.....and after!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
More Snow!
Yessss!! More snow! I was convinced that we had seen the last of the snow this winter, but what a nice surprise! As usual, Andy and I had a snowball fight, and had a nice walk through the woods. After we were soaked and half frozen, we came inside and made homemade hot chocolate and molasses snow candy. The hot chocolate was delicious. The candy was, well, sticky! We have been making the candy for a couple of years now, and you'd think we'd get the hang of it! To make it, you boil molasses and brown sugar until it gets to the hard ball candy stage. Then you fill a cake pan with snow and pour the candy syrup in ribbons on top of the snow. It hardens almost immediately. Then you just lift it off of the snow and it's hard candy. I think we should have boiled it a bit longer, though. Oh, well. We had fun!
This has been a busy week - busy physically and mentally. Jerry and I visited a car dealership this week. And fell in love with a vehicle. Now the whole want-versus-need thing is rearing it's ugly head! Also knowing that we need to definitely finish the house so we can list it, and find a place in WV.......I've had a lot on my mind this past week. Sometimes it seems overwhelming. It's one thing to have a plan in mind, and quite another to actually start implementing it.
I just finished a book trilogy that is very good. The books are by Lynn Austin and are the Refiner's Fire series. They are set in Civil War times. One book is written from the perspective of a woman who lives in the south, yet has relatives in the north, and personally opposes slavery. She eventually becomes a spy for the north. The second book is written from the north's perspective, about a woman who gets involved in nursing against her family's wishes and a woman who disguises herself as a man so she can fight like her brothers. Eventually the two women cross paths and impact each other's lives. The third book is written from the perspective of two slaves. One is a girl who is seriously mistreated at the hands of her mistress, but doesn't see it as such and doesn't believe her life can be any different. One is a boy who was sold at the age of 9 and was bought by an abusive slave trader. He had a horrible life, but knew it and was angry. Eventually these two also cross paths. These three books seriously cut into my blogging time! But they are very, very good books.
Well, now I'd better go do something constructive - so many things to do and I truly don't feel like doing any of them..........!
This has been a busy week - busy physically and mentally. Jerry and I visited a car dealership this week. And fell in love with a vehicle. Now the whole want-versus-need thing is rearing it's ugly head! Also knowing that we need to definitely finish the house so we can list it, and find a place in WV.......I've had a lot on my mind this past week. Sometimes it seems overwhelming. It's one thing to have a plan in mind, and quite another to actually start implementing it.
I just finished a book trilogy that is very good. The books are by Lynn Austin and are the Refiner's Fire series. They are set in Civil War times. One book is written from the perspective of a woman who lives in the south, yet has relatives in the north, and personally opposes slavery. She eventually becomes a spy for the north. The second book is written from the north's perspective, about a woman who gets involved in nursing against her family's wishes and a woman who disguises herself as a man so she can fight like her brothers. Eventually the two women cross paths and impact each other's lives. The third book is written from the perspective of two slaves. One is a girl who is seriously mistreated at the hands of her mistress, but doesn't see it as such and doesn't believe her life can be any different. One is a boy who was sold at the age of 9 and was bought by an abusive slave trader. He had a horrible life, but knew it and was angry. Eventually these two also cross paths. These three books seriously cut into my blogging time! But they are very, very good books.
Well, now I'd better go do something constructive - so many things to do and I truly don't feel like doing any of them..........!
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Nothing New Here!
I haven't posted in a while but there's really nothing new going on around here. Andy got his new curriculum for the computer and has been using it this week. So far he seems to like it. I really like it! It let us choose the dates for the school year and then broke his assignments up accordingly for the year on a lesson planner. Each day when Andy signs on, his lessons for that day are in front of him. The teacher portion is on my computer and the student portion on his. When I sign on, I see a list of all his subjects and a running grade average beside each. He has switched to Spanish for his foreign language. At the beginning of the year when he chose Japanese, I showed him that the language course he chose was a high school course - it said "for grade 9 through 12" on it! He said that he wanted to try it anyway, and I thought he did very well with it. It started getting a little hairy of late, though. When he needed to choose a language to go with his computer curriculum, he chose Spanish because they didn't offer Japanese. Well, he can speak a little Japanese, anyway, and now I guess he'll speak Spanish too.
Well, not much more is happening around here, so there's not much to type for today. Oh, I'm sure I'll make up for it and write a novel in the near future!
Well, not much more is happening around here, so there's not much to type for today. Oh, I'm sure I'll make up for it and write a novel in the near future!
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Busy Day!
Today we had to go back to Tom's school for him to take his placement exam. The test started at 10:00 AM and we were told that it would take about two hours. We also had an appointment to meet with the finance office at 1:00. Since we figured we had some time while Tom was taking his test, we decided to take the Metro and explore until it was time for our appointment at 1:00. Jerry, Tom and Andy have never ridden the Metro before and I thought it would be fun to see what we could see! The Rosslyn station is right across the street from Tom's school so it was very convenient.
The Smithsonian was pretty close so we thought we would go there. Andy did not like the escalator ride down to the track level at all. We had just gotten off the Metro at the Smithsonian station, reached street level again and were deciding which direction to go in first when my phone rang. It was Tom - he was finished his test. It was exactly 10:40. I had already bought him a Metro pass because when we first arrived we were a little early for his test so I thought we could get the farecard-buying out of the way. We had planned to do a little riding and sightseeing after our appointment, so we all had a pass. Anyway, we told Tom to ride the Metro to the Smithsonian stop and we would meet him there. There are two exits out of the Smithsonian station. We had taken the Independence Avenue exit and told him we would wait for him there. After a few minutes Jerry's phone rang. Tom said, "I'm at the Smithsonian stop. I'm looking at the monument. Where are you guys?" We looked around - we couldn't see the monument from where we were standing - it turns out he took the Mall exit - not the Independence Avenue exit. We told him to stay put and we would meet him. We finally met him on the Mall, so we got a great view of the capitol and the monument.
We didn't have too much time so we decided to head toward the Natural History museum. We were all getting hungry so we had decided that we were going to try to find something to eat in the vicinity. We saw that the museum had a food court so we decided to have lunch there. What a HUGE mistake. It's a buffet-type food court, so we walked around and picked out what we wanted and met back up at the checkout line to pay. Here's what we got - Jerry and I each got a slice of pizza and a Coke. Tom got a sub - not a whole sub, mind you, but a slice of a sub. He also got a small paper cup full of french fries and a Coke. Andy got two chicken tenders, a small paper cup of french fries and a Coke. Not much food, right? The lady rang it up and calmly said, "$42.50, please". I immediately gave away our tourist/Southern Maryland/not-citified-in-any-way status when I exclaimed "OHMYGOODNESS!!" rather loudly. I was embarrassed afterwards, but I truly was shocked at that price! I told everyone not to eat their food, but to frame it as a souvenir. Well, by the time we ate we didn't have hardly any time left, so we decided we'd better head back to the Metro station. So - we went to the Museum of Natural History - to eat. We decided that we definitely want to go back, though, on a day when we don't have any other appointments and just explore, but we'll brown-bag it!
