text message on my cell phone….(yeah, I know…took me a while…)….now if I could only figure out Facebook!!!

Got to get back to work…y'all take care…think spring….think warm….

Waving from Wisconsin…..

Checking in....

2009-03-02T06:18:00.002-06:00

...okay, okay, it's been a while since I've posted here....My bad....it's been a busy month over here for whatever reason. You'd think that winter would give me more spare time, but....

On the home front, things have been good....have been working on my winter chore list and have gotten a good deal of that done, but I still want to get at the kitchen. I need to clear out some stuff that I don't use and make room for stuff that I DO use!!

Work has been tentative....we have about a hundred employees who will be out of jobs in the next few months, because of Liberty discontinuing the Wausau brand....and deciding to work with agents and brokers rather than sales and underwriting departments. I don't get it...but it's not my decision to make, unfortunately. Very sad...when I started with Liberty back in 1972, I recall that every decision that was made was made with the employees' welfare in mind. If it affected employees negatively, it wasn't done. Now, it seems, the employee is the absolute LAST consideration, and that, to me, is very sad.

We have had no indication on whether or not we qualified for theVIP bonuses this year. Usually we know by now, and in addition, we would know what percentage we would be getting. This year, for whatever reason, it's very hush-hush, which leads me to believe that we are not getting the bonus this year. Which doesn't surprise me, but.....I sure could use it! If we do get it, then it will show up next week, from what I understand. Keeping fingers crossed, but not counting on it.

Been stitching up a storm...am right now finishing up a piece by Linen Flowers, called "A Dog's Heart". It's a Papillon, and my girlfriend Lynne has 3 of them - this chart is the spitting image of one of her Papillons, so I had to stitch it for her....I think I will finish it in a flat fold rather than framing it....Once done, it's back to Christmas stitching....

Spring is on the way...I think....though you'd never know it by the 8 degrees we have this morning. I'm beginning to wonder about spring....though the gold finches are getting back their yellow color.....

Not even going to touch on politics.....hope nobody minds.

Okay, I have to get ready for work, so...just wanted to touch base here and get some words down. Will try to stay more current......

For now, cheers....waving from chilly Wisconsin...

...and more snow.....

2009-02-03T08:57:00.001-06:00

….but at least it's not below zero out there! Given the choice, I'd rather have snow than bitter cold, but that's just me. The one issue I always seem to have with snow falling is vertigo…I hate driving in snow when the snow is coming toward me - I always seem to get a vertigo attack when that happens, and I feel as though I'm going to pass out -- not a good thing when one is driving in rush hour traffic with no place to pull over. Thankfully, I never HAVE passed out, but one worries even so -- which actually makes the vertigo worse.

This too shall pass…yes it shall….

Constantly amazes me how some people drive in snow….actually, today's snow is very light -- it's certainly not a blizzard out there, and I would be very surprised if there's even a half inch out there…even so, about 95% of the drivers out there are either TOO cautious, or not cautious enough! (I, of course, drive with just the right amount of caution…LOL!) Between those who are afraid to go over 10 miles an hour and those who drive like bats out of hell, getting to work is an adventure….

But I'm here safely -- no thanks to the stupid drivers out there. And then we have co-workers who use the "snow" as an excuse to be late all the time…if there's one flake out there, it's 15 minutes late for some of them. I don't get it.

Perhaps I'm getting old and cranky?? I don't know…I don't feel cranky…I'm not in a cranky mood…but I just don't get it I guess….I'm turning into a curmudgeon!!! (And I think I like it!!)

This is why I stitch….it's my sanity….my corner of sanity in an insane world….My therapy. It's what keeps me semi-reasonable. Heh….

Just random thoughts….smiling and waving from Wisconsin...

Winter Blahs...

2009-01-28T09:32:00.002-06:00

Winter seems to be taking its toll on me....I am SO tired of being cold, and that happens every year, but usually not until March! LOL! We have had an extremely cold January this year, and I am NOT looking forward to seeing this month's heating bill...although December's was high too, because of all the baking I did, and that won't be on this bill, but.....dare I hope it'll be around the same as last month? I doubt it....

But there is hope! I have noticed that the willow trees around here are starting to change colors - and that means perhaps that spring is not far away....also, the gold finches who feed at my window are getting a bit of their yellow feathers back, something they lose in the winter. When they start turning yellow again, that's a GOOD sign of spring being not far away....

That being said....Groundhog Day is next week...we shall see what the ol' rodent has to say, yes?

At any rate....on the work front -- things are busy, but not too busy so that I'm going nuts. There are, of course, those "children" here who feel they have to play children's games, and I'm learning to deal with that...I guess in every work place, in every group of people, there is always one or more who has to stir the pot for no reason. Honestly, I can't believe how some women over 50 have to act like they're 12 years old....I feel as though I'm back in grade school sometimes.

My best defense in the above is to just stay out of it and mind my own business...come in, put the blinders on, do my work (and blog!!) and at 4:00 take the blinders off and go home. That seems to work for keeping my sanity.

While on the subject of work -- remember last fall when the first shoe fell with offices closing and we didn't know what was going to happen here? And we ended up closing the other two Wausau claim offices and we hired about 40 more people here? Well...the other shoe fell last week. Liberty Mutual has effectively eliminated the Wausau name, and we are all Liberty Mutual now. And they're not going to be using sales people anymore, they will be dealing with agents and brokers from now on -- which means we no longer need sales people, nor underwriters...so a lot of other people here are getting their walking papers between now and June 1. Sad....there but for the grace of God, ya know?

Also regarding work, my position, as I mentioned last fall, has been renamed, and my job grade taken down a peg....and yesterday I got the news that, although I received the best rating I have ever received in 36 years here, I will be getting no raise, because with my downgrade, I'm technically overpaid now (yeah, right, tell that to my checkbook!!) The good news is that they are not taking money away from me...and I have a job, which about 100 other people here do not....

On the stitching front -- am doing quite well this year, getting in a lot of stitching time, it seems. I have six pieces in rotation, and I switch every Tuesday morning. Have managed to finish a couple of pieces too, thanks to Petra's QSW group, which gets me into the quick stitch mode on the weekends....Thanks, Petra!!

And the home front -- Am whittling down my "winter chore list"...this is a list that I compile during the year, chores that I can get done inside the house while there is no outdoors work to be done -- usually I tackle this list, or start to, anyway, in January, after the holidays are over and done...about the same time I drag out a jigsaw puzzle or two for a change of pace. Anyway, mostly on the weekends, I tackle an item or two on the list....things like cleaning out dawers and cupboards and closets, organizing this and that....amazing how much stuff I find to either toss out, give away or sell on Ebay!! Why? To make room for more stuff, of course, that I purchase throughout the next year, and then next winter the cycle starts all over again. I'm nuts.

Okay...family....is doing great. No complaints or issues there...love 'em, I truly do....between DH, my mom, DH's mom, and my brother's family in California, I'm content....I'm truly blessed.

On that note...given the work story above, I'd probably better get back to my job before they decide they don't need ME anymore, yes? Toodles....

Karen...waving from The Tundra.....

A New Week.....

2009-01-19T06:11:00.004-06:00

....seems the time is flying by again, but....this time of year I guess it's not so bad, because the quicker it flies by, the quicker spring will get here! Weather here has been UNREAL...there were a couple of days last week that didn't even see above zero temperatures. I shouldn't complain, though, this morning we're having a heatwave at 7 degrees ABOVE zero, so...this is a good thing.

Has been a flurry of days the last week or so. Gary's driver's door window decided to quit working, and with the sub-zero temperatures, there was no way he could drive to work, so until the shop could fit us in and fix it, we were carpooling. Not necessarily a bad thing either, I think we saved some gas money last week....This week we're starting out the same way, as Gary is having an engine problem and we're taking it back on Wednesday, so....

Meanwhile in the middle of all of that, MY "check engine" light came on...when it rains it pours. Well, it's out now - we put a can of Sea Foam into the tank, and filled up with gas. It was either the Sea Foam cleaning a dirty injector that took care of the problem, or it was, perhaps, maybe the last time Gary put gas in the car he didn't completely tighten the gas cap. Either way, the problem is, for now, solved.

Work has been good...not too busy, not too UNbusy...just about right. I think they were planning on our being a whole lot busier when the two other offices closed, but so far I just haven't seen that happening. They just might be regretting doubling our staff, I don't know. Time will tell. The real test will be in March when all of the files from the other offices are shipped to us.

Stitching...ah yes, my sanity...stitching....has been going well. Have been doing some quick stitches on the weekends, and they are helping me dwindle my stash...I have WAY too many charts on hand - almost 300.

2009 is my Christmas stitching year....and have been working (with the exception of quick stitch weekend stuff) on all Christmas charts. My favorite stuff to stitch. I have six projects in rotation - each gets stitched on for a week. As I finish a project, I kit up another one and put that one into rotation to replace it. So far, the system is working well.

On weekends, I am working on my winter chore list as well...now that there's no yard work to do, I have time to do things like clean cupboards, closets, drawers....and organize things and put stuff on Ebay! Maybe I'll make a dollar or two! I think I really could get rid of about 300 of my CDs too and make more room (and cash) for audio books, which I really listen to more these days.

Well, I'd better get my makeup on and get to work...thought for the day?? Let's see....um...slow down. Everyone's moving too fast, in too much of a hurry...including me. Ifind that I rush through things just to get to something else that I rush through....time to slow down and enjoy life, yes? Take a little time to notice things around you - birds...squirrels...the beauty of the blue sky against the snow....

Take time to enjoy life.

There...that's it for now....will try and take my own advice. More later...

Cheers! Waving from Wisconsin....a.k.a. The Tundra...

...and here it is....

2009-01-07T06:26:00.002-06:00

...January 7 already. Doesn't it seem as though the holidays creep up on us in such a hurry and then, bang...they're done? I'm still thinking about taking my decorations down, but I haven't moved into the "do it" stage yet....probably Saturday, I think.

From there, it's on to my winter chore list...which, of course, includes jigsaw puzzles in between the annual straightening of drawers, cupboards and closets. (One acquires new "stuff" throughout the year, and some of the OLD "stuff" needs to go to make room!!) I've discovered that the GOOD thing about annual straightening of drawers, cupboards and closets is that I find things that I thought I'd lost - or even forgot I had!! So it's like a treasure hunt for me...and the Goodwill locations make out like a bandit.

Work -- Is going well....still they haven't brought flex time back yet, but I hear promises that it will be coming back in the next couple of months....I'll believe it when I see it, but until then I'll hold out hope. I am not used to working 5 full days anymore!! The new girls are working out well. I'm not as stressed as I used to be, and now that there are 3 girls handling claim indexing, and Mary Ellen has vowed that she will not ever let two of them take off at the same time, perhaps my days of indexing claims are over...we can hope.

Home -- Is peaceful....relaxed...serene....I'm tryinlg to learn to slow down a little bit...not everything has to be done lickety-split. When I come home from work, I turn on the coffee pot and head downstairs to ride my bike for a couple of miles...then I come back upstairs to stitch. I'm liking that!!

Stitching -- Have started on my year-long quest of finishing Christmas pieces....er....at least starting them first! I have six pieces that I will rotate, a week at a time, so I don't get bored - and as I finish one, will add another into the mix....I have about 70 Christmas charts, and I don't begin to think I'll even get half of them done in 2009, but I should be able to put a good dent into the stash bin....

On a sad note, I found out yesterday that my Aunt Jean had a stroke yesterday morning...please keep her in your prayers, as I will....

Other than that....I'd best get ready for work now....more later....

Cheers! Waving from Wisconsin....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2009-01-02T06:23:00.003-06:00

Well, here it is, 2009...I don't know where 2008 went, but apparently it scooted by without hardly a glance in my direction! Here's hoping all my friends have a wonderful, wonderful 2009.

Resolutions? Me? Well...I resolved years ago to never make any more resolutions, so that is one I'm going to keep. I already quit smoking, back in 1998....I hardly ever have a drink, maybe a glass of wine with dinner once in a blue moon, or on special occasions...Have already taken steps to lose weight (71.8 pounds down so far!! Thanks, Jenny!!)....So I guess I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing....

I plan on getting a lot of stitching done this year - Christmas themes this year. I have about 70 charts for that purpose - and of course I won't get them all done, but will get done what I can! And I will be doing a lot of ornaments, keeping with Petra's QSW group...what a marvelous group for things like that!!! (speaking of which, I must pick out a weekend project as soon as I'm done posting this...)

On the home front, I will continue to make this a happy home....oh, and I do have several "winter chores" lined up now that the outdoor work is something that doesn't have to be done and the holidays are over....Looks like Ebay will be something that I'll be doing with things I find here and there that I don't need anymore....I think a lot of my CDs are going to hit the Ebay list. I have over 450 CDs and I just don't listen to them anymore, so why not turn them into cash? There are some that I will keep, but....a lot of them can go to a new home...

Other than that, I don't think much will change around here...and that's okay, because I'm happy with my life, my home, my family and friends...wouldn't want to change any of them for any reason....

Here's to a happy and healthy new year to all my friends!

Cheers! Waving from Wisconsin.....

Home From Work Today....

2008-12-26T08:03:00.002-06:00

....and how wonderful it is to be home the day after Christmas! Here I am with my cup of coffee, looking at the birds outside at the feeders....They say we're to get rain today, which seems funny after to several FEET of snow we've received over the last few weeks....