Shortly after we arrived this morning and were waiting in the school lobby for Tom to be called for his test, Jerry's phone rang. It was his brother, Johnny, informing Jerry that their mom had been in a car accident. She and two friends were traveling together when they had the accident. Jerry's mom and one of the ladies was okay but the paramedics decided that they were going to take the third lady to the hospital to be checked out because her chest was hurting her. It turned out that they released her and that everyone was okay except for some bumps and bruises. Jerry's mom had been driving but not in her car. She was driving the car of one of the friends. She told Jerry later this afternoon that she has a small cut on the bridge of her nose where her glasses hit her when the airbag deployed and some small burns on her arm from that. She said she was a little shaken but okay. She said she's not sure that she wants to drive anytime soon, though! Apparently it was the opinion of the police that both cars involved were totaled. There were two people in the other vehicle. The man driving wasn't hurt at all and his female passenger just had a broken finger. Everyone was very fortunate.
Well, I am very tired and have stuff to do, so enough of this novel for today!
The Smithsonian was pretty close so we thought we would go there. Andy did not like the escalator ride down to the track level at all. We had just gotten off the Metro at the Smithsonian station, reached street level again and were deciding which direction to go in first when my phone rang. It was Tom - he was finished his test. It was exactly 10:40. I had already bought him a Metro pass because when we first arrived we were a little early for his test so I thought we could get the farecard-buying out of the way. We had planned to do a little riding and sightseeing after our appointment, so we all had a pass. Anyway, we told Tom to ride the Metro to the Smithsonian stop and we would meet him there. There are two exits out of the Smithsonian station. We had taken the Independence Avenue exit and told him we would wait for him there. After a few minutes Jerry's phone rang. Tom said, "I'm at the Smithsonian stop. I'm looking at the monument. Where are you guys?" We looked around - we couldn't see the monument from where we were standing - it turns out he took the Mall exit - not the Independence Avenue exit. We told him to stay put and we would meet him. We finally met him on the Mall, so we got a great view of the capitol and the monument.
We didn't have too much time so we decided to head toward the Natural History museum. We were all getting hungry so we had decided that we were going to try to find something to eat in the vicinity. We saw that the museum had a food court so we decided to have lunch there. What a HUGE mistake. It's a buffet-type food court, so we walked around and picked out what we wanted and met back up at the checkout line to pay. Here's what we got - Jerry and I each got a slice of pizza and a Coke. Tom got a sub - not a whole sub, mind you, but a slice of a sub. He also got a small paper cup full of french fries and a Coke. Andy got two chicken tenders, a small paper cup of french fries and a Coke. Not much food, right? The lady rang it up and calmly said, "$42.50, please". I immediately gave away our tourist/Southern Maryland/not-citified-in-any-way status when I exclaimed "OHMYGOODNESS!!" rather loudly. I was embarrassed afterwards, but I truly was shocked at that price! I told everyone not to eat their food, but to frame it as a souvenir. Well, by the time we ate we didn't have hardly any time left, so we decided we'd better head back to the Metro station. So - we went to the Museum of Natural History - to eat. We decided that we definitely want to go back, though, on a day when we don't have any other appointments and just explore, but we'll brown-bag it!
Shortly after we arrived this morning and were waiting in the school lobby for Tom to be called for his test, Jerry's phone rang. It was his brother, Johnny, informing Jerry that their mom had been in a car accident. She and two friends were traveling together when they had the accident. Jerry's mom and one of the ladies was okay but the paramedics decided that they were going to take the third lady to the hospital to be checked out because her chest was hurting her. It turned out that they released her and that everyone was okay except for some bumps and bruises. Jerry's mom had been driving but not in her car. She was driving the car of one of the friends. She told Jerry later this afternoon that she has a small cut on the bridge of her nose where her glasses hit her when the airbag deployed and some small burns on her arm from that. She said she was a little shaken but okay. She said she's not sure that she wants to drive anytime soon, though! Apparently it was the opinion of the police that both cars involved were totaled. There were two people in the other vehicle. The man driving wasn't hurt at all and his female passenger just had a broken finger. Everyone was very fortunate.
Well, I am very tired and have stuff to do, so enough of this novel for today!
Monday, January 23, 2006
The power is out at the main office for one of the companies I do work for, so I'll take this opportunity to update briefly. Yes, I could do work for the other company - no power outage there - and I will - soon! I am in the usual end-of-the-pay-period rush, although this time is a little more rushed than usual because both companies have their pay periods ending today. I can't remember the last time that happened. Anyway, what that means is that I'm trying to get in as much work as humanly possible so that my paycheck can be as large as humanly possible!
Andy and I had his homeschooling review at the board of education on Friday. Twice a year they review what we are doing and approve (or disapprove) of the education our children are getting. I was really shocked at the number of homeschooling families in this county. They had two separate conference rooms set up, one for elementary grades and the other for middle and high school grades. I saw that the elementary room was packed when I walked by and when I went into our room there were parents with every reviewer there, too. We had an appointment time of 9:30 but we were a little late being seen. I got a glimpse of our the reviewers' main schedule and saw that for a period of about five days, six reviewers had appointments from morning until evening. That's just for middle and high school. That's a lot of homeschoolers! When I registered Andy to homeschool back in August the lady there told me that this was a record year for homeschooling and that they couldn't keep up. Hmm....you'd think the county would wonder why!
Anyway, we are doing just fine. The reviewer said she was very impressed with my choices for his curriculum and that she really liked the education Andy was getting. The only thing she suggested was that we try to incorporate more writing into his work. I explained to her that Andy was an oral learner, as was Tom, and that he learns best by being read to, or reading independently and then narrating back to me what he's read. A lot of times I give him oral exams instead of making him write it out. The reviewer said that it was great that I had figured out the best way for Andy to learn (oral or written), but that's kind of the whole purpose of homeschooling - you know your child better than anyone! She suggested then just to have Andy start a journal and write in that each day, but she said that other than that to just continue with what we're doing. Then I threw a wrench in the works! Lately Andy has been asking about a computer curriculum, and I'll admit that I would like to have done that at the start, but trying to juggle his school work and my work on my computer wouldn't have worked too well. Now that he got a computer for Christmas, he asked if we could try the computer curriculum. I told him we could and so I'll be ordering that this week. When I told the reviewer that we intended to make this change, she said that she had LOTS of families that used this particular curriculum and that she couldn't say enough good things about it. She said that both Andy and I would really like using it, and the best part is that all of his grades and work are kept in a portfolio in the program which eliminates grading and paperwork for me. There is an option for lessons and tests in the program where you can choose whether to have the student read the lessons or the tests or you can click a button and a voice reads the lesson and/or the tests to the student - for those oral learners, you know! There's still a lot of parental involvement, which I like (Andy doesn't always, though!).
Well, enough for now. Guess I'd better get busy doing whatever work I can do. By the way, where did winter go?! I want SNOW - not rain!
Andy and I had his homeschooling review at the board of education on Friday. Twice a year they review what we are doing and approve (or disapprove) of the education our children are getting. I was really shocked at the number of homeschooling families in this county. They had two separate conference rooms set up, one for elementary grades and the other for middle and high school grades. I saw that the elementary room was packed when I walked by and when I went into our room there were parents with every reviewer there, too. We had an appointment time of 9:30 but we were a little late being seen. I got a glimpse of our the reviewers' main schedule and saw that for a period of about five days, six reviewers had appointments from morning until evening. That's just for middle and high school. That's a lot of homeschoolers! When I registered Andy to homeschool back in August the lady there told me that this was a record year for homeschooling and that they couldn't keep up. Hmm....you'd think the county would wonder why!
Anyway, we are doing just fine. The reviewer said she was very impressed with my choices for his curriculum and that she really liked the education Andy was getting. The only thing she suggested was that we try to incorporate more writing into his work. I explained to her that Andy was an oral learner, as was Tom, and that he learns best by being read to, or reading independently and then narrating back to me what he's read. A lot of times I give him oral exams instead of making him write it out. The reviewer said that it was great that I had figured out the best way for Andy to learn (oral or written), but that's kind of the whole purpose of homeschooling - you know your child better than anyone! She suggested then just to have Andy start a journal and write in that each day, but she said that other than that to just continue with what we're doing. Then I threw a wrench in the works! Lately Andy has been asking about a computer curriculum, and I'll admit that I would like to have done that at the start, but trying to juggle his school work and my work on my computer wouldn't have worked too well. Now that he got a computer for Christmas, he asked if we could try the computer curriculum. I told him we could and so I'll be ordering that this week. When I told the reviewer that we intended to make this change, she said that she had LOTS of families that used this particular curriculum and that she couldn't say enough good things about it. She said that both Andy and I would really like using it, and the best part is that all of his grades and work are kept in a portfolio in the program which eliminates grading and paperwork for me. There is an option for lessons and tests in the program where you can choose whether to have the student read the lessons or the tests or you can click a button and a voice reads the lesson and/or the tests to the student - for those oral learners, you know! There's still a lot of parental involvement, which I like (Andy doesn't always, though!).
Well, enough for now. Guess I'd better get busy doing whatever work I can do. By the way, where did winter go?! I want SNOW - not rain!
Monday, January 16, 2006
It's That Time Again!
Yes, it was finally tree-tossing time here. As you can see from the pictures, it was a little different this year with everyone wanting a turn. If the neighbors questioned our mental stability, this event should have definitely confirmed their suspicions. With each toss and then subsequent drag up the steps to toss it yet again, the tree lost more and more of it's branches, growing smaller by the toss. Then the toss disintegrated into a brotherly battle with the tree as the weapon. No brothers were harmed during the making of this spectacle. Can't say the same for the tree, though.
We went to Arlington on Saturday and toured the Art Institute. What a cool place! We were very impressed with it and Tom is eager to start. We will be going back in two weeks to finalize the paperwork and for Tom to take his placement tests. They said there is a possibility that he may be able to test out of a few of the beginning courses since he already took a few college courses during his senior year of high school but they are looking into transferring his college credits first, but not all colleges accept credits in transfer. We have to wait for their decision on this. I brought my camera but Andy wanted to use it on the way to snap some pictures and of course, it got left behind in the truck which was parked four stories underground in the Hyatt down the road. I will remember to have it with me next time. Finding parking was not an easy task, and it was Saturday! They informed Tom that when he attends he should probably ride the Metro or something because parking will definitely be an adventure. Many of his beginning courses are offered online also, so he thinks he will take them this way and save the commute for the classes that aren't online. Actually, they told us that the online courses are more stringent and strict than the courses on campus. If you take an online course you are required to be logged in and actually participating for 5 hours on the days the online class is in session. The classes on campus are 4 hours each. The college goes in quarters, not in semesters, and it goes year-round without summers off. Tom will be completing his degree in 3 years - possibly sooner if he can get credit or test out of some of his courses. The entire top floor is their culinary school and they told Tom that honor students get served 12-course meals from there. I guess that's a good thing - assuming the students can cook well. In any case, it's probably better than anything he's used to around here!
Now I'd better get busy. Andy has assignments to do and it's been difficult getting back into the old routine around here again. Oh, well - back to the grind.
We went to Arlington on Saturday and toured the Art Institute. What a cool place! We were very impressed with it and Tom is eager to start. We will be going back in two weeks to finalize the paperwork and for Tom to take his placement tests. They said there is a possibility that he may be able to test out of a few of the beginning courses since he already took a few college courses during his senior year of high school but they are looking into transferring his college credits first, but not all colleges accept credits in transfer. We have to wait for their decision on this. I brought my camera but Andy wanted to use it on the way to snap some pictures and of course, it got left behind in the truck which was parked four stories underground in the Hyatt down the road. I will remember to have it with me next time. Finding parking was not an easy task, and it was Saturday! They informed Tom that when he attends he should probably ride the Metro or something because parking will definitely be an adventure. Many of his beginning courses are offered online also, so he thinks he will take them this way and save the commute for the classes that aren't online. Actually, they told us that the online courses are more stringent and strict than the courses on campus. If you take an online course you are required to be logged in and actually participating for 5 hours on the days the online class is in session. The classes on campus are 4 hours each. The college goes in quarters, not in semesters, and it goes year-round without summers off. Tom will be completing his degree in 3 years - possibly sooner if he can get credit or test out of some of his courses. The entire top floor is their culinary school and they told Tom that honor students get served 12-course meals from there. I guess that's a good thing - assuming the students can cook well. In any case, it's probably better than anything he's used to around here!
Now I'd better get busy. Andy has assignments to do and it's been difficult getting back into the old routine around here again. Oh, well - back to the grind.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Happy New Year!
We now return you to our regularly scheduled posting. I was going to post earlier about Tom's career change before the whole stolen-credit-card-makes-us-temporarily-destitute thing happened. Now then - Tom has decided that he does not want to be a steamfitter and could not picture himself doing what he has been doing for the next 40 years or so. He said he knew he should have done this about two years ago, but he decided that he wants to go to college. He said he is afraid that it's kind of now or never - and we agree with him. All too soon he will be 20, and then the years go by quickly. When he was looking into colleges a couple of years ago he was interested in an arts college, and so now has found one that he wants to attend. He did all the necessary paperwork already for the Art Institute of Washington, which is actually located in Arlington, Virginia........! We have an appointment to go this Saturday to tour the campus and meet with the admissions advisor. He is trying to get housing on-campus, but we'll have to see how that works out. There are three apartment buildings nearby where the college houses students but they are VERY expensive - $2200 a month. The college puts four students in each apartment and the rent is split, but that's still a lot. He intends to major in graphic design. We'll see what all the options are this Saturday. Looking into the apartments available to the students brought back memories of visiting Grandma at Crystal Towers, because the student apartments are in Crystal City. I saw a web site with pictures of inside and outside of Crystal Towers and it sure brought back memories of her apartment. A couple of years ago Tom was looking at the Art Institute's campus in Canada, but I'm glad he decided to stick closer to home!