Christmas was wonderful....just wonderful. Had a lovely day...we stopped to see Gary's mom in the morning, and then we headed out to my mom's place for the afternoon....my ex husband Rod joined us, as did mom's friends Andy and Barb. We had barbecue ribs, roasted potatoes and a corn casserole for dinner, and it was absolutely wonderful. Cheesecake for dessert! Back on Jenny Craig today, that's certain, and perhaps an extra mile or two on the bike!! After all, I do have to weigh in tomorrow morning, and I am determined to show a loss this week...

Anyway...Santa was VERY good to me....first of all, mom bought me a new KitchenAid stand mixer - the Pro 600 (575 watts and 6 quart bowl!!) and gave it to me early so I could use it for Christmas baking....Anyway, in addition to that, from Mom and Gary and my brother's family, I also received a Barry Manilow CD I'd been looking for, KitchenAid mixing bowls, KitchenAid spatulas, 3 audio books (Dickens' Oliver Twist and the Old Curiosity Shop, and Stephen King's Needful Things), a DVD (Murphy's Romance), a beautiful TempTations tea set, a TempTations casserole baker, a real slick brownie baking pan that bakes them in already cut slices...the list goes on and on....a VERY nice Christmas...

Today I will be relaxing....and later in the day, my girlfriend Kristin and I are going to see "Yes Man" at the theatre....should be a GREAT day....

I hope everone's Christmas was as good as mine was....and may Christmas live in your hearts the whole year through.....

Cheers! Waving from Chilly Wisconsin....

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T08:49:00.002-06:00

....and what a beautiful day it is here in southeastern Wisconsin...COLD, only at zero degrees, but beautiful outside ahyway...peaceful...serene...sun is shining on all of that new snow we got this week...looks just like a Currier & Ives postcard....(now if it would only warm up a little, it'd be perfect!!!)

Corn casserole, which is what I am bringing to mom's house today, is merrily cooking away in the oven...I'm showered, dressed, hair done, still have to do the makeup thing....and Gary is still snoring away....will have to get him up soon...

First we're off to Gary's mom's house for a bit....and then to my mom's for another bit. Won't be on the computer much today, I suppose....but there's nothing wrong with substituting family for internet, yes?

A very merry Christmas to all of my internet friends....here's hoping your day will be as joyous as mine will be...and it's lookin' pretty darned good right now!!

Cheers! Waving from Wisconsin...

Blessed Christmas.....

2008-12-24T06:18:00.002-06:00

....to all my friends....

This is such a wonderful time of the year (um...not counting the WEATHER!!).... I hope that the current feeling of joy, serenity, peacefulness, good will and everything else that is GOOD will stay in your hearts forever.

Thank you all for being my friends....thanks for being the wonderful people you are...thanks for sharing my joys and my sorrows, my good times and bad...

May we never forget the Reason for the Season....and may He live in your hearts forever...

Merry Christmas, my friends.....

...waving from Wisconsin....

Baby, it's cold outside!!!

2008-12-22T08:18:00.002-06:00

Weather

...and that's not just a name of a song!! Sheesh! I swear we're getting our January weather in December...this is WAY too cold and snowy for December....but since I'm not the One in charge, there's not a whole lot I can do about it! I am NOT looking forward to this month's heating bill, that's for sure...but here again, not much I can do about it but pay it!

Work....

Is going well...much nicer now that we have more people. I hope they don't decide any time soon that we don't NEED that many people. Should be interesting to see what happens when the other two offices close down in spring, and we end up getting all of their residual claims. Right now they're not getting any NEW claims, but they are handling their current claims. Once they're closed down in spring, we'll be getting all of them as well. But the pressure is off, for the most part, as far as my job is concerned. I'm still busy, but things are working out much better than they were, and I'm no longer thinking about moving on.

Home Life....

...is lovely. I treasure my time at home with Gary and our furbaby Missy. Especially this time of year. Things are so cozy here at home...makes me want to never leave for work or anything else. But I know that's not an option. LOL! So I treasure the time I have here at home....I do love this house too....

We've been busy getting ready for the holidays, but I think I'm ready finally....cards are sent, shopping is done, baking is done, I've decorated inside and out, and the packages are all wrapped. I think for the next few days I can just sit back and enjoy the season.

Stitching....

....of course is an ongoing thing. Heh.....I think today I might take a look at my Christmas charts that I've set aside and kit up the first 5 that I want to do for the Christmas SAL, which starts on January 1. (By the way, if you're interested in joining the Christmas SAL group, please get in touch! Always room for more stitchers!!!)

Been doing the QSW thing with Petra's group, and I sure am glad that I joined that group! It's given me the motivation to get some smaller pieces stitched....I envision lots of ornaments being done in 2009!!!!

Okay....I'm off to get my day started.....everyone stay safe (there's a lot of "weather" out there!!)

Cheers! Waving from Wisconsin....

Holy Cow....

2008-12-15T11:16:00.002-06:00

...has it really been a month since I've updated this blog? Time flies this time of year, to be sure. Seems the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get...

Well, it's a busy time of year, isn't it? Lots to be done...shopping, decorating, baking, wrapping... combined with working and life in general. Not hard to see why some people go through depression after the holidays, it seems like such a let-down....

Anyway...what's new with me? Not much, actually! Have been keeping busy...using that brand new KitchenAid stand mixer my mother bought for me for Christmas. She gave it to me early so taht I could use it for my shortbread baking! Wonderful machine! It's a 6 quart, 575 watt machine. I have been mixing 4 batches of shortbread at a time, which is REALLY cutting down on baking time!! Wonderful machine, as I mentioned...so glad I have it.

Gary and I went to Chicago last weekend for holiday shopping and for the Christkindlmarket there, which was an outdoor market. What fun we had!! It was cold and windy and snowy and wet, but we still had a GREAT time. Lots of vendors from Germany, Russia, Poland, Belgium.. and there was a whole lot of good stuff to eat as well!! Of course! LOL! We didn't have to worry about traffic or parking or any of that, as we took a chartered bus down there...they dropped us off at the outdoor market, then picked us up two hours later to take us to Michigan Avenue for more shopping...Was a fun day.

We did manage to finish our Christmas shopping....I'm about half done with baking, maybe a bit more than that...I do have to wrap presents yet, and then I'll be all done and ready for the holidays!

Meanwhile, it's very cold here....winter has descended upon us before winter actually arrived on the calendar. It's WAY too cold for December here - I can only hope this might mean that we're getting our January now and that January won't be so bad...heheh...I can dream, yes? We've had a lot of snow so far, which I really don't mind all that much, but this cold has to stop!! We won't even get up to 10 degrees here today, which is WAY too cold for this time of year -- especially since we were in the 40's yesterday! Screwy weather....

Had Stitch N Bitch at Marcy's house yesterday...was a nice chanage of pace not having it at my house this time. In January, it'll be back at my house....

Work is going well....put in for my vacation time for next year, and if all goes well, I should have time off every month next year. I'm carrying 18 days over to next year, plus I will receive an additional 35 days and 4 personal holidays, so....that makes for a lot of vacation. Too bad I can't take it all at one time!!

On that note....work is calling to me, so I'd best get back to it...just wanted to drop in and say hey and wish everyone a good holiday season....

Peace on earth, ladies and gents....that's what it's all about.....

We can dream.....

Cheers!

Busy Couple of Weeks....

2008-11-16T07:50:00.003-06:00

...which is why I'm a bit behind on posting again. Now that I have finished that stocking I've been working on, I should be able to get more into the swing of things....(yes, photos of the completed project will be posted later today in my stitching blog....stay tuned....) Now to bring everyone up to date....

Work -- Seems to be going well....I am BLISSFULLY free of claim indexing!!!! Lynne, Barb and Julie have been keeping up with it, and for backup purposes, Debbie is training with them as time permits. I will be SO glad to be free of it once and for all!!! Feels really good when someone sends me an email and asks me to create a claim, to just forward it to the three of them!!!

As far as my "team" i s concerned, Debbie, Kathi and Kierryn are working out SO well...at times it can be overwhelming, as far as trying to get my work done, because I have three of them asking me questions, but I don't mind...they are SO much fun to work with and SO dedicated and eager....I've not been used to that in the last year or so!!!

The CST team that I'm assigned to (Claim Service Team - the guys and gals that handle the actual claims) is the Complex unit, which means they handle the more serious claims - the fatalities, etc. Bunch of great people, and we work very well together. This new structure is working out very well for me, and for the first time in several years, I'm actually very happy in my job, and am happy to go to work. (Now let's hope it stays that way for the next 11 years!!)

Home -- Busy time of year here, getting the outdoors ready for winter...which seems to have leapfrogged over autumn this year. It's cold out there!!!! Have actually had flurries, albeit nothing major in the way of snow yet. But I emptied the bird baths...well, one of them anyway, and filled the second one up and put the bird bath heater in it so that the birdies can still enjoy water in the winter....had to turn off the outdoor faucets and take in the hoses. Also got rid of the plants that had been frostbitten and looked ugly. LOL! Yesterday we picked up "Safe Step", which is what we use on the driveway for ice...so I guess, like it or not, we are ready for winter. Now, to keep me busy, I have a list of what I call "winter chores" compiled on my computer...things that I can take care of now that the outdoor chores are done! No rest for the wicked!!!

Family -- Gary and I are doing well...both have been healthy and free of colds or anything else, so we're doing just fine. Mom is doing fine as well...this afternoon mom and I are off to see the Lorie Line Christmas Show, courtesy of the South Dakota end of our family, who sent mom the tickets and employed me to "get grandma out of the house".... We're going to Applebee's first for lunch... We saw the show last year, and mother enjoyed it so much, as did I, and we're both looking forward to seeing it again this year.

Mother also surprised me with something last week....two weeks ago, QVC had for their TSV a KitchenAid Pro 600 stand mixer, which I lusted over...the price was $299, which was a bargain - this machine retails for $499. Anyway, since we had just purchased a new Netbook computer for me, it was out of the question for me to buy the mixer at this time.

I came home from work a few days later and saw this huge box on my porch..my immediate reaction, given my shopping habits of late, was "what the heck did I buy this time????" When I got closer, I saw "KitchenAid Stand Mixer" written on the side of the box....Whaaaa???? Gary???
I took it inside, unpacked it, and saw that mother bought it for me...and sent it to me for an early Christmas gift, as I do a lot of shortbread baking for the holidays, and she decided that I needed it....I was overwhelmed...and speechless, can you believe it??? I am truly blessed....

Stitching - Well, as I mentioned earlier in this post, I finished that Christmas stocking for my co-worker last night....will post pictures of it later today. Need to iron it! Now I can get my other WIPs going again, and hopefully get them done before the end of the year so I can start my Christmas stitching for 2009...Really am looking forward to that.

I also joined another XS group that had a bunch of original small Christmas designs available for purchase (Please, go check out this group and the charts -- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wXSw/ -- outstanding charts, very nice!!).

Looking forward to stitching up a bunch of those....also, since I "inherited" a box of small cuts of Aida cloth, in all different colors, I am looking forward to stitching a lot of small ornaments and other "smalls" and getting to be active in Petra's QSW group!!

I'm so excited about being done with that stocking!!!! Now back to normal!!!

I do believe that's about all from this corner of the world for now....Keep safe, everyone....keep your families and friends close...this is a time when everyone needs to take stock of their lives, their loves, their dreams and faiths and embrace them firmly....and refuse to let go....

Waving from Wisconsin....Cheers!!

Catching Up Again.....

2008-11-09T17:39:00.005-06:00

...as you can see, I'm fighting a losing battle with regular posting here, but....intention is there. A forewarning here, there may be a bunch of typing errors in this...I'm working on my new netbook and am not quite used to the keyboard yet....LOL!

Let's see...on the home front....things are going well here....I was supposed to go to a craft fair with a girlfriend yesterday, but she ended up with a stomach virus, so I decided to join my husband and go to Trainfest with him. Haven't been there in a few years, so that was a nice time. Wonderful train layouts, took lots of photos, so if you're interested on model railroading, feel free to have a look at my Webshots album...I uploaded the photos this morning.

This new netbook is pretty nice...I'd gotten notice of this sale from Tiger Direct, where I get most of my computer supplies and equipment...This is an Acer netbook, with 120 gig hard drive...built in webcam...pretty slick little machine for $360. Small, but nice. Weighs two pounds, so taking it on vacations, etc., will be a lot easier than the older laptop I have.

Stitching....still working on that Christmas stocking for the gal at work...I'm on the home stretch, though....down to the back stitching, and then all I have to do is assemble it. I think a couple more weeks will do it, well in time for Christmas.

The Office....things seem to be in full swing with the "new office" concept....looks as though I'll soon be off the hook with claim indexing, which will be real nice. There are three of them now who index claims, and one of the gals on my team, Debbie, expressed an interest in learning how to be back up on that, so....this is good news....I'm much more relaxed at work...able to get my work done...and our supervisor has assigned the four of us to specific claim teams, and has assigned specific duties to each of us, so there will be no more of this "everybody does everything" nonsense, which usually translated to "don't do it and Karen will pick it up". I'm very pleased....maybe the next 11 years won't be so bad after all....heh...One thing is certain, it's a lot easier for me to get along with Barb now that we're not sharing duties....

Okay...I think that's it for now....back to the stitching.....

Cheers...waving from Wisconsin...

Not too bad....

2008-10-26T09:06:00.002-05:00

....this time. I only took a week to update this blog this time. Given my past track record, that's a pretty good thing....so let's bring everyone up to date....