The bank situation is just about taken care of now. All of the money except for one charge has been returned to the account. Whew!
We had a very nice time at Mike and Linda's house. It was great to see everyone. All the children are growing up SO FAST!
I made a few New Year's resolutions this year, and along with sharing them, I would like to issue a challenge to any family members and friends who read this. My first resolution was what it always is - to lose weight! The second was to stop being so self-conscious about everything and stop worrying about what others will think of me. The third was to try to remember that each day is a gift, and live accordingly. Now for the challenge I mentioned. Frankly, I bore myself and would like to read about YOUR lives. Starting a blog is easy, free, fun and actually kind of therapeutic. I would like to keep up with what my family members and friends (that means you, Anita!) are up to. Ten minutes a couple of times a week is all it would take. Please?! Anyone?! Just think - you could have a forum to post all your kids' pictures and brag about them! Okay, I think I've gotten the point across.
Happy New Year! Kind of late, but the sentiment is genuine nonetheless.
The bank situation is just about taken care of now. All of the money except for one charge has been returned to the account. Whew!
We had a very nice time at Mike and Linda's house. It was great to see everyone. All the children are growing up SO FAST!
I made a few New Year's resolutions this year, and along with sharing them, I would like to issue a challenge to any family members and friends who read this. My first resolution was what it always is - to lose weight! The second was to stop being so self-conscious about everything and stop worrying about what others will think of me. The third was to try to remember that each day is a gift, and live accordingly. Now for the challenge I mentioned. Frankly, I bore myself and would like to read about YOUR lives. Starting a blog is easy, free, fun and actually kind of therapeutic. I would like to keep up with what my family members and friends (that means you, Anita!) are up to. Ten minutes a couple of times a week is all it would take. Please?! Anyone?! Just think - you could have a forum to post all your kids' pictures and brag about them! Okay, I think I've gotten the point across.
Happy New Year! Kind of late, but the sentiment is genuine nonetheless.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Never A Dull Moment!
I was going to write about the holidays and what a wonderful Christmas and New Year's we had. I was also going to write about Tom's change in career plans. But those will wait until later.
Last night I was on the computer and signed onto the bank to look at our accounts. I was very surprised when I noticed Jerry's business account had it's balance in red. Uh, oh. I opened the account information screen and discovered that someone had stolen his business check card number and had been on a two-day online shopping spree, not only wiping out the entire account but overdrawing $4,000.00 on top of that. There were a few thousand dollars of charges for electronics from different places and even a charge for Victoria's Secret! I guess even felons need lingerie. We immediately called the bank who immediately cancelled the card and reassured us that they would handle everything. Our money is expected to be restored to the account within a few days and then the bank will be pursuing whoever did this. While Jerry was on the phone talking to the bank, I got on another line and called one of the places where some of the shopping had been done and let them know what was going on. The lady at this place said that there was an additional $567.00 order getting ready to be shipped. I told her again that this was not anything that we ordered and that the card was now cancelled. Out of curiosity I asked what that order was and she said it was a camera and a printer. I asked her to tell me the name and address that it was supposed to be shipped to, and she said she couldn't tell me that for security reasons! Security reasons?! I told Jerry this while he was still on the phone with the bank which he relayed to them and they told him not to worry about it - they would get all of that information. I am thankful that Jerry filled his truck up the day before this happened. Now if only I could get somebody to do something about the electric bill I received yesterday. It was $304.00 - that's for one month. Sure seems like theft to me!
Last night I was on the computer and signed onto the bank to look at our accounts. I was very surprised when I noticed Jerry's business account had it's balance in red. Uh, oh. I opened the account information screen and discovered that someone had stolen his business check card number and had been on a two-day online shopping spree, not only wiping out the entire account but overdrawing $4,000.00 on top of that. There were a few thousand dollars of charges for electronics from different places and even a charge for Victoria's Secret! I guess even felons need lingerie. We immediately called the bank who immediately cancelled the card and reassured us that they would handle everything. Our money is expected to be restored to the account within a few days and then the bank will be pursuing whoever did this. While Jerry was on the phone talking to the bank, I got on another line and called one of the places where some of the shopping had been done and let them know what was going on. The lady at this place said that there was an additional $567.00 order getting ready to be shipped. I told her again that this was not anything that we ordered and that the card was now cancelled. Out of curiosity I asked what that order was and she said it was a camera and a printer. I asked her to tell me the name and address that it was supposed to be shipped to, and she said she couldn't tell me that for security reasons! Security reasons?! I told Jerry this while he was still on the phone with the bank which he relayed to them and they told him not to worry about it - they would get all of that information. I am thankful that Jerry filled his truck up the day before this happened. Now if only I could get somebody to do something about the electric bill I received yesterday. It was $304.00 - that's for one month. Sure seems like theft to me!
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Patient Name: Kringle, Kris
DOB: Unknown
Admission Date: 12/24/2005
DISCHARGE SUMMARY
REASON FOR ADMISSION: This is an elderly gentleman who was admitted because of excess fatigue. The patient stated he felt well, however, his wife insisted on him coming to the ER for evaluation.
HOSPITAL COURSE: The patient was admitted and evaluated. His physical exam was completely within normal limits. However, he exhibited extreme fatigue and would doze off quite frequently. It was determined that the patient needed rest, however, he had a steady stream of visitors which seemed to hamper sleep. At one point the patient's visitors had to be asked to leave and the patient was reminded that animals were not permitted in patient rooms, not only for sanitation reasons but because their antlers were becoming ensnared on IV poles. The patient agreed to ask his visitors to wait until he returned home, however, on the evening of admission several visitors of small stature, interestingly all with what appeared to be surgically modified ears, stated that it was of extreme importance that they visit the patient, and so were allowed to visit briefly. They, too, were eventually asked to leave as the male visitors began behaving inappropriately with the nursing staff.
The patient had laboratory tests done which included CBC, urinalysis and reindeer titer.
When the patient was seen at 1750 on the evening of admission, he seemed agitated and restless. When offered a sedative he declined and stated that he had to go home so that he could "ride around the world in a sleigh". At this point a psych consult was called, however, the patient left AMA.
DOB: Unknown
Admission Date: 12/24/2005
DISCHARGE SUMMARY
REASON FOR ADMISSION: This is an elderly gentleman who was admitted because of excess fatigue. The patient stated he felt well, however, his wife insisted on him coming to the ER for evaluation.
HOSPITAL COURSE: The patient was admitted and evaluated. His physical exam was completely within normal limits. However, he exhibited extreme fatigue and would doze off quite frequently. It was determined that the patient needed rest, however, he had a steady stream of visitors which seemed to hamper sleep. At one point the patient's visitors had to be asked to leave and the patient was reminded that animals were not permitted in patient rooms, not only for sanitation reasons but because their antlers were becoming ensnared on IV poles. The patient agreed to ask his visitors to wait until he returned home, however, on the evening of admission several visitors of small stature, interestingly all with what appeared to be surgically modified ears, stated that it was of extreme importance that they visit the patient, and so were allowed to visit briefly. They, too, were eventually asked to leave as the male visitors began behaving inappropriately with the nursing staff.
The patient had laboratory tests done which included CBC, urinalysis and reindeer titer.
When the patient was seen at 1750 on the evening of admission, he seemed agitated and restless. When offered a sedative he declined and stated that he had to go home so that he could "ride around the world in a sleigh". At this point a psych consult was called, however, the patient left AMA.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Orange You Glad I'm Honest?!
Yesterday was an interesting day. Andy and I had a few errands to run, but we did a little shopping too, and generally had a very nice day. On Sunday we had gone grocery shopping at Safeway and I had gotten a large box of oranges. When I got to the cashier, I noticed that a couple oranges in the box were moldy - yuck! I told the cashier that I didn't want them and was getting ready to tell her that I didn't want a replacement, either, but before I could say it she had called the produce manager and was asking for someone to bring me a replacement box. After a minute the produce manager arrived and he took the lid off the box and we inspected all the oranges to make sure they were all okay. Then the box was put on the bottom of my shopping cart which was being loaded with my bagged groceries. Sunday evening I was thinking about those oranges and I didn't seem to remember the cashier ringing them up, so I got out my receipt to look. Sure enough, those oranges were not on the receipt. I knew I was going out Tuesday morning, so I decided that I would go by the store and see if the same cashier was there and try to pay for my oranges. Well, the cashier wasn't there, so I talked to another one. When I told her what had happened, she looked at me like I had three heads. Then she said, "And you want to pay for them?" When I told her yes, she said she needed to call a manager about this. She picked up the phone and turned her back toward me and the conversation (her side, anyway) went like this - "There's a lady here who says she didn't get charged for her oranges and now she wants to pay for them. Yeah, oranges. Yeah, she didn't get charged. Yes, pay. I don't know. She says she wants to pay for them. Yeah, I know. Okay. Bye." Then she turned around and said that "management" had said not to worry about it, and Merry Christmas from Safeway. While that was very nice and I am grateful, I can't shake the feeling that they thought I was just a little looney and just wanted to get me out of the store! Oh, well. At least I don't feel like I'm eating ill-begotten oranges now!
I worked it out with the post office about carrier pickup for my packages for eBay. It turns out that they do indeed pick up packages here, but since our carrier is a contracted one and not actually a USPS employee, the web site wasn't letting me enter information for pickup. The postmaster here told me to just call before 10:00 on any day I needed our mail carrier to pick up packages and she would get them when she delivered my mail. How cool is that?! I have two packages to go out today, so I called the post office and said I had packages for pickup, they said address, please? I said my address, and they said thank you, your packages will be picked up when your mail is delivered. End of conversation. That was easy!
Tomorrow night we are going to Outback Steak House with Jerry's mom and having our Christmas with her. This is the third year we've done this and it seems to work out pretty well. She usually spends Christmas eve and Christmas day with her other children so a few years ago we just decided to get together, have a nice meal out, then do the present thing back at our house afterwards. I haven't been to Outback since last Christmas when we went, so I am looking forward to it. The boys and I sometimes fracture words and turn them around just to make funny different words, and last year in the car on the way to dinner we were dissecting the words "Outback Steak House" and one of the renditions became Steakback Outhouse. So, now that's what we call it. I never claimed to have a normal family!
I worked it out with the post office about carrier pickup for my packages for eBay. It turns out that they do indeed pick up packages here, but since our carrier is a contracted one and not actually a USPS employee, the web site wasn't letting me enter information for pickup. The postmaster here told me to just call before 10:00 on any day I needed our mail carrier to pick up packages and she would get them when she delivered my mail. How cool is that?! I have two packages to go out today, so I called the post office and said I had packages for pickup, they said address, please? I said my address, and they said thank you, your packages will be picked up when your mail is delivered. End of conversation. That was easy!
Tomorrow night we are going to Outback Steak House with Jerry's mom and having our Christmas with her. This is the third year we've done this and it seems to work out pretty well. She usually spends Christmas eve and Christmas day with her other children so a few years ago we just decided to get together, have a nice meal out, then do the present thing back at our house afterwards. I haven't been to Outback since last Christmas when we went, so I am looking forward to it. The boys and I sometimes fracture words and turn them around just to make funny different words, and last year in the car on the way to dinner we were dissecting the words "Outback Steak House" and one of the renditions became Steakback Outhouse. So, now that's what we call it. I never claimed to have a normal family!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Weird Pets
Not much going on here, but I had a few pictures of our strange pets, so I thought I'd share. Our animals get weirder by the day, it seems. The old, senile cat decided to stretch out in his litter box and take a nap last night, but I didn't take a picture of that, (EWWW!!), so no pictures of him this time, just the other two. What a zoo we have here.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
O Christmas Tree
We got our Christmas tree tonight. It is standing outside until tomorrow when we will decorate it. We went to Food Lion to do some shopping (that's where we got our tree) and had a laughing fit in one of the aisles. We (Jerry, Andy and I) were standing in front of a candle display sniffing all the different candle scents. We enjoy scented candles and have one that we have been burning in the foyer, but it smells just like Vicks cherry cough drops and gets a little cloying after awhile! We were in search of a new scent and so were reading the names and sniffing the scents. We saw names like Mountain Air, Cucumber Honeydew, Cranberry Grapefruit, and other yummy-sounding things, and they smelled just as nice as their names suggested. Then I came across one labeled "Family Gathering". Family gathering?! That could be quite a cacophony of smells! Aunt Zelda's mothballs mixed with Aunt Gertie's overpowering perfume, Uncle Bob's Ben Gay, Cousin Stumpy's body odor, and let's not forget Baby Molly's diaper. I was almost afraid to open the jar! I was laughing so hard that I couldn't open it, and so just handed it to Jerry. He looked at it and said that evidently whoever named that candle had never been to our house after a day of yard work and smelled one of our "family gatherings"! I'm still chuckling about that. We had more than a few people give us strange looks because of our laughter. Well, we were already getting strange looks because Jerry was dancing to the Muzak in the frozen foods and a couple of other aisles. He made at least one little boy laugh and a grown man chuckle. I told him he'd better stop before there were men with butterfly nets waiting for him at the doors. Oh, in case you're wondering, Family Gathering just smelled fruity to me. Fits my family perfectly!