Work -- Well, things seem to be moving pretty smoothly with two of the new-hires. Debbie, of course, is a former employee, and she's working out very well...Kierryn is brand new, and a new bride to boot, and she's catching on very quickly. Love her personality, I think she's going to work out just fine. She does like to keep busy!! We have another new hire, Kathy, starting tomorrow. She's also a rehire, so she'll know most of the ropes already as well. The 4th new hire isn't going to be a new hire....she called last weekend to let us know she decided not to take the job (nice notice, yes??)...and we've decided to forego replacing her and see how things go with what employees we do have. November 4 will be the "start" of the "new office" thing, where we will be getting all that work from the two offices that are closing, so....we should know more about how things sit by the end of the year. For now, things seem to be moving very well. All of our desks will be moved by the end of next week...They've had to do some major juggling and shoving around to get all of the new hires for our department in. I think there are like 35 of the newbies they had to make room for.

Home Life - Another weekend half over....sigh...they move so quickly. Have been busy here trying to catch up on some chores, and trying to get the outdoors ready for winter, which is supposedly on its way....today it's supposed to be very windy, and they have even uttered the "S" word for tonight....sheesh!! Trick or treaters will be chilly on the 31st!!!

We checked out the new Shopko in Sussex yesterday...where I managed to drop a penny or two. After losing over 60 pounds, I needed things like a new robe, a new winter jacket...and managed to find everything I needed at the new store. Also some things, I suppose, that I really didn't need, but...hey, what can I say?? Nice store, though. I have always liked Shopko, and am glad they finally put one in our area so that I don't have to drive an hour to West Bend or Watertown to get to one...

Stitching -- Kind of slow on that subject this week...am still working on that stocking that I'm stitching for the gal at work. I'm making progress, though...hope to get a lot done on that today.

All in all...a busy week....a busy weekend....and Christmas is two months away. (Did I say that??)

Cheers...waving from Wisconsin...

Well, Looky Here....

2008-10-18T12:43:00.004-05:00

....I really AM still on the face of the earth!!! And every morning, I make a "to do" list on my I-Google page, and this morning there was a TON of stuff on there that I wanted to accomplish this weekend, and you know what? I just checked off the things that I've completed, and there are two things left..."update blog" and "file recipes".....

So here I am! Updating my blog, which has been sorely missed for a few weeks....

Let's see...what shall I tell you about. Let's start with work..I know things were looking pretty bleak there for a while, and frankly, I was NOT a happy camper...The final count was that we were going to need 3 CIRs and 5 Insurance Assistants - the new name for office assistant. Well, as I said before, I wanted no part of the CIR job. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, Mary Ellen told me that the person that had expressed an interest in the 3rd CIR position was still "on the fence" and so that she'd not been able to hire anyone for that position yet, and therefore, she would still need me to help out with indexing claims past November 1. I told her "what will be will be" and that since it was temporary, that was fine with me...not really, but what else could I say?

Anyway....there is a God....the gal who was on the fence finally said no, and another gal in our office on the fast track team, wanted the job, so she's been hired for that position, and is in training for it now, so I'm off the hook...thankfully!!!

Mary also hired Debbie as another IA -- Debbie and I have worked together for years, and she's back with us now...and three other IAs have been hired, so we are up to staff in that department - or will be when they all start working!

Meanwhile, Mary asked me for my opinion on how to split up the work...for the IAs...she was thinking that perhaps she should assign each IA to certain claim teams, have them be responsible for the administrative stuff for those teams. I had been thinking the same thing, so we agreed that would be a good thing. Mary has decided to team me up with the Complex Unit, which handles the more serious claims. There would be less faxes...less payments (albeit more complex)...and I would still be able to take care of all of the licensing, time keeping and protocol reports that I currently do. The other electronic faxes...the other payments...the evidence room duties...the claim indexing -- all this will no longer be part of my job.

I am a happy camper indeed!!!!! Good things come to those who wait...

Meanwhile, I've earned yet another couple of VISA gift cards - one for $75 and one for $25, for the things I'm doing to help out with preparation of the "new office"....sure is nice to know one's efforts are recognized and appreciated...

At home, I've been working on my recipe system...I had files and files full of ripped out recipes and such...finally have gotten around to typing them and printing them on 4x6 cards...I'm still working on it, but I've come a long way...and as soon as I'm done with this post, I'm going to finish filing those recipes that I have printed, and then I'm going to STITCH....I've been very lax about stitching lately, and the guilties are creeping in....

All things wonderful....have a lovely Saturday....I'm waving from Wisconsin...

I'm Not Really MIA...

2008-09-30T12:20:00.001-05:00

…it's just that it's been a heck of a couple of weeks. Busy isn't the word for it! Both at home and at the office, things have just been crazy.

Things are still up in the air at work. We have lots of new-hires - about 15 so far, I think. Last I heard, we were supposed to have a total of 80 to 120 new-hires, so we have a long way to go. As for my team, the last I heard, is that we're to have 3 Customer Information Reps and 6 Office Assistants. By the way, I have chosen to take one of the Office Assistant jobs, since my title of Technical Assistant is no more….I want NO part of the CIR job. Anyway, I know Mary Ellen has hired 2 other Office Assistants and she is still interviewing, so things are coming together….and that's a good thing. It doesn't look as though much of my job is going to change, as far as duties are concerned, and that's fine with me.

Our Wausau office is also closing the liability claim department…some of the employees there will be relocating to our office. Monte will be our second claim manager here, Scott is, I believe, going to be a team manager of sorts, and unfortunately my counterpart, Lori, will not be relocating here. She took a job in the WC department up in Wausau.

Meanwhile on the home front….it's been a busy few weeks. We decided to get rid of all of our rose shrubs, so we spent a weekend digging them out, roto-tilling the gardens, and planting perennials there. Also will be tossing in some rocks and some more perennials, to make a sort of rock garden. Mother has one, and it's really cute, so I thought I'd give it a try. On the gardening subject, my tomatoes are growing like crazy, and I have a TON of them…with no end in sight! My pepper plants are doing well - lots of peppers, albeit not very large, but a good number of them.

This last Saturday, Gary and I spent the day cleaning and organizing our garage. When we were done, we had a WHOLE lot of stuff to get rid of. Stuff that neither the dump nor the trash people would take. We called that place, 1-800-GOT-JUNK to see what was involved there, and found out it would have cost us about $145 to have them pick the stuff up. Not gonna happen….

So I put up a notice in Waukesha County Freecycle, and on Sunday, a whole bunch of people came to take away a whole lot of stuff we wanted to get rid of. We still have a little bit left, but not much….Wonderful thing, Freecycle!!

So now I'm back at work…and this next Saturday will be a FUN day. One of my stitching groups, Wisconsin Stitching, is gathering in Mt. Horeb for the Autumn Heritage Festival and for a visit to the stitching shop there, Witchery Stitchery. We're all meeting for lunch at The Grumpy Troll Restaurant & Pub, will have lunch, visit the stitching shop and then all go our separate ways for the rest of the festival. Really looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, my stitching is REALLY suffering….I made the mistake of finding a game on Google called Bubble Shooter, and I have been doing NOTHING but playing that stupid game for the last two days…tonight I don't plan on going NEAR that game…(let's see how THAT works!!)

Ebay auctions went well…mostly stitched pieces that fetched handsome prices, for the most part. I'm pleased. And with the money, I've been buying - you guessed it - more stash….Oh, and some decals that Gary wanted for his models…so he can't say I'm being selfish! LOL!

Okay…back to work…just had to check in and let y'all know I'm still alive!!

Waving from Wisconsin…..

Is It Friday Yet???

2008-09-16T19:20:00.003-05:00

No, I don't guess it is....it's only TUESDAY!!! Well, I should be glad it's not Monday, yes? Okay. I'm glad it's not Monday.

Been a crazy few days....of course, work was busy as Lynne was out Monday and today. Add to that the 10 or so new employees we have so far (out of approximately 110 to come...), there was a lot to do.

Of course with Lynne being out yesterday, I had to step in and index claims with Barb. There were 62 claims in the system when I got in yesterday morning, so I took 31 of them. Half, right? Yeah, well....Barb took 13 when she came in...I didn't take any more, so sooner or later she took the rest of them. For the rest of the day I was busy with faxes and payments...and licensing issues and timekeeping and...and..and....the list goes on and on. Day went really fast, as did today.

There were only 23 claims in the system this morning, so I didn't take any...I concentrated on faxes and payments...and then I helped Mary Ellen install software on computers for the new people....I just needed to get away from my own computer for a while. Didn't expect anything in return, but Mary Ellen awarded me with a $25 Visa gift card for my help....totally unnecessary, but appreciated nonetheless....

I did have a chat with both Mary Ellen and Claim Manager Kim yesterday about the position situation I'm faced with. I think I may have mentioned that I am currently a grade 7, a Technical Assistant....unfortunately, there's no such position in our new "configuration"...so my choices are to become a CIR (like Lynne and Barb) and index claims all day every day....(and they don't even know this yet, I don't think, but their job will be changing in ways that I don't know if they're going to like or not) or I can take an Office Assistant job, which is a grade 6. They don't take away any salary, so....

I basically told Mary and Kim that I knew that I wouldn't like indexing claims all day every day for the next 11 years until I retire, as I know it's the least favorite thing that I do now. I couldn't see coming to work every day for 11 years to a job I hated...so I'm leaning toward the OA position.

Nobody's pushing me for any decisions right now, and it's a good thing, because nobody can tell me for sure what each job will entail, so...things are still up in the air...suffice it to say that I'm happy to still have a job, and leave it at that...could be a lot worse -- just ask my fellow workers in San Antonio, Syracuse and Wausau....

Speaking of Wausau, however, I'm happy to report that my counterpart up there, Lori, has applied for, been offered and accepted a position in her same office but in a different department, so she's good to go....

Meanwhile....ended up hurting my back today. I'm hoping that it goes away overnight...I'd picked up a very heavy file and heard something pop....been hurting ever since....hoping that some medication and rest will make it all better by morning...

On that note, I do have to get some stitching done...so will leave it at this for a while and get to it....

Cheers!!

...the saga continues....

2008-09-11T21:36:00.004-05:00

...and continues...more news from the office. Now it seems that, although they are adding 6 people to my team, my official title, "Technical Assistant", is not an officially recognized title within the "new structure".

There will be 9 of us -- 5 of us will be known as Customer Information Representatives, which is what Barb and Lynne are right now...they are the ones who index claims when they come in. Right now, that consists of a little bit of pre-work, such as filling in fields on the computer, and then determining which team the claim goes to, and assigning the claim to that team. I end up doing this when one of the other girls are out. This position is a grade 7, which is what it is also currently.

They don't even know this, but I was talking to my supervisor today and found out that what they'll now be doing is what they do now, but also they will have to make initial phone calls on each of the claims.

Well, I want no part of that at all....in fact, indexing in itself was something I was hoping I would get away from.

Anyway, the other 4 of us will be known as "office assistants"....yep, general shit girls, I guess. Grade for this position is either 4, 5 or 6, depending on experience, etc. My current grade is 7, so I will be taking a downgrade if I opt to go this way....

The GOOD news is that for those of us who are downgraded, we will lose the grade, but we will not lose our current salary. The BAD news is that the lowered grade also means that our salary "ceilings" are lowered....in essence meaning that raises will be few and far between.

My supervisor, who herself is taking a 3 grade demotion, is fighting to keep me as a Technical Assistant...if she succeeds, great....if she doesn't succeed, I'll be retitled as office assistant, take the grade 6 and continue doing what I'm doing now....

Guess I'd rather do that than take on a job that I will hate for the next 11 years (retirement looms ahead at that point...). I'd rather be happy at what I do.

Anyway...bottom line is that I still have a job....and it may not change....(I don't know how they'll get someone to take care of 14 state licenses for 100 people if they don't let me continue doing that...but then again, I guess it's not my problem...)

As Rachael Raye's mom says....."you can either laugh about it or cry about it, the choice is yours".....

I choose to laugh.... and revel in the knowledge that my retirement is only 3976 days away...

Cheers!

Well, I'm Back At Work....

2008-09-09T21:47:00.002-05:00

...and it seems that some things never change! LOL! On the other hand, some things do. Apparently while I was gone (I guess maybe I do a little bit of work there!!) The Powers That Be decided they needed to hire at least 2 more people for my team, so that's a good thing. The hiring hasn't been done yet, but the jobs have been posted and applications are coming in, and interviewing will start soon...HOORAY!!!!!

One of the jobs available is "customer service rep", which is basically what Lynne and Barb do - indexing new claims that come in and assigning them to claim handlers....this is one task that I would like to get AWAY from (currently, I'm backup for absences and/or overflow)....

The other job available is "office assistant", which likely would be a position that would take care of electronic faxes, evidence issues, and other such nonsense....

...all of which, in essence, would leave me to do what I was doing in the FIRST place - licensing, time keeping, office reports, computer issues, and an added option that I have decided that I like to do, payments.

Even hiring ONE person would ease the situation of vacation time, so I don't even care if they only hire ONE person....

That being said, let's move on to bigger and better issues...like CROSS STITCHING!!! I just spent about a half hour drooling over Just Nan's Scream House, which I would REALLY like to order, but...it's just a little out of my price range, since I just recently purchased Just Nan's Christmas Workshop....(and did I mention that I just HAD to pre-order Just Nan's "Deck the Halls" tonight??)