I saw a commercial yesterday that really bugs me. It is for T.G.I. Fridays and shows a man at the bar who turns around and sees what we then discover is his wife sitting in a booth with some girlfriends. He walks over to her and asks her what she's doing there. When she says that her girlfriend called, he asks her where the kids are and she says they are with her mother. At this point they both turn and look and there is the grandmother with the children in one of the booths, too. Why was it okay for the man to be out and then question his wife when she went out?! Or at least he could have asked her what she was doing there in a nicer sort of way. The way he says it in the commercial is, I think, rather accusatory as if to say, "Hey! I can be here, but you're supposed to be home with the kids!" Double standard, anyone?!
Speaking of commercials, I saw one on the History Channel that had us shaking our heads. There were couples dancing in rather, er, intimate ways. The dancing was getting hotter, as were the dancers, and then the scene cut to ........ tires. Tires. Oh, someone please tell me what dirty dancing has to do with tires?! Perhaps I'm slow but I really fail to get the connection here! Yes, I know that sex sells, but tires?!
I saw a commercial yesterday that really bugs me. It is for T.G.I. Fridays and shows a man at the bar who turns around and sees what we then discover is his wife sitting in a booth with some girlfriends. He walks over to her and asks her what she's doing there. When she says that her girlfriend called, he asks her where the kids are and she says they are with her mother. At this point they both turn and look and there is the grandmother with the children in one of the booths, too. Why was it okay for the man to be out and then question his wife when she went out?! Or at least he could have asked her what she was doing there in a nicer sort of way. The way he says it in the commercial is, I think, rather accusatory as if to say, "Hey! I can be here, but you're supposed to be home with the kids!" Double standard, anyone?!
Speaking of commercials, I saw one on the History Channel that had us shaking our heads. There were couples dancing in rather, er, intimate ways. The dancing was getting hotter, as were the dancers, and then the scene cut to ........ tires. Tires. Oh, someone please tell me what dirty dancing has to do with tires?! Perhaps I'm slow but I really fail to get the connection here! Yes, I know that sex sells, but tires?!
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Neat Stuff!
Technology is wonderful. Two of the three items I had listed on eBay sold and I decided to try the new shipping options. Before, I would package whatever the item was then take it to the post office for shipping. Now I can print the label including postage right from my computer, tape it on the box, and drop it in the blue postal box in front of the post office. I had hoped for it to be even more convenient, but that didn't work out. There is an option after you print out your postage label that asks if you want to have your mail carrier pick up your packages for shipping when your mail is next delivered. I clicked on that option and entered my information, but it came back and said that carrier pickup wasn't available in my zip code. Oh, well. At least I could just drop the boxes in the blue box and not have to go in and stand in line. Such neat stuff you can do now! The label also included a tracking and confirmation number, something that I used to have to pay extra for when I went to the post office to ship.
I pulled up in front of the post office and Andy dropped the boxes into the blue box in exchange for me stopping by the convenience store and letting him go in to buy a soda. He is really growing up. I know that letting my son go by himself into a store to purchase his own stuff isn't such a big deal to most people, but to this mama it is! He fairly strutted into the store! I was disappointed for him when he was coming out of the store, though. He was coming out just as a grown man was coming into the store. I was so proud of Andy as he opened the door and then politely held it for the man coming in the store. The man never made an effort to get the door, never even acknowledged Andy standing there holding it open for him. He looked straight above Andy's head and into the store as he sauntered inside, just brushing past Andy. Such rudeness.
On a better note, maybe we'll get more snow on Thursday night. Oh, I really hope so! I'm not snowball-battled out yet!
I pulled up in front of the post office and Andy dropped the boxes into the blue box in exchange for me stopping by the convenience store and letting him go in to buy a soda. He is really growing up. I know that letting my son go by himself into a store to purchase his own stuff isn't such a big deal to most people, but to this mama it is! He fairly strutted into the store! I was disappointed for him when he was coming out of the store, though. He was coming out just as a grown man was coming into the store. I was so proud of Andy as he opened the door and then politely held it for the man coming in the store. The man never made an effort to get the door, never even acknowledged Andy standing there holding it open for him. He looked straight above Andy's head and into the store as he sauntered inside, just brushing past Andy. Such rudeness.
On a better note, maybe we'll get more snow on Thursday night. Oh, I really hope so! I'm not snowball-battled out yet!
Monday, December 05, 2005
Snow! For Really!
Yay! It really is snowing. Tom went to work but has made it safely home now and they have left it up to his discretion whether to try to go in tomorrow or not. Jerry, Andy and I went to Safeway at about noon because Jerry said he was not about to be snowed in without Pepsi or snacks! Of course, the place was absolutely packed. I went along because there were a few things I needed. Like kitty litter. Our resident geriatric cat won't go outside in this weather because he is arthritic and the cold makes him so stiff and is so painful for him that he has trouble walking, so we let him stay in when it's like this - which means double duty with the litter box, because normally he is outside. Anyway, not that you needed to know our cat's litter habits......
Jerry also stopped at the tire place to purchase four tires for Tom. That is his Christmas present, but Jerry gave him the receipt this afternoon so he could have them put on because we really don't want him to wait another three weeks to get the tires since he is driving such long distances now and his tires are in sad shape. I felt kind of badly that Tom wouldn't have that as a gift on Christmas, but he was very happy and said he didn't mind at all. He said he knew he needed tires and was getting worried about how long it would take him to save up enough to get them.
It is really snowing now, and the wind is blowing too, so the snow blows sideways occasionally! I am going to go enjoy this day and enjoy the relative peace before Andy decides it's time for a snowball fight.
Jerry also stopped at the tire place to purchase four tires for Tom. That is his Christmas present, but Jerry gave him the receipt this afternoon so he could have them put on because we really don't want him to wait another three weeks to get the tires since he is driving such long distances now and his tires are in sad shape. I felt kind of badly that Tom wouldn't have that as a gift on Christmas, but he was very happy and said he didn't mind at all. He said he knew he needed tires and was getting worried about how long it would take him to save up enough to get them.
It is really snowing now, and the wind is blowing too, so the snow blows sideways occasionally! I am going to go enjoy this day and enjoy the relative peace before Andy decides it's time for a snowball fight.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Snow?