(Wasn't I trying my hand at stash REDUCTION not so long ago???)

Oh well...life is good....if I can't blow money on much-needed (?????) stash, what is there to life??

Cheers!!!!!!

MANY THANKS TO PETRA....

2008-09-09T06:21:00.001-05:00

...for this LOVELY selection of fabrics from Silkweaver. Petra sent me this beautiful stash as a prize for her monthly trivia contest that she is running through her blog.

If you haven't played the trivia game, please DO!! It's fun! And you learn things! And you win gorgeous prizes.....

Many thanks, Petra....this had to be one of the best packages I have ever received in the mail.

"You da bomb!"

Oh boy oh boy oh boy....

2008-09-03T06:19:00.002-05:00

...it's not OFFICIAL yet, because it's not an OFFICIAL weigh-in at the Jenny Craig Centre (not until Saturday!), but I got on the scale this morning, and it looks as though I've hit my first milestone....50 POUNDS LOST!!

I posted it here, because I wanted to shout it to the world...and I don't think many of you know I have a Jenny Craig blog....

Any of you interested in reading my Jenny Craig blog, here is the link....

http://myjennycraigadventure.blogspot.com/

...doing the happy cat dance here.....

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming....

Should Be A Good Week....

2008-09-02T08:38:00.002-05:00

...but then again, that's just because I'm on vacation this week! LOL! Well, I hope everyone in the US had a great Labor Day weekend....mine was relatively quiet, although I did get a lot of stuff done around the house and in the yard. I find it's always best that I make a list of stuff that I want to accomplish, and then cross it off the list...I did a lot of that yesterday, and so I didn't feel like a TOTAL slug when I sat down to do some stitching.

Got an early start today....got showered and dressed before Gary left to go to work at 6. Went down to the basement and did my 1.5 miles on my bike....then went outside to water my veggies and spray some Round-Up on some unwanted growth in the patio....now I'm thinking about settling down with some stitching, and watching QVC for a while...Rachael Ray's show will be recording...heheheh....

Getting together with an old childhood chum tomorrow afternoon...I haven't seen Kris in years and years and years...she's moved back up here from Alabama recently, and we're going to meet for lunch and "catch-up" tomorrow....looking forward to it! And then on Thursday, I'm meeting another chum, Tammy, for lunch...this vacation stuff gets busy!!!

Supposed to have a cool front moving through tonight...I'm hoping that we get some rain, because we really need it. I swear, we got over 7 inches of rain in June - inside of 3 days in June, actually...had one more real rain since then, and that was over the 4th of July weekend and we've been dry as a bone ever since....everyone's lawn is brown...pointless to water it at this point....So keep your fingers crossed for rain!!!!!

Well, that's it for now...will head off to my stitching chair....QVC here I come!!!

And so another week....

2008-08-25T17:52:00.004-05:00

....begins! Mondays are always the worst, but...I guess it wasn't too bad today at the office. Heard some more rumors...we're never sure if they're true or not, and I guess I just don't worry about it, because worrying about it isn't going to do us any good anyway, it'll just make us crazy, so...what will be will be...seems I know of a song that goes like that! LOL!

Have been stitching on a Christmas stocking that someone at work hired me to stitch for them. Been working on that one nonstop for about a month now, and have been putting all of my Halloween stitching on the side. Well, I have two Halloween pieces that are almost done, so I'm going to finish those two and then pick the stocking back up again. This is, after all, my Halloween stitching year!!!

Got the first bell pepper off of my pepper plants today...I probably should have left it on the plant just a little longer, but I was so anxious to try it, and so afraid that if I left it there any longer, an animal would get it!!! My first pepper ever!!! I was not going to relinquish it to a squirrel or rabbit or anything else!

Tomatoes are going nuts...and that's a good thing...all the salads I've been eating while on Jenny Craig, I need all the salad fixings I can get, and the cheaper the better! Home grown is about as cheap as they come! And they're tasty, too!! Next year maybe I should grow lettuce too!!!

And then I came across this stuff....have no idea what it is, but whatever it is, I'm loaded with it. Anyone have a clue??

Hopefully someone can identify it...and I hope it's not a WEED, because as I mentioned, I'm loaded with it.....

Joined a bunch of Christmas groups in Yahoo today....I'm apparently getting into the spirit a bit early. Nothing wrong with that. I could use a few good ideas these days...I can't believe that Christmas is only 4 months away.....(where DID this year go????)

Okay...I have to get dinner on....hoping everyone is well...and happy...and at peace...

Why....

2008-08-23T20:36:00.002-05:00

....do the weekends fly by so quickly?Doesn't seem possible that the weekend is half over already. Of course, I suppose it doesn't help that I've been pretty busy all day and didn't get a whole lot of "me" time in there...Well, then again there is tomorrow...and so far I have nothing going on tomorrow....

Oh....let me correct that...I do have one thing going on. Tonight, my microwave gave out on us. Oooh, it was making SUCH noise and sparking and spitting away....we figure it would probably be the best thing to unplug it and find a replacement tomorrow morning and put this one to rest. But other than that, I think that might be it....

However, once I'm at either Target or Walmart, wherever we decide to go for the nuker, I might just look for a cheap sewing machine as well...After all...if I'm going to try doing the "flat fold" thing, I'm going to need something other than my embroidery needle to do the stitching...and I must admit that Meari's instructions look pretty darned followable...(is that a word??)

While I'm grumbling about my microwave...perhaps I should take this opportunity to grumble further, but this time about the new bottle caps on Diet Coke....honest to goodness...They have slimmed them down or taken out the ridges or something on them, and they are IMPOSSIBLE to open, even with that handy dandy little soda bottle opener that I have -- now with no ridges on the caps, that handy dandy little soda bottle opener just spins around and around and has nothing to grab onto....and me with my carpal tunnel, coupled with my ganglion cyst, further coupled with my DeQuarvain's Tenosynovitis (does it seem odd that I'm still able to STITCH for heaven's sake???) I'm getting to the point where I have to darned near GNAW those caps off....

End of rant.

Anyway...I'm off to find a bandage....when snipping my thread a few minutes ago, my new scissors (!!!!) decided to take a snip out of my forefinger as well.....sigh....

Seasons....

2008-08-21T06:25:00.003-05:00

Is it me, or has this year really scooted by? I think many things have affected this year for me - first of all the very late winter we had, the strange spring we had (not to mention WET!!)...and I think the summer got away from me with all of the planning for the Alaska cruise and then being gone for over two weeks...seems I've just settled back in here at home, and now August is all but over...

Not that I'm complaining. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of summer with its heat and humidity. (And the high cost of running air conditioning!!) But I do catch myself wondering where this year has gone! Other than the cruise, I can't say that it's been a busy year...so where did it go?? It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was eagerly awaiting warmer temperatures so that our sump pump hoses that are underground would THAW....

At any rate...my most FAVORITE season of the year is coming quickly. I do love autumn. The cooler temperatures, the lower humidity...leaves falling...orange, brown and yellow and red leaves on the trees...crisp weather....the smell of burning leaves. What's not to love?? And truthfully, the only thing I don't like about what comes after that -- winter, of course -- is the high cost of heating...well, and I'm not fond of driving to work in bad weather, but I can handle that for another 11 years.

Anyway...I am getting off track....

Where did the year go?? I'm not sure....but autumn is quickly approaching, and that makes me a happy camper....I think Gary and I, despite the high cost of fuel, will be taking a few day trips into the country in fall for some fall weather appreciation and some photo opportunities....

C'mon, autumn...bring it on!!

Halfway There....

2008-08-20T06:22:00.002-05:00

....to the weekend, that is! Why is it that the weekends scoot by so quickly and that the weeks drag on?? Okay, okay...I know the obvious answer is 2 days versus 5 days, but even so....sigh...

Anyway...another week and a half, and I'll have another week off work...I can get into that. Yesterday was a real workhorse of a day at the office. I was getting a little...not upset, but...well...impatient I guess would be a good word for it. I don't really know why. I guess just the prospect of 80 more employees, which means three times the work, and we're barely keeping our heads above water on my team as it is....

As far as MY job duties go, there are things that the other girls don't handle -- licenses (14 state licenses for each claim handler) and time tracking for 50 people, not to mention several protocol reports that I take care of -- that are going to triple when all these people are hired. I don't know WHERE I'm going to keep everyone's licenses and expense accounts...as it is, I have two desk drawers that are completely taken up by the same right now. I told my supervisor I'm going to need more desk drawers!!

Anyway....one of the other team managers gave me a knowing look and said to me, very quietly, "hang in there"....it almost seemed as if he knew something I didn't know and that things were going to look up for me in the near future. Let's hope!

On the home front, things are more relaxed here, though I should get outside more and do some weeding, but when I get home from work I just don't have the energy....so it always ends up being done on the weekend. I think I'll plot out some new strategy where it comes to the gardens for next year....perennials and lots of mulch ground cover sound like a good thing to me....

Here's to weekends....and all that seems to imply....heh...

Back To Work....

2008-08-18T17:40:00.002-05:00

...but only 14 days until my next week off, so I can't complain about that. Was an interesting day today. Still a lot of speculation as to what will happen with our office, as far as things like how in the world are we going to hire 80 people, train them and get them all licensed by November 1? I'm not so sure it can be done, but I guess we're going to give it a try! We also don't know for sure what's going to happen with the support unit, of which I am part....but the way I look at it...well, if they decide to move support functions up to Wausau, I'll go my own way...with severance pay, of course! SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

Everyone I've talked to, though, has assured me that there's no way we can go forward without a support unit...and that we will likely have to add several people to our unit, so....all I can say is what will be will be....and whatever happens will happen, I'm not going to solve anything by worrying about it. All I can see coming from worry is yet more gray hair - and trust me, I've enough of that!

Anyway, Barb is off until Thursday...this week and next week, actually. We got slammed with claims to day, but it wasn't bad working with Lynnie...she's great to work with. I can't imagine wht the situation would have been like had it been Barb instead...

Day was busy...but it moved quickly. My kind of day, especially for a Monday.

Hot and a bit humid today....one day of August weather! LOL! Seems we're in for a cool-down again rather shortly...which again is something I can live with.

Off to make a salad....which will be my dinner tonight....as I overdid at the picnic on Saturday and I have to weigh in tomorrow...my bad....

I Do Love Weekends....

2008-08-17T12:07:00.004-05:00

....can I get a "boy howdy" on that one?? Even when they're busy, there is such a joy to weekends. No worries -- for the most part, anyway. Yesterday we were at Gary's company picnic, which was a lot of fun. The company had hired a caricature artist, and we had ours done. I hope to get it framed very soon, but for now I've taken a picture of it and am posting it here. I think it really turned out cute!
Today has been a lazy day - so far. I've done three loads of laundry, but other than that, I've just been sitting in my family room, watching the birds outside, enjoying the nice breeze, and stitching. That's my kind of day.

What a lovely August we've had so far!! While a little bit on the humid side today, for August it's not bad! And from what I've seen on the weather reports, it looks as though this whole week is going to be nice -- not overly hot and humid. I don't think we've had to turn on the A/C all of August, which is definitely not the norm here in Brookfield, Wisconsin. (I and my energy bill are thankful!!)

Spent some time this morning tweaking my blog....finally figured out how to add music to the blog, which is something I've wanted to do. I confess that I got the idea from Meari, and I followed a link on her blog to get what I needed....quite simple now that I know where to go! What fun!!

There are a few other things I'd like to try on the blogs, but for now I'm happy!

This afternoon, I'm off to mom's to further tweak her new hard drive to get it to where it needs to be...a couple more pieces of software I need to install. Then she should be good to go for a while.

Anyway...on that note....Everyone have a lovely rest of the weekend.....I hope for joy, peace and good times for all of you...may you all be as relaxed as I feel right now....

Cheers!

Memories, memories

2008-08-17T07:47:00.002-05:00

This was stolen from Meari.

Frequent commentors, and lurkers alike... I'd *love* to hear from you!So who reads my blog??

1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! And if we've never met in real life, leave me a comment of your favorite post I wrote and why it was your favorite.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually really funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Some of the Answers....

2008-08-15T19:20:00.003-05:00

...but not all of them arrived today. Jeff Heindl, our VP, did indeed come to the office this morning for a meeting with our entire department. Turns out that 4 of our Worker's Comp offices will be closing...and 2 of our auto/liability claim offices (we currently have 3)...

The good news is that the one remaining auto/liability claim office will be MY office...they are closing San Antonio and Syracuse. The bad news is that most of those employees will be out of a job.

Not sure yet what that all means for my team, the support staff, but...for now we appear to be safe. That could change at any given time. In the meanwhile, our claim department staff will increase from approximately 45 people to 125 people. By November 1. We have a lot of hiring and training to do!

Meanwhile, Lynne and I did some snooping in our corporate office listings to see what kind of personnel they have at the two offices that they are going to be modeling our office after - Irving, TX and Weston, MA. We checked out what they had for support staff, compared to our 3 person support staff, and they have a TON of support people in both of their offices....with some interesting titles....licensing specialist...payment specialist...both of those got my interest, since right now I'm the one who issues claim payments, and I'm the one in charge of 14 state licenses for 40 people....

Time will tell, I guess...but for now, we appear to be safe. This could, of course, all change at any time.

For now...all I feel is sorry for my counterparts in Syracuse and San Antonio...hoping some of them can relocate to either Weston or Irving....

More to come, I am sure.....

AND IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER...

2008-08-14T12:53:00.002-05:00

...and sillier and sillier....sigh...all I can do is shake my head and say "what will be will be"...For about the hundreth time, we're undergoing some sort of reorganization - after all, it's been about six months since the last one....

What's so silly about all of this is....

1) We are a multi-billion dollar corporation. Our profits every year are in the billions. Yet we pay someone to look at penny-ante crap....gee, what can we do to save another dollar and make our profits even bigger...how many employees can we screw over by doing this, and who cares how our policyholders feel about less claim service....

2) They make these announcements in such a cryptic manner that nobody knows what's really going on. "Offices will be consolidated where geographically appropriate"... Appropriate? The last time they used that terminology, it meant consolidating approximately 50 claim offices down to 5 offices. Geographically appropriate?? That, to me, would mean where we have two or more offices within 50 miles of each other... From experience, I know that what my company is REALLY saying is "where we see fit, wherever can save us more money - claim service be damned!" Never mind the policyholders who are used to local contacts and prompt service. Let's squash all of these claims into as few offices as possible, cut down on the number of employees as much as possible, and work the remaining few half to death. MEANWHILE, outsource some of our clerical work to countries in SOUTH AFRICA, SOUTH AMERICA and ASIA.

3) After the cryptic memos appear, then we have a "stand-up" meeting, wherein we are told by the head of our department that she has no answers but will keep us advised of any info as it becomes available to her.

4) The next day, we have another "stand-up" meeting, wherein we are told that the head of our department STILL has no answers, but that the VP will be here TOMORROW to have a meeting with all of us and tell us all that HE knows -- but then she tells us that he likely will not have any answers for us either.

I have been through this SO many times with my company that I really almost wish they would just close us down and be done with it. I'm getting too old for this shit!

I had been, in the last few weeks/months, debating early retirement. I'm 55 now and can take early retirement. The plan was to not take any benefits until I'm 62, 65 or 66, and work somewhere else for 10 years, possibly accumulating a second pension....now that THIS information has been delivered, I think I'll just stick around and wait for the severance pay, which would be more than a half year salary for me. (It pays to be here since dirt...) AND if I get "downsized" and take severance pay, my retirement benefits stay intact until I so choose to take the benefits.

Greed....out and out greed....The greed of this company continually amazes me. ..meanwhile, while the honchos in The Big Office get richer and richer and richer....those of us in the salt mines keep on getting screwed....

But you know what? Bottom line is I don't even CARE anymore. IF they shut us down here, it will take them several months to actually DO it....then, I would be paid for whatever vacation time I have left, which is substantial, plus 28 weeks of severance pay, during which time, if I so choose, I can be working somewhere else.

Retirement plans are on the back burner now....

C'mon, Corporate Dudes....DO IT....PLEASE!! Once and for all, just DO it and gimme my money.

I Can Finally Flex Again!!!

2008-08-11T09:27:00.002-05:00

Man alive...it seems like forever since I've been able to flex here at work...basically because my whole month of July was nearly taken up by vacation and preparation for vacation and all that. I almost forgot to come in early this morning!!!

Should be an interesting week at work...this is the first week since Judy retired that Lynne, Barb and I will all be here all week. Our supervisor is off work this week, but this will give us a true picture of how we can, the three of us, handle all of the work. My guess is that it's going to be VERY enlightening....but, be that as it may, I can only do what I can do....They will get an honest day's work from me, but I will NOT knock myself out scurrying about trying to finish up every little thing. There is one person here that definitely needs to pick up the pace a little bit, and until she does, I'm staying at an even keel.

I will not let it get to me...I will not let it upset me. I will just know in my heart that I gave Wausau an honest day's work, and if they wonder why all the work isn't done, they can look in another direction, and quite possibly do what they should do -- for one thing, they can start eliminating some of the tasks that we do that the claim handlers are supposed to do - tasks that they bumped over to us when there were 5 of us here (now there are 3), things that we had time to do before. Well, we don't have time to do them anymore. And, they should look at hiring someone, at least a part timer, to help with some of this stuff.....

In the meantime....I will do my work...and not worry about the rest of it or timing or anything like that. Nobody, however, will be able to accuse me of not doing my job.

Anyway..that being said...what a gorgeous weekend we just had! Oh, how I wish the summer would always be like that! Temperatures in the 70's...low humidity...nice breeze! Heaven on earth! I relish it while it's here....yesterday, I was actually a little chilly and had to put on long jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt!! It felt heavenly!!!

Gary and I can't believe that summer is almost over....where did it go??? We're almost to September already...well, okay, 3 weeks away, but....I can't figure out where the summer went!

And on that note...ramblings aside...I must get back to work and get my "honest day's work" in.
Til later.....

An Aging Dreamcatcher's Wit And Whimsey

2008-08-02T20:52:00.001-05:00

Random Questions. (:

What time do you go to bed?: 10:00
Do you drink coffee?: Constantly
What was the last song you listened to?: "Together Again"
How old were you when you got/gave your first kiss?: 13
What kind of ice cream is your favorite?: Death By Chocolate
Have you ever met an internet friend in real life?: Yes
Are you/have you ever been anorexic?: No
Do you know which US states don't use Daylight Saving Time?: Yes
What size shoe do you wear?: 8 1/2
Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?: My mom
Which is more important in your life, TV or Internet?: Internet
Do you have an iPod?: Yes
Have you ever been fired from a job?: No
Have you ever taken something you knew belonged to someone else?: Yes
Do you overuse smileys?: No
Who is better; Madonna or Blondie?: Madonna
Who is better; Elton John or Billy Joel?: Billy Joel
Do you know the song Total Eclipse Of The Heart?: Yes
When was the last time you ate something?: About an hour ago
Name three website you visit every day:: QVC, Ebay, Purebred Cat Rescue
Have you seen all of the Jaws movies?: Yes
Do you have Entomophobia?: You bet!
Do you know what Entomophobia is?: Yes
Have you ever worn black eyeliner?: Yes
Have you ever worn blue mascara?: Yes, still do!
Ever spiked your hair?: No
How long have you had a computer?: 15 years
Have you ever written something, and published it on the internet?: Yes
Do you have a crush on anyone at the moment?: No
Do you like Starbucks?: Yes
Have you ever owned a kitten?: Yes
Is it raining where you are?: No
When was the last time you played cards? (not on the computer): Can't remember
Can you play chess?: Yes
Ever owned a pair of the original Nikes? (white, with only a single swoosh): No
Ever worn leg warmers?: No
When was the last time you read a book over 700 pages long?: I listen to audio books
How many people are on your IM friends list?: 20 or so
How many hours of sleep do you usually get?: 6
Have you ever drank cherry coke?: No
Do you prefer using pens or pencils?: Pens
Have you ever skipped for a long distance?: No
Have you ever had a black eye?: Yes
The torture is over, you may now leave. (:

Fill out this survey yourself
Find a different survey
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Vacation's Over!

2008-08-02T20:39:00.002-05:00

...and we've actually been back for a few days now. Been trying to catch up with things. We got back into town on Monday night from our Alaska cruise. Monday night, we basically unpacked and started laundry and that was about it. Both of us had off work on Tuesday, so we spent the day just relaxing and finishing laundry and trying to get back in the swing of things and recover from all of the FOOD that comes with the train and the cruise!! Both of us were totally fooded out by the time we got home.

Got back to work on Wednesday and found out that Barb will be out until next Wednesday...Judy's last day was Thursday, as she chose to retire....and Lynne will be out all next week, so on Monday and Tuesday, it's me and Mary Ellen, my supervisor...and Mary Ellen needs to take off most of the day on Tuesday, so that leaves....ME!!! (Did I happen to mention that I think early retirement is a good thing?? And that now that I'm 55 years old, I am eligible for early retirement???)

Things are really going to get weird at work....on weeks when one of us is on vacation, the rest of us won't be able to flex, now that Judy's retired and there are only three of us....and since the three of us get so much vacation, it's going to be hard pressed to find a week where none of us are on vacation, so flexing is, for all intents and purposes, a thing of the past. Also, only one of us can be on vacation at any given time (obviously not counting next week, as it's okay to have Karen there alone!), days off during holidays are going to be almost impossible as well.

Ah well...no use dwelling on it. I'll bide my time and do what I can....if they don't think the work is getting done quickly enough, they can hire someone to take Judy's place....

Anyway...spent the rest of the week just getting back to normal....and today we took several hours to get the yard back into shape. We had someone here housesitting while we were gone, and taking care of Missy, but I didn't expect her to take care of the gardens while we were gone, so we had a lot of weeding to do. I'm still not done with it all, but we got a good portion of it done.

Spent the rest of the day working on our vacation blog and my vacation pictures on Webshots. I have about 5 more days to go on that.....Then I want to figure out which pictures I want to have printed...and sometime during winter (!!) I'll put together my Alaska scrapbook....

And that's about it from this neck of the woods...vacation was a BLAST, but it's always good to get home....

....it's summer time, summer time, sum-sum-summer time....

I'M ON VACATION!!!

2008-07-12T06:39:00.002-05:00

...and does it ever feel good knowing that I don't have to go back to work until July 30 !! I wish I could do this every month!

Well, today Mary is coming over for a barbecue and movies...get her a little more acquainted with Missy, so that Missy can get used to her... Mary will be staying here while we're on the cruise. I bet when we come home, Missy will be giving us the cold shoulder, as kitties sometimes do when their routine is upset. Well, she'll get over it.

4 more days until we hop the train for Seattle. Should be an interesting experience, as we've never done the "compartment" thing on the train before, we've always traveled coach. This should be a little quieter, a little more relaxed....and we don't have to share our potties with 100 other people!! Luxury!!!

The next 4 days will be busy...getting ready for leaving. But we're all really looking forward to this.

On that note, coffee is ready, and I have to go get some in my system....will write more later as things progress....

Changing Weather Today....

2008-07-02T21:43:00.002-05:00

Started out pretty nice this morning, and then got real warm and muggy out there...then came the storms - nothing damaging, thankfully....and now it's really nice outside, in the middle 60's and the dew point has dropped dramatically...my kind of sleeping weather!!

Got word yesterday that Amtrak's Empire Builder is running it's normal route again - which is a huge relief for us, as we are taking that particular train to Seattle in two weeks, prefacing our Alaska cruise...There had been so much flooding here in Wisconsin, after the torrential rains of three weeks to a month ago, and the tracks about 60 miles northwest of us were still under water. They'd been having passengers who were booked on the Empire Builder out of Milwaukee either travel to Chicago to pick up the train there, where it would skirt around the affected area on different tracks, or Amtrak would bus you up to Eau Claire where you would then pick up the train....we were hoping that we wouldn't have to do either, and it looks like (weather holding) we'll be okay when we leave. Keep your fingers crossed....

On the lookout for scrapbooking materials that are Alaska related....I never got into scrapbooking, as the last thing in the world that I need is another hobby...but I figure this trip is worth scrapbooking. I'm SO looking forward to this trip!!

Looked at the calendar today and found that I only have to work 7 more days in July! I think I can handle that....it's not been easy working there lately, and it's going to get worse when Judy retires at the end of the month, but...I guess I'll just worry about that later. I have enough stress in my life right now!! I guess at this point, at almost 55 years old and having 36 years in with the company, I'm just going to do what I can do and let the rest go. If the work backs up, perhaps they'll replace Judy...if not, then I guess the manager will just have to figure out another solution. If I knock myself out and work myself into an early grave to keep things caught up, as long as things ARE caught up, nobody's going to even think about replacing Judy, so....there's no incentive here to keep things caught up -- unless we're really able to. But I'm not going to stress about it...I'm going to go in, give them an honest 7.5 hours of work per day, and go home and not think about it.

Have not been sleeping well...I'm sure it's because of my job...halfway through the afternoon I have to make a caffeine run....sigh...that's gotta stop...

Anyway...I'm off to the recliner now, with my stitching......

I Do Love Weekends

2008-06-29T05:31:00.002-05:00

...and here it is another Sunday. That means the weekend is half over....I suppose that would be the pessimistic way to look at it. At any rate, I woke up around 5 this morning, with a kitty on my shoulder....couldn't get back to sleep and figured I might as well get up and not waste the day! Not much on my agenda today...stitching, of course...would like to get my new spice rack set up in the cabinet...balance the checkbook (ick)...and yank some weeds outside, weather permitting. If I can get all of that done today, I'll feel as though I haven't wasted the day.

We did a lot of running around yesterday. Had lots of errands to run, and then even took the time to set up my new camera yesterday. I think I'm going to like it. I do have to get a new case for it, though, since it's much smaller than any other digital camera I've ever had, even smaller than my Canon.

Should be a quiet day today....fingers crossed...

Summer's Here...

2008-06-26T12:31:00.012-05:00

…in all its glory. Holy cow, it's warm and humid out there. I don't mind the heat so much, but that humidity is a killer -- add to that the thousands and thousands of mosquitoes that have been hanging around ever since all of our flooding took place. Makes it pretty miserable to be outside these evenings. Brookfield is supposed to spray for the little buggers, but so far I don't see that they have….and if they have, it hasn't done any good!!