Can we really be getting snow? I sure hope so. I won't be holding my breath, though, because many, many times when snow was predicted as almost a certainty, it was just rain. I will cheer when it begins and I can see that it really is the fluffy white stuff. Last night there was white stuff, but it was in the form of ice. It was around 11:00 last night when Andy and I heard something loud outside and it was ice coming down. Tom was still at Sam's and was due home at midnight, so I was a little worried about him being on the road. When I saw him pull up in the driveway, I ran to the door to catch him so I could remind him in his haste to get out of the weather to be careful on our wooden step. The wooden step out front always collects ice and snow first and is much more slippery than the concrete sidewalk around it. As he was coming up the sidewalk carefully, I reminded him about the step and he was careful. Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that he had made it home safely and maneuvered the wooden step, there was a terrible thud and crash. I had been on my way back upstairs and Tom was heading downstairs when he fell on the stairs because his shoes were wet. Thankfully, he was okay, but oh, the irony!
I have been thinking that Tom should probably carry a card in his wallet or something that states that he has a rod and screws in his leg. I was thinking about that just the other day when I typed a report about a woman who came into the hospital unconscious and when they x-rayed her they found that she had hardware in her shoulder and so didn't do an MRI on her. It made me think that if for any reason Tom were to be unconscious, it might make a difference for it to be known that his leg and knee looked like an Ace hardware store. Not that I am expecting anything to happen to him - I pray for quite the opposite each day as he leaves for work - but sometimes stuff happens.
I am just about finished my Christmas shopping. I have done most of it online again this year. I found that in checking different stores there were sometimes large price differences. One item I looked at was $15.00 less at a different store.
My eBay auctions are ending today and two of the three items I had listed have bids on them. If the third doesn't sell, I will lower the price and relist it for another week. Then if it still doesn't sell, it's out of here. In sorting stuff this past week, I have come across more things to list but haven't had the time to do it.
Well, I'm going to go find our hats, gloves, scarves, sled, etc. You never know.................
I have been thinking that Tom should probably carry a card in his wallet or something that states that he has a rod and screws in his leg. I was thinking about that just the other day when I typed a report about a woman who came into the hospital unconscious and when they x-rayed her they found that she had hardware in her shoulder and so didn't do an MRI on her. It made me think that if for any reason Tom were to be unconscious, it might make a difference for it to be known that his leg and knee looked like an Ace hardware store. Not that I am expecting anything to happen to him - I pray for quite the opposite each day as he leaves for work - but sometimes stuff happens.
I am just about finished my Christmas shopping. I have done most of it online again this year. I found that in checking different stores there were sometimes large price differences. One item I looked at was $15.00 less at a different store.
My eBay auctions are ending today and two of the three items I had listed have bids on them. If the third doesn't sell, I will lower the price and relist it for another week. Then if it still doesn't sell, it's out of here. In sorting stuff this past week, I have come across more things to list but haven't had the time to do it.
Well, I'm going to go find our hats, gloves, scarves, sled, etc. You never know.................
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Thank You, Lord!
I was so happy to talk to Dad last night. He sounds like a new man. He was so sick and I was so frightened when I talked with him Saturday night. He was wheezing horribly, could barely talk or breathe, and definitely wasn't himself. Last night he said he felt like a miracle had happened. His voice is back and he was cracking jokes again - back to his old self! Well, still moving a little slowly, but on the mend in any case. He is taking all the rest that he needs and not pushing himself. He assured me last night that he wasn't about to do anything as dumb as start to feel better, overdo it, and then be back in the same boat again. He said that even if he feels like putting in a full day at work today, he won't do it because he knows he needs to come home and rest. I have been praying so much for him and especially yesterday when I got worried when we didn't know where Dad was and Sherri couldn't get Mike on the phone. I prayed then - a lot! While I know that we are supposed to accept God's will for what happens in our lives, whether good or bad, I am very grateful that Dad is getting better. Even though it doesn't always feel like it, and we can't understand why death or sickness happens, we have to remember that God ALWAYS has our best interests at heart. He is a loving father who wants the best for His children. We humans are imperfect and yet as parents would never intentionally inflict pain or misery on our children - we want to give them good things and provide well for them. Well, imagine how much more God takes care of us because he is perfect and without faults - and He never makes mistakes. He can see the BIG picture when we can't, and knows how it all goes together. That what faith is - knowing that He is in control and that He knows what's best for us, His children whom He loves dearly. Okay - that being said, I just had to give praise and thanks for Dad being on the road to recovery!
It doesn't take much to impress this bunch here at my house (including myself!), but I must say I'm pretty pleased. The Gamecube video game system that the boys have just stopped working one day last week. It kept saying that it couldn't read the game disc, even though there was one in the machine. No matter what we tried, we couldn't get it to work. I got online and found that after a few years this sometimes happens - the reader "eye" no longer functions and needs to be replaced. A repair at Nintendo would include shipping (both ways), plus $50.00, plus any extras that may be deemed necessary in the repair process. We have had it too long and it was no longer under warranty, and when a new one at Wal-Mart was $70.00, I wasn't about to bother with shipping it and paying for repairs. I had told the boys that we could probably get another one but that it would have to wait until after Christmas as we have tightened our collective belts around here until after the holidays. I did some further research into this reader eye online and found that it can possibly be fixed, and found the instructions on how to try it. Sure enough, after dismantling the machine there was an adjustment screw on the fixture of the reader eye which adjusts it's strength. With a small adjustment counterclockwise, it is now working again and hasn't had a problem since. I also found out that this is exactly what repair places do. For a large fee. Taking the housing off of the machine was interesting, to say the least! You are supposed to have to buy a special bit that unscrews the special screws they use to assemble the machines (they can't just have anyone fixing their machines, you know!) I found the bit for sale at some electronics places, but at $19.99 plus shipping, then having to wait for it to arrive, no thank you. I found an easier method. I'm down a few ink pens, but it worked. I melted the end of a plastic pen (after removing the ink barrel, of course) and then held it down on top of the screw and waited about half a minute. I then was able to unscrew the screw perfectly and had created a custom screwdriver! Oh, the things you can learn to do online! I ended up needing to use a separate pen for each of the four screws and also learned the hard way that you must remove it at just the right time, or it will become hopelessly welded into the screw hole and one's husband must cuss at it and take great pains to remove the plastic shards. Ah, well. All's well that ends well. We just have to use pencils for a while!