Have a bit of a lull here at work, so decided I'd blog a little bit. Maybe that way I can keep up with writing. Golly, thinking back to when I was in high school, you couldn't KEEP me from writing, and we didn't even have computers back then. (Yes, in case you haven't guessed, I'm older than dirt….) I still have notebooks full of all of the poetry I wrote back then. I should probably do something with that nonsense. Maybe take it down to the book binder and have them put it all into one volume with a cover. Not a bad idea, because then I could copyright the whole thing as ONE item, called "The Collected Works Of"….and not have to pay a filing fee for each and every piece of poetry. Food for thought…in all of my spare time….

Speaking of the book binder, I also have to take my novel down there and have him bind that. Then I'll have one good copy of my novel…I don't know why I want to do that, but…I guess it's just that it'll take up less room than that huge binder that holds it now.

Been spiffing up this blog a little bit -- have you noticed? Added a few things over there on the right side of the page. Kinda fun playing with this thing….should add some blinkies…will have to discuss with Barb K to find out how - she's really good at spiffing up the blogs….hers is awesome… I love Petra's blog too….she stays so current with hers and posts all these lovely photos….I'm watching James grow up from afar….

I must get back to work now….they expect me to work for my salary, funny people…..will make an effort.

Relaxing Weekend...

2008-06-22T09:22:00.001-05:00

...so far anyway! The weather was gorgeous yesterday, and before it got too hot, Gary and I went out and did some yard work....pulled a lot of weeds from all of the gardens, Gary fertilized the lawn, and then we spread a shredded cedar mulch in both of the rose gardens. Things look pretty good out there so far, and as my mom pointed out, most of the gardening work is done for the season now that all of the planting is done. Maintenance can take a while, but at least I don't have any more things to plant...unless, of course, I find something yummy that I can't do without at a good price...which can happen at any given time...heh...

Spent the rest of the day yesterday sitting in my family room, watching movies and stitching. And bird watching, of course...waiting for the hummingbirds to come back. So far, I haven't seen them this year....

Going to be a quiet day today, I think...will, of course, watch In the Kitchen With Bob on QVC - can't miss that!! And will get some more stitching done. I'd like to organize my charts that I've pulled out of various magazines throughout the years...might get that done today in between stitches.

Other than that, should be a quiet day. Gary says he might run out and do some train watching over at Duplainville, so....

Time for coffee....so for now, I'll sign off....here's to a lovely day!!

Once again....

2008-06-15T16:59:00.002-05:00

...it's taken me a couple of weeks to get back to this blog, but it's been a couple of busy weeks. The weather has NOT been cooperating with outdoor duties, and then of course I was in Kentucky for 5 days...and the weather is STILL not cooperating!

Anyway...Mother and I, along with Marcy and her mom, traveled down to Kentucky, Russellville to be exact, to attend Belinda Battaglini's Stitchers' Getaway. This was the second year that mom and I went. We had a really good time, and the project was a lot of fun. I still have to finish it, but it's my very first biscornu. Sure is pretty so far. I'm hoping to finish it soon, and then we'll see how pretty it ends up! LOL!

Had a worry or two on the way home, as the midwest has been drowned in rain. Gary called us when it started, and apparently while we were gone, we had about 7 inches of rain. Gary said that all of the ditches, as well as the streets here in our subdivision, were all flooded. It got to the point where our sump pump, when it would kick in, was letting water IN rather than putting water OUT, as there was no place for the water to go anymore, and when the check valve opened, in the water came! Didn't have too much damage, though, basically the old rugs that we had down in the basement...no big loss. Easily replaced. Could have been a whole lot worse.

Gary was a little concerned that we might not make it back home as planned, as the Wabash River was flooded - we were supposed to stay in Terre Haute over night, and apparently Terre Haute was being evacuated. He called the hotel and they told him that if we could get there, they were open! We did get there...and had no further problems on the way home, until we hit Waukesha -- half the city was closed -- and then we found out there was one road open to our subdivision - matter of fact, there is STILL only one road open, a full week later.

Since we got home, we've had more rain and more rain....today, so far, only a drizzle,and we're hoping that the next few days will be dry. Keep your fingers crossed.

Other than that, let's see....been getting as much work done as I can outside...this weekend we finished the planting...and Gary managed to get the lawn mowed in between rain drops. Started the weeding, put up the hummingbird feeder....there's still a lot more to be done out there, but it'll wait until tomorrow.

We have a little sickly squirrel that keeps hanging around our patio...I ended up calling the Humane Society yesterday, because I didn't know what was wrong with the poor little fellow...he looked all chewed up and very lethargic...he liked sitting below our bird feeders and eating the seeds that dropped.

Humane Society got a good look at him, and she seemed to think that it is some sort of fungal issue, with all of the water around here. She said that he would heal on his own in the wild, so we're just letting him hang out here...today he looks a little less lethargic, so I'm encouraged.

Not much else going on....better get back to some stitching....until next time....

Weekend!!!!

2008-05-31T06:38:00.003-05:00

..and as predicted, the week went pretty fast. Gotta love those short weeks! And this week at work will be short as well, since I'm leaving for my stitching weekend in Kentucky on Thursday...Love those short weeks...

We did finally get the word that when Judy retires, she will not be replaced...none of us are real happy about that, but on the other hand, none of us were surprised. Guess we'll have to see how it goes. Some of us will have to step up the pace a little bit. At any rate, I'm not going to obsess over it...what gets done gets done...what doesn't get done doesn't get done.

I think the biggest issue - not really the work volume - is the vacation and flex times. There will only be able to be one of us gone at a time, and that's going to create a few conflicts. More than a few, actually. As far as flexing goes, I usually flex on Wednesdays...everyone else wants Friday, and as an alternative, Thursday. I don't think that anyone will want Wednesdays, unless they're just trying to create problems, so I don't think, for the most part, that my flexing will be affected....if it is, well then...I'll deal with it.

The big thing is vacations....all of us have been there for so long that we get a ton of vacation time, and with onl one of us to be able to be gone at any given time, it will be hard pressed to find a week when all of us are there. And the holidays are going to be bad -- Thanksgiving and Christmas....But I'm sure - if we all play nice, which I know at least two of us will - we'll work it out somehow.

Meanwhile, I'm not in a hurry to find a different job...if something crosses my path that looks interesting, I'll give it a second look. If I see something that is close to my home and comparable in salary and/or benefits, it will definitely be an option for me.

Other than that, let's see....nothing on the docket today except for housework and yard work....weather permitting for the yard work. Tomorrow my monthly Stitch & Bitch group will be here for the afternoon...and then I'll have to start thinking about what to take with me to Kentucky. I am SO looking forward to that.

And speaking of cleaning...I'd better get started!!

Busy Day....

2008-05-27T21:19:00.002-05:00

...and I'm ready to turn in for the night already. Sigh...I'm getting old.

Well, it was a very productive three day weekend. I'd made a list, on Friday, of all of the things I wanted to accomplish over the weekend, and when I looked at the list, I laughed. But believe it or not, I managed to do all of the things on that list...sometimes I surprise myself!

I planted 6 geraniums, 3 spikes and 3 vinca vines in my front porch planter...50 impatiens around the lamp post...24 petunias in front of the rose bed...3 pepper plants and 3 tomato plants...also did some weeding....did a spread sheet of my audio books and another one of my DVDs....(hopefully that will prevent further duplicate purchases!!!) and uploaded those spread sheets onto my PDA so that I always have those lists with me (just like my cross stitch chart list!!)

Manged to get all of that done by around noon on Monday, and spent the balance of the day/evening sitting in my recliner and stitching.

Busy day at work today, as both Lynne and Barb were out for the day...which left me to do the claim indexing. I indexed about 100 claims today...which leads me to wonder why Barb can't handle it alone when there are 40 claims. It is, after all, HER job, not mine....sigh...

Be that as it may....things are going to get real interesting at work when Judy retires, which will be at the end of July. No word yet on whether or not they're going to replace her. I'm giving serious though, if they do NOT replace her, of retiring shortly thereafter, which I can do at age 55, which I will be at that time. I won't, of course, take any of my retirement benefits. I'll let them sit until I'm 62 or 66, and in the meanwhile I'll work somewhere else and perhaps get yet another retirement by the time I'm in my 60's. All food for thought....I'm not going to sit where I am for another 12 years and pick up all of the work that Judy will leave behind. I guess I'm just tired of being the one that has to pick up the slack all the time. We'll see how it goes...

And on that note, it's been a busy 4 days....so I think I'm calling it an evening. Tomorrow is Wednesday already...I'm liking that. Weekend will come quickly this time.....

Quick Weekend!!

2008-05-11T18:46:00.001-05:00

Wow, it was a fast weekend!! Seems like it just began, and now it's almost over, and I didn't even spend half the day putting items up for bid on Ebay! Oh well...back to work tomorrow, I suppose...

Weekends, weekends...where do they go?? Friday night we stayed home...with the price of gasoline these days, we hate to make unnecessary trips....so we put off our usual Friday night grocery shopping to Saturday, since we knew we had places to go on Saturday anyway.

Saturday morning, we met our friends Linda and Pat, and my mom, for our monthly breakfast group outing...always nice catching up with Linda and Pat....such nice people!! From there, Gary and I headed off to Pick & Save to pick up some produce....and then we went in search of an AT&T store so that we could inquire about ATT Uverse, to replace our Time Warner Cable...spent a good deal of time there, and the clerk was very good about answering our questions...We were able to negotiate a $150 cash back deal with them, which is also pretty darned good. Anyway, they will be installing our cable and our wireless internet next Saturday. I'm anxious to get the wireless internet, since I have a laptop..will be nice to drag the laptop anywhere in the house (and even outside!!) and not have to keep running back to our home office....

From there we went to Sam's Club for the usual groceries...and then home. Cleaned the house, chopped veggies, and that was about it for the day.

This afternoon, it was our monthly Stitch & Bitch group over here...6 of us stitching away for several hours...and eating. My gosh, everyone brings so much food over here! LOL! I think we should call the group Eat Stitch & Bitch!! And we all have such a good time....

Now I'm settled in after cleaning the kitchen....looking forward to watching Survivor for 3 hours tonight. Gary's not thrilled with that, but he's down in the basement working on his projects anyway, so.....

On to the recliner...and more stitching....

>^..^<
Getting older means paring yourself down to an essential version of yourself.

Spring?

2008-05-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I had THOUGHT spring was here....matter of fact, it was almost HOT yesterday. But today we only managed to hit about 50 degrees or so. I guess I'm glad that I don't plant anything until after Memorial Day!! Not that it was below freezing last night or anything like that, but I'm not taking any chances!

Busy couple of weeks at work - for whatever reason. Not sure why. I do know that it's going to get a lot busier after July, when Judy retires. We're relatively sure the company is not going to replace her when she goes. It's going to throw a wrench into pretty much everything there, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it, as I have about another 12 years to go before I retire. I think. Wait...11 years. Since I've already been there 36 years, I'm definitely on the home stretch.

I only hope that after I retire I have enough good years left in me to enjoy myself....keep those fingers crossed!!!

Busy Week....

2008-04-26T21:40:00.002-05:00

I guess that's a good thing when I'm working, since it makes the time go faster, but this weekend is going just as quickly as the work week did, which isn't necessarily a good thing...sigh....

Speaking of work....I have some major decisions to make in the next several months. One of our team members is retiring at the end of July...the question that seems to be hanging in the balance is whether or not she's going to be replaced, or if they're going to let my team whittle down to three people. We were at five until Tammy left us over a year ago...they didn't replace her....I'm thinking they're not going to replace Judy when she retires either...

If that is the case....I guess I'll be leaving too. I can't imagine what it would be like working there with just the three of us -- especially since all of us have been there for years and all have a ton of vacation time every year. If we're down to three people, there could only be one of us gone at a time, which isn't going to work with us having so much vacation time coming.

Not just that, though...I'm already filling in for everyone else when they're off of work. Being another person short EVERY day is not going to be a good thing for me. I don't mind putting in an honest day's work, but it gets old when I'm the one filling in all the time.

So....the thought I'm having is that if they do not replace Judy, I will be retiring in August - early retirement at age 55....I'll not take any retirement benefits until I'm 65 or so...and in the meantime, I'll just find another job. It'll be tough giving up 36 years of seniority, but....I'm not going to subject myself to what's bound to happen if we're down to three people.

Other than that, let's see....Gary's in the family room snoozing in front of the TV and snoring so loudly I can't hear the TV...so here I am in the office...and just like when he's snoring loudly in bed, the instant I leave the room he stops snoring.

It just ain't fair, I tell ya!

On that note...I'm heading off to bed so I can get to sleep before he comes in and starts to snore there.....

The Weekend....

2008-04-19T21:40:00.002-05:00

...has finally arrived, and is now half over. Seems to go so fast. Anyway, I'm trying hard to keep up with this journal...so far I'm doing better than I had been.

Was a busy day today....got our grocery shopping done last night, so didn't have to worry about that, but we had a lot of errands to run today. And Gary, poor sweet, has come down with The Walking Death that I had a couple of weeks ago. And, being a man, he's a total wretch when he's sick....wish I could make him feel better....he was a trooper all day, though, running all over town with me.

And what about the price of gas lately?? Holy cow....a number of things have to happen here....first of all, and probably most importantly, people need to cut down what they're using in gasoline. We still have these morons out there "cruising" the streets at night...we still have people that have lead feet....people who have to stand on the gas pedal the instant the light turns green...people who run here and there without combining errand trips and/or planning ahead....If people would cut down even one gallon a week....just one gallon...you'd see such a backup of gasoline on reserve that the prices would come down overnight.

Secondly....we need to open up our pipelines and let e'm do what they're supposed to do....screw the tree-huggers....we have oil - let's use it. We have to stop depending on foreigners -- especially foreigners who hate Americans -- for our fuel. We have it here. Let's use it.

End of rant in that regard....sigh...everything's going up except my salary....

Be that as it may, I just plug along as best I can....Gary and I aren't rich, but we're making a go of it....and trying to cut down on certain things, up to and including gasoline. I put $20 a week into my gas tank....that's it. And I make it do. Pity more people don't do the same.

Anyway, on a lighter note, am going to play Bingo with my friend Regina tomorrow...it's her birthday, and it's been a standing tradition with us to play Bingo on our birthdays...maybe tomorrow one of us will get lucky....

We can only hope.....

Cheers!

HA!!!

2008-04-17T18:42:00.002-05:00

HA!!! Two days in a row...see?? I can do it. But do I have anything to write about? Probably not, but why change now??

I'm blissfully in between TV shows, so have a half hour to get everything done that I need to get done. My life is such a routine....maybe I need to kickstart myself in the butt, yes? Be that as it may..must watch Jeopardy...must watch Survivor....and there's a newer show on Court TV, now called Tru TV, called Worlds Dumbest Criminals...kind of a kick to watch that....nobody ever said criminals were smart, I guess...this show proves it.

Spring was here for one day and now gone again....though it was sunny today, it is a good deal cooler than yesterday - by about 20 degrees...I hear we're to get rain now for the next three days..just when the sump pump was relaxing a little bit. Oh well...at least we have one. I shudder to think of what it would have been like if we hadn't had one.

Talked to my friend Debbie today..haven't talked to her in a while....she says there's a new man in her life, which I think is great....she's been divorced for about a year now I think, from the man she'd been dating since she was 12 and was married to for over 30 years....the man who decided that he needed a change after all that time...the man who now finds it hard to get along without her, apparently....anyway, she's done with him, and she's gotten on with her life. I'm glad....Bob will never truly understand how much he gave up when he went stupid on us...

Busy trying to get some of my "small" stitching done in between Halloween stuff. Though here at home I'm just stitching the Halloween stuff, I bring smalls to the office to work on....have finished a couple of them, but have a whole lot more to go. I'm determined, though, to whittle down that stash list before I go out and buy more...though I don't know what'll happen at the Stitcher's Getaway in June. We shall see...hopefully everything Belinda has there will be stuff I already have, but I doubt it! I'm sure I'll find a few items that I can't live without....(don't I usually???)

Okay...I'm heading back to my stitching chair...Survivor's almost on...

Here's to everything...up to and including those who comprise my somewhat shaded past....

Best Intentions.....

2008-04-16T22:10:00.002-05:00

...yet somehow I manage to forget about writing in this blog for days, weeks on end. I really had intended to be much better at this, but somehow, time seems to get away from me all the time. I guess the old thing about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks might be true....??

At any rate...I see it's been a while, once again, since I last contributed to this masterpiece I call a blog...same with my novels, they are sitting and collecting dust as well....My second novel is in a "rewrite and polish" stage...the third one is in a "well at least it's started" stage....the first one, of course, is in its finished and copyrighted stage, just waiting on a publisher to take a chance on an unknown. Of course, that's just another aging dreamcatcher's whimsey...forget the wit!

But it has been a busy few weeks, I will admit that. Work has been unbelievably busy at times, then unbelievably slow. Never know what to expect there.

On the up side, I have been on the Jenny Craig program for six weeks and have dropped close to 20 pounds...19.4 to be exact. The food is great, I really can't say enough of it. What's REALLY nice is not having to go through the "gee what should I make for supper" routine anymore. It's all right there for me. I could get used to that!

At any rate....once again, here's to best intentions....and here's another promise to do better in the future....(perhaps it's because I have nothing interesting to write about??? Can't be....)

So here's my New April 16 resolution...I do resolve to writing more often....and hoping that somewhere, someone could be reading....maybe that one who's much too far away....??

This and That....

2008-04-03T21:53:00.002-05:00

...sigh...why is it that some people just do not listen? We all have the internet at work...and of course, we're all supposed to mind our Ps and Qs and not be doing things on the internet that are not company related....or work related...but you know, everyone does a little bit here and there -- even the managers.

What they've always warned us about is things like streaming video. In other words, don't be watching television episodes on your company computer, don't be watching BASKETBALL GAMES, etc., on your company computer....and all will be well....

Unfortunately, earlier this week, two people in our office disregarded the obvious and our entire system slowed down to the point of almost crashing. Help desk was called, and they determined that our office was the only one having issues out of the hundreds of offices we have....

Boils down to two employees in our office watching sports of some kind on their computers. Not good. So, the company is once again cracking down on internet usage at the office...flexing its muscles, so to speak. A mere inconvenience to most of us, as most of us aren't stupid enough to abuse the computer like that in the office, but it just takes a couple of morons to spoil it for the rest of us.

So, we all have to tread lightly when it comes to internet usage for a while. I don't know how long that will last, but it's a nuisance. Not the first time, likely will not be the last, but...I hate it. All because of a couple of dorks who couldn't keep their noses clean....

Other than that, let's see....been a fast week at work. Tomorrow is Friday, and that's almost the weekend, so that's a good thing. I actually like it when it's busier at work - the days seem to scoot by. Nothing worse than having nothing to do, and watching the clock tick tock tick tock tick tock...Some of my coworkers don't agree, but....I'd rather be busy.

I don't mind putting in an honest day's work...for an honest day's pay, and I have to admit, they pay me pretty well for what I do. I guess that comes with the territory of having been there for 35 years. 12 more to go....then I'm out of there. Shall I start a count-down calendar?

Here's to computers....and internet....and wishing we were wireless at the office - cuz if we were, I could access the internet on my PDA and nobody'd care!

Cheers!

Rain or Snow.....

2008-03-26T20:46:00.002-05:00

...not sure which one it's going to be tonight, I guess it all depends on which way the temperature goes. At one point, they were saying six inches of snow tonight, but they've since downgraded that, thank goodness....spring may be on the way after all....(but I'm not holding my breath...)

Been a busy week at work. Judy is out this week...Barb was out today...Mary Ellen is out on Friday, and I'm out Friday afternoon, so that means just Lynne and Barb Friday afternoon. Hopefully - for Lynne's sake - it will be a quiet afternoon. Usually I flex on Wednesdays, but Barb asked me if I would switch my flex day, since she needed to take off today. I said okay...and then Mary Ellen decided to take off this Friday....it'll work out....I guess...

Still battling this virus of mine...it's getting better, but I still have about 500 frogs in my throat...wish they'd take a hike...I'm getting tired of this!

Seems this is yet another year that is, for whatever reason, just scooting by for me. Can't believe it's almost April already....almost time to start planting little green things and encouraging them to grow.

For now, it's on to my stitching...and dreaming of spring....

...and onward....

2008-03-21T20:46:00.002-05:00

Looks as though we're back to winter here in Wisconsin...so far we've had 13 inches of snow here today. Just when we were beginning to see grass again! Sigh...Oh well, at least we got out of work early, they closed us down at 1:00 this afternoon. (Their usual trick, letting us break our necks to get in to the office and then send us home during the worst of it, but hey....at least I wasn't sitting there for another 3 hours...)

Been trying to set up some filters and folders in my Yahoo mail...and am trying to force myself to get used to the NEW Yahoo mail, which I truly do not like...but maybe in time I will. I like the looks of it and stuff like that, but I do NOT like how long it takes the folders to load up.

At any rate, while fooling around with mail today, I did come to a pleasant realization.....for the last couple of days, the number of spam emails have dramatically decreased...For months, there wasn't a day gone by that I didn't receive at least 50 emails inviting me to address a certain part of male anatomy issues....(and I never knew there were so many nicknames for said anatomy). I had no less than 50 filters set up just to weed that garbage out of my email. This is a pleasant surprise and a welcome one. DH told me that some spam king was convicted of something this week and that all of his millions of minions were also shut down, so that must be the reason for the decrease...I don't care what did it, as long as it's been done. This was a GOOD thing....

So...here's to spring...wherever it may be....whenever it may be...it could be worse, I suppose. I do recall a year not so long ago when we received 10 inches of snow on May 10...

Here's to robins and gold finches that are turning yellow again....a sure sign of spring....soon to come...???

And here's to a good weekend coming up....here's to good friends....and good times....

I guess....

2008-03-20T05:49:00.002-05:00

...when the chips are down, you really get a good look at who your real friends are. This was true yesterday.

After I left one of my favorite groups, because of a misunderstanding and following furor, I was surprised to receive so many emails from people who wanted me to come back to the group. I gave it some serious consideration, and decided to accept their invitation and rejoin.

I'm glad I did....

I also tried to mend fences with those others involved, but....at this point, it looks as though that was an effort that went unnoticed.

Be that as it may. I'm content in knowing I did what I could to set things right. The proverbial ball is now in their court.

Meanwhile....I'm enjoying the group once more.

Plugging Along....

2008-03-19T07:54:00.002-05:00

...emphasis on plugging...I have the cold from hell...what our office has termed The Walking Death. Ugh...head cold combined with chest cold...coughing, sneezing, sniffing....ick ick ick. Don't like it...and have not gone to work for the last couple of days.

So, there's not really much going on right now....I had my 2nd week weigh-in at Jenny Craig last night, and lost another 4.6 pounds, which brings it up to 8 pounds in two weeks. I think that's pretty good, and the food is great. And I'm never hungry, which is a wonderful thing. I'm hoping the plan continues to work as well as it's working now.

Other than that, let's see...well, I did leave one of my favorite Yahoo groups....hated to do it, but the situation, combined with my feeling miserable with this virus, I just said the hell with it and got out of Dodge...very sad about it, but there's not much I can do about it. Got tired of trying to explain myself to people who wouldn't listen and insisted on taking things out of context. If they didn't know me better than that, as to think that I would actually mean what they took my words to mean, well then...they weren't very good friends in the first place. And at the very least, instead of attacking me on-list, they could have emailed me privately and asked me to clarify myself, which I would have cheerfully done and have been done with it.

Since they chose to publicly attack me, I left. Will hopefully keep in touch with those I made real friends with even so.

Off to do some stitching...

My Goodness....

2008-03-11T20:56:00.002-05:00

...has it really been over a month since I posted to this journal? What ever happened to my New Year's Resolution? This has to stop!!!

Well, let's see...what have I been up to...aside from the normal winter doldrums -- I mean, is it EVER going to stop snowing -- and sump pump woes, work pressures, etc....I guess not much is new.

Except I did start on the Jenny Craig program last week...today ended my first week on the program, and I lost 3.4 pounds, which is a pretty good start. Especially considering the food is so darned good...some of it, I actually felt a little bit naughty eating! Like the cheesecake...and the breakfast scramble....my gosh, the food is really, really good.

There's one gal that has lost 103 pounds in 36 weeks....I WANNA BE HER!!! And I will be. Maybe not in 36 weeks, but I will lose the weight. The program is excellent.

One good thing about the program is the financial commitment....I mean, I bought a year's membership....(that way I can also get discounts on the food!) It's a huge commitment for me, and I'm not so likely now to "cheat" here and there. This whole last week, I didn't eat one thing that wasn't on my planned menu....I am very proud of that.

Yes, it's a commitment...but here I am, overweight beyond belief, in my 50's...I'm a heart attack waiting to happen. And I would just as soon stick around for a while, if it's all right with everyone else....so I had to do something serious....

Jenny Craig is it....the food is good, the program is great, and the support at the Center is awesome.

Can't ask for more than that, can I? Except for results...and so far, I'm getting that too....

Back into the deep freeze....

2008-02-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

...or so they say. After being blessed with over a food of snow earlier this week, they're talking lows of 7 below zero tonight. I am SO ready for spring!!

But, since I can't do anything about the weather....I'll move on to other subjects. If I can think of any! Other than the weather, it's been a pretty good week. I did attempt to make it to work on Wednesday in the middle of the snow storm, but after a couple of miles of slipping and sliding and not being able to see where the road ends and the ditch begins, I said the heck with it, turned around and headed on home. Nothing I do at that office is so important that I had to get there. And they ended up closing the office anyway at 11:30 (which is their normal practice....let everyone break their necks to get in there, and then close in the middle of the worst of the storm so everyone can break their necks to get back home....you'd think they'd learn....)

Got new brakes and tires on my car last weekend....and had the radiator flushed and filled...looked like swamp water in there...This weekend it's Gary's turn, and we'll be putting new tires on his car. (Got our state tax refund already! Took only a week!! How exciting that we're spending it on CAR REPAIRS, yes??)

I finally threw in the towel at work, concerning the new "ergonomic" chairs they got for all of us. I have had nothing but problems ever since that chair arrived a couple of months ago. I get up in the morning and can hardly walk, my hips are so painful....I take 2 Aleve and go to work...I take 2 more Aleve when I get home. After a couple of months of that, I told my supervisor that I give up and I retrieved my old chair. I'm not the only one having issues with that chair....2 others on my team alone have retrieved their old chairs. It was actually to the point where my hips hurt so badly sometimes I could barely walk...a few times at the grocery store, I actually was dragging my feet behind me, leaning on the cart. Enough...

Thoughts of spring, thoughts of spring....let's keep 'em coming. I don't mind the snow so much, but this bitter, arctic cold has to go. Global warming? Yeah, right...what a bunch of nonsense THAT is....