It doesn't take much to impress this bunch here at my house (including myself!), but I must say I'm pretty pleased. The Gamecube video game system that the boys have just stopped working one day last week. It kept saying that it couldn't read the game disc, even though there was one in the machine. No matter what we tried, we couldn't get it to work. I got online and found that after a few years this sometimes happens - the reader "eye" no longer functions and needs to be replaced. A repair at Nintendo would include shipping (both ways), plus $50.00, plus any extras that may be deemed necessary in the repair process. We have had it too long and it was no longer under warranty, and when a new one at Wal-Mart was $70.00, I wasn't about to bother with shipping it and paying for repairs. I had told the boys that we could probably get another one but that it would have to wait until after Christmas as we have tightened our collective belts around here until after the holidays. I did some further research into this reader eye online and found that it can possibly be fixed, and found the instructions on how to try it. Sure enough, after dismantling the machine there was an adjustment screw on the fixture of the reader eye which adjusts it's strength. With a small adjustment counterclockwise, it is now working again and hasn't had a problem since. I also found out that this is exactly what repair places do. For a large fee. Taking the housing off of the machine was interesting, to say the least! You are supposed to have to buy a special bit that unscrews the special screws they use to assemble the machines (they can't just have anyone fixing their machines, you know!) I found the bit for sale at some electronics places, but at $19.99 plus shipping, then having to wait for it to arrive, no thank you. I found an easier method. I'm down a few ink pens, but it worked. I melted the end of a plastic pen (after removing the ink barrel, of course) and then held it down on top of the screw and waited about half a minute. I then was able to unscrew the screw perfectly and had created a custom screwdriver! Oh, the things you can learn to do online! I ended up needing to use a separate pen for each of the four screws and also learned the hard way that you must remove it at just the right time, or it will become hopelessly welded into the screw hole and one's husband must cuss at it and take great pains to remove the plastic shards. Ah, well. All's well that ends well. We just have to use pencils for a while!
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Not much time for blogging lately - although I can't really say what exactly I've been busy doing! Just.....stuff! I started cleaning out Andy's room. And I mean REALLY cleaning. My method is a little unorthodox, but I figured it would force me to finish the job. I completely emptied his room into the living room. Yes. That postage stamp size space we call a living room. Now that it's all grouped together instead of strewn all over his room, it really doesn't look like much. In fact, what I'm finding as I sort, is that much of it can be thrown away. I have listed a few things on eBay to see if I can at least get a few dollars for some of my decluttering. But if it doesn't sell, it's NOT staying here! It will go to the thrift shop. My cleaning methods are strange, but then so am I.
Thanksgiving was very nice. It was a very calm and quiet day. The turkey turned out well, as did everything else. I'm not bragging here - I was pleasantly surprised!
I have gotten a start on Christmas shopping. I can't believe how quickly time is going by. I can't believe it will soon be a year since I started my blog!
Dad is very sick with pneumonia and I am really worried about him. I wish that he would stay with someone who could help take care of him and get him medicine and stuff, but of course he won't consider that. I can't really blame him - if I were that sick I don't think I'd want to be at anyone else's house either. I hope he gets the rest that he needs and doesn't try to get up and about sooner than he should. That's the trouble with things like pneumonia and the flu. Even though you start feeling better, it actually can take your body months to fully recover, and so if you start overdoing it right away just because you start feeling better, it can knock you down even worse than the first time.
I started writing this post a couple of days ago, intending to finish and publish it later. Now since I wrote the above about decluttering, I have received a bid on something I have listed on eBay. Yay! Decluttering pays in more ways than one!
Thanksgiving was very nice. It was a very calm and quiet day. The turkey turned out well, as did everything else. I'm not bragging here - I was pleasantly surprised!
I have gotten a start on Christmas shopping. I can't believe how quickly time is going by. I can't believe it will soon be a year since I started my blog!
Dad is very sick with pneumonia and I am really worried about him. I wish that he would stay with someone who could help take care of him and get him medicine and stuff, but of course he won't consider that. I can't really blame him - if I were that sick I don't think I'd want to be at anyone else's house either. I hope he gets the rest that he needs and doesn't try to get up and about sooner than he should. That's the trouble with things like pneumonia and the flu. Even though you start feeling better, it actually can take your body months to fully recover, and so if you start overdoing it right away just because you start feeling better, it can knock you down even worse than the first time.
I started writing this post a couple of days ago, intending to finish and publish it later. Now since I wrote the above about decluttering, I have received a bid on something I have listed on eBay. Yay! Decluttering pays in more ways than one!
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Thanksgiving? Already?
Time really flies. Thanksgiving sort of crept up on me. I knew it was somewhere around the corner, but wasn't aware of just how close! Usually it happens that if I wait until too close to The Day to buy my turkey-n-trimmings, that the stores have run out of something or I get second pick. I decided to go yesterday to make sure I got everything. I always look forward to cooking the meal for my family (it's just the four of us - we don't go anywhere and no one comes here). We invited Dad this year because I know that Thanksgiving is going to be rough for him. Thanksgiving and Christmas were Maggie's two biggest holidays and she always went all out for them. He has decided that he wants to spend it with Grandma, as she usually spends it alone and he said they are going to go out together and eat. Anyway, I'm beginning to wonder about my family's sincerity. I like to cook this meal, as I do enjoy cooking and especially like to give my family special meals. Feeling generous, I decided to let each family member request a dish or dessert that isn't included with the regular Thanksgiving stuff. When I asked Jerry what he would like for Thanksgiving, he said lasagne. When I just stared back at him, he said it was just that he hates to see me work so hard on Thanksgiving. Hmmmm. I moved on . Andy's response was also interesting. He stated he wanted an iPod to go with dinner. When told that that wasn't one of the choices, he settled for cookies. I moved on. Tom's response? Bob Evans. By now I was seriously questioning my culinary abilities. They all claim it's to save me the trouble of cooking such a big meal, but I'm suspicious nonetheless!
Yesterday at the grocery store Andy did a wonderful thing for me. I had sent him in search of bread when he came back and asked if he could borrow some money. He said he found something that he really, really, really wanted to give me because I would really, really, really like it. I agreed to lend him the money as long as he held onto whatever it was and gave it to me for Christmas (I should have known better!). When it came time to check out, Andy told me to go around to the other side of the checkout stand because he needed to tell the cashiers that he had a surprise for me and wanted it bagged so that I couldn't see it. One of the cashiers is a lady who has become a sort of friend, even though I only see her when I grocery shop. Several years ago she noted that on one of my weekly grocery trips I didn't buy cigarettes like I usually did and I told her that I had quit. She said she was trying to quit too, and asked for advice on how I did it. From then on we saw each other every Friday when I did my shopping and she would tell me how she had done the previous week and ask for more encouragement. She eventually stopped and hasn't smoked in a few years now, and credits me with that, but I was really only moral support. She did the work herself. Next she said I needed to help her lose the weight she gained when she quit smoking - ooops! One look at me ought to make her realize her mistake in asking that! ANYWAY - (I dost ramble) - this lady helped Andy package my surprise and she had two other cashiers pitch in and help. These cashiers even unloaded my carts (I had two!) and rang up everything so that they could put everything, including my surprise, in the carts and all I would have to do is pay. When they finally told me I could come back, there was a huge banana box in one of the carts with brown grocery bags placed everywhere there might have been an opening through which I could see. They did quite a job! We hadn't been home for an hour when Andy couldn't stand the suspense any longer. He brought the banana box to me and said that I just HAD to open it! I did, even though it was supposed to be for Christmas. It is a beautiful set of dishes. Andy said that he knew I liked dishes and that the design on these was "really cool" (his words) and