Eagerly awaiting July, also, for our Alaska cruise....I am SO excited for that. I know it's going to cost a lot of money, but....I've wanted to do this for such a long time. Have to decide on what shore excursions we want to do....we've reserved a bunch of them, and now have to decide which ones we really want. Decisions, decisions.....

Off to clean....someone has to do it....THINK SPRING!!!!

Somebody listened.....

2008-01-27T08:05:00.000-06:00

....to my plea for warmer weather! Although it's only 7 degrees here at the moment, we have promises of 35 degrees sometime today! And 45 degrees with RAIN tomorrow!! Okay, as long as they keep the tornados off the ground this time....(whine, whine, whine...)

Well, here it is Sunday morning....I'm SO not wanting this weekend to end! Friday was a real zoo at work, and tomorrow's not looking any better....Judy was off on Friday, and the payments and faxes never stopped all day long, and that's all I was able to do all day long. Around 3, my supervisor asked me if I had been able to print the file labels, and I told her nope! She said that was fine, because the other stuff was priority anyway, so it was no big deal...Judy will again be off on Monday to apparently attend a funeral, so it looks like it'll be the same thing for Monday....

If nothing else, I've learned at that place that if not everything gets done, that's okay...I can only do what I can do, and if that means things get left undone, that's okay -- if the higher-ups don't like it, they can hire another person to help out. I keep trying to explain this to the other team members, who are also tired of being worked like dogs....if we keep knocking ourselves out to get everything done, the bosses think that we don't NEED any help. If we work at our normal paces (which, by the way is a GOOD pace, we're not slackers) and things go unfinished, THAT is a signal to them that we need more people. Until they get that signal, nothing will change.

It's not as though we're sitting there reading magazines.We're all working hard all day long. But I'm done knocking myself out for that place. As long as I can honestly tell my supervisor that I put in an honest day's work, then that's good enough for me. If it's not good enough for them, well...that's too bad. Retirement is right around the corner.

That being said, at least Judy's used a couple of her vacation days...with any amount of luck, we won't get to December and hear Judy say "Oh! I have to schedule 14 more vacation days by the end of the year!" like she did in 2007. That was a crock of crap. December was hell for me. Absolute hell. There were a total of 2 days out of the entire month when the entire team was there. And that was, pardon my French, bullshit.

Problem is that we've all been there so long, we all get a lot of vacation. It's not bad if people spread it out....for example, I get 39 vacation days per year. Plus, I can carry 20 days over from the prior year....so, I could get 59 vacation days. Imagine if I saved it all for the end of the year. If you have more than 20 days at the end of the year, you lose anything over 20, since you can only carry 20 over.

Some people just need to plan their time better, I guess....I usuall have no trouble using my vacation days....this year especially, since we're going to Alaska. I am SO looking forward to that cruise.....

Anyway...here's to weekends...vacations....coworkers who plan their time NICELY...retirement...stitching...temperatures above 30....and coffee. (I am a simple girl....)

Y'all have a good one!

Okay....

2008-01-24T17:04:00.000-06:00

...I am officially ready for spring. I'm tired of being cold. Whine, whine, whine. I have to admit we had it good for a while up here in the Tundra....a couple of weeks ago, we actually had temperatures in the 50's (unfortunately, that was accompanied by 5 tornado touchdowns, but....)

The last couple of weeks or so have been peppered with sub-zero temperatures, both at night and during the day....with promises if "it's only going to last a couple of days", just to see that time frame extended time and time again....My car's battery is the original, as is Gary's, and it's been a crap shoot and a "gee I hope it turns over" every time we turn the keys....

Today, I decided to come home at noon and harbor my car in the garage....and I just now got off the phone with Gary, whose car wouldn't start. (Now, why in the world he decided to call me instead of having someone else at his job try and jump start his car is beyond me, but....who am I???) Anyway, I convinced him to ask Randy to try and jump start him and to let me know if he wasn't successful.

Well, Randy was successful....and Gary is driving merrily to Batteries Plus as we speak to have a new battery put into his car...and we're hoping that's what the problem is/was. (How many times have I dropped a new battery into a car, just to have it die again in a couple of weeks and find out that it was something else draining said battery.....memories haunt me....) I do NOT want to keep putting money into that car...unfortunately, we still owe a year's worth of payments on it, so getting a new one at this point is beyond hope....

That being said...let me reiterate...I hate cold weather....well, I don't hate cold weather, I should qualify that....I hate BITTER cold weather....I hate anything under 20 degrees....I hate the car problems, the shivering, the high heating bills, and did I mention that I hate car problems???

End of rant.....c'mon, spring....I'm ready for ya.

...whine, whine, whine....

A New Year??

2008-01-19T11:07:00.000-06:00

....and I've not done such a good job keeping up with this blog, have I? Well...there's one resolution that hit the skids, I guess...wait a minute...the only resolution I made this year was to not make any resolutions!! I guess I'm okay then.

Well, thanks to my good buddy, Barb, I've managed to change the look of this blog for 2008. I don't know why I can be so dumb when it comes to things like this when I have all this computer background. I guess I'm just not that adventurous when it comes to being creative this way. Guess my talents lie in other areas, yes?

At any rate...it is indeed a new year.....and so far, January, has been scooting by like the wind. I'm looking forward to a great year....and so far, so good. The only real fly in the ointment is the work situation, but then again, that's something that may never change. I can look forward to retirement in 11 years. (On the other hand, one of my coworkers has been checking into retirement, and with what they pay for benefits, minus what you pay in taxes and medical care, since she's under 65 and not eligible for Medicare yet, she's going to end up paying the company to retire!! Makes me think twice about retiring before I'm 66...or 70....)

Woke up to almost 10 below zero this morning. Now that's cold!! Quite a contrast to a couple of weeks ago when we were near 60 degrees ABOVE zero and having tornados!! All I know is that this morning, I'm having serious doubts about global warming issues.....Thankfully, both of our cars started right up this morning, and I'm hoping that's a trend that continues tomorrow morning, as tonight is supposed to be just as cold. I guess we're looking at a high temperature today of about 4 degrees....ABOVE....So far, it's still 4 BELOW here. I'm not holding out much hope for their prediction.

Anyway....here's to a great 2008! And to my renewed hope of keeping up with this blog....and others.

Y'all keep warm!!!

Christmas....

2007-12-29T08:56:00.000-06:00

...is over for another year....let's hope the "good will" mentality sticks around a little longer, though.

What a wonderful Christmas we had! Good friends, family...and all the rest that goes along with Christmas, of course. I can't believe it got here so quickly this year. The year scooted by this time...I don't know where it went. Seems just yesterday I was out planting the gardens...which are now buried under about 30 inches of snow! LOL!

All the preparation for the holidays...I started decorating the day after Thanksgiving...got all of that done in about a week's time, then started baking my signature shortbread for about 30 different people. Also baked gingerbread men this year, but I didn't decorate them, so they were naked!!! All of my shopping was finished before November, so I didn't have that to worry about. I spent a couple of days wrapping everything, then got the cards into the mail, and I think I was completely done with all preparations about a week before Christmas actually got here...not bad...

Now I can sit back and do jigsaw puzzles and/or stitch my free time away...until it becomes time to take the decorations down and get back to reality!!

Our Christmas has less and less people these days....When I think back to my childhood and all the people that were gathered at our house on Christmas Eve, and then out to my grandparents' home in Brookfield (in the house where we now live) on Christmas Day....both sets of my grandparents are gone now, of course. My brother and his family live out in California....my stepdad is also gone now, and my stepbrother and his wife, sons and their families all live out in South Dakota. This Christmas, it was me and Gary, my mom, my ex-husband Rod and mom's friends, Andy and Barb. But we still had a marvelous time. Would be nice to get all of us together one year - those from California and from South Dakota - what a houseful that would be! 3 from California and 13 from South Dakota...What a crowd...but what fun it would be....

Here's to everyone....the near and the dear ones, the old and the young....(apologies to John Lennon...) God bless us, every one (with further apologies to Charles Dickens)

Keep the spirit with you......

And so here we are.....

2007-12-22T06:15:00.000-06:00

....less than a week away from Christmas....and I'm actually beginning to relax. LOL! Shopping was done a long time ago....got the decorating done the first week of Christmas....all the presents are wrapped, and the baking is done....and now I have the weekend, plus two days off work. I do have to go back on Wednesday to the office, but then I have Thursday and Friday off....not a bad work week. Wish it could be like that all the time, but that's not likely any time soon.

Anxiously waiting for January, though....this month has been hell at work. I think there were two days where the whole team was there...more often than not, there were two of my team members gone at any given time...and since it appears to be my job now to fill in for everyone else, and nobody else has to worry about anything (especially MY job when I'm gone!), it's been hectic...it's been busy...it's been annoying.

I had my review last week...heard all the usual rhetoric about how they don't know what they'd do without me...where have I heard that before. I told my supervisor that she should change my title to "floater", because that's what I feel like. Blah, blah, blah...let's see it on the paycheck, ya know? Retirement is looking better and better all the time.

I don't know what it is about some people that just make it harder on everyone else - and I think knowingly. I've been bumping noses with one of my coworkers all the time, especially with vacation time. She, unfortunately, didn't use much of her vacation time this year - she likes to save all of her time in case she has to go to a funeral or in case there is bad weather. Come December, she discovers that she has to use 13 more days - aside from what she already had scheduled - or lose them. So....that really screwed up my month. I'm hoping she doesn't do that again next year, and I think my supervisor is going to make certain that it doesn't...We can carry 20 days over to the next year...no reason why she had to hold all that many until December...that many being 33.

Our constant battle over who is taking off at Christmas will continue....one of us should take the week OF Christmas and the other the week AFTER Christmas...we're supposed to switch off. Well, I found out from my supervisor that she has already asked for half of the week of Christmas next year, as well as half of the week AFTER Christmas next year, thus preventing me from taking a full week EITHER week...that will also change. I told Mary Ellen, when I submitted my vacation request to her, that I would like to take whichever WEEK my coworker doesn't take. My supervisor agrees with me, that she will not be able to take half of each week. Why should she have Christmas Eve AND New Year's Eve days off?? She has to learn how to play nice....and share. She's used to not having to worry about it, because she used to have to share this time with another coworker, who is no longer there, but that coworker always ran out of vacation time before December came...she doesn't have that with me.

At any rate...should be interesting to see what happens. Nice to know that my supervisor is on the same page I am in that regard.

Went to the Lang factory store yesterday with Mother....they have such lovely Christmas cards, but they normally cost $15 a box...the factory store always has them on sale this time of year, 3 boxes for $15. So now I have my Christmas cards for next year, as well as my calendars and a few other doo-dads I picked up. Nice store....saved a bundle.....

Today, I have a few errands to run, but then am looking forward to a quiet, peaceful day...stitching for a while (will I ever get those gingerbread man towels done??) and maybe working on my jigsaw puzzle for a while.

Peace on earth...good will to men...and women...and children and animals.....hope everyone has a restful weekend before The Big Day arrives!!!

Been a While....

2007-12-02T20:52:00.001-06:00

...since I've posted to this blog...been a busy couple of weeks, I guess, and sometimes that shows in my lack of prose....wow...that rhymed....

Anyway....Thanksgiving was a success....had a lot of turkey left over, but that's all right by me, since I'm a certified turkey-aholic. Was a nice day. Mom was here, as was my ex-husband, Rod...and of course my husband Gary! LOL! Good thing they all get along, yes? Had the whole week off from work, and that was an added bonus.

Speaking of work...it's been busy. Lord, has it been busy! And I don't think there's one day for the rest of the year when my whole team is there at the same time. Which means, of course, that I'll be filling in for everyone while they're gone...not that anyone filled in for ME, when I was gone, but...I guess that's something that will never change. All I have to do is remember that in 12 more years, I can retire....heh...seems like a long time, but since I already have 35 years in with the company, I'm on the downhill slide....

Had Stitch N Bitch over here this afternoon...first Sunday of every month...it's a real tradition. We have a new stitcher, Randy! I know him from my local LNS, and he's a real good stitcher, so it's nice having him here too...he makes GREAT deviled eggs!!! Mom wasn't able to make it today, and we missed her....

Wishing I would hear from Tetyana regarding Stitch N Bitch....she was here once, and I sent her a few emails in the last couple of weeks and haven't heard anything from her....I think she and Mike may be in Europe. Time will tell....they did say they were heading off to France for their honeymoon.

We put up a fence around the property last week....looks really nice, but now the neighbor to the east of us, who is selling his home, had decided that the fenced is on HIS property, which I just can't imagine...we have a survey -- granted, it's from 1965, but property lot lines don't move over the years....I mean, a survey on file with the City should be as good as it gets. He's basing his theory on something my grandfather said to him 30 years ago....let's see...the 30 year old word of mouth or the legal survey...which do you think is more accurate?? anyway, as long as the contractor measured correctly -- and he told us that he measured twice -- we should be fine. It's in the contractor's hands now.

Was an interesting weekend...starting with a broken toilet...heh...no emergency, since we have more than one bathroom here, but....we took a shot at fixing it ourselves, and we did it! Well, Gary did it. All we had to do was replace the innards inside the tank...works like a charm, and I figure we saved about $150 in plumber fees....

Other than that, not much going on around here...one more week of work, and then I'm off for a week again. Definitely looking forward to that.

For now....gotta run....getting sleepy....much to do before Christmas!!!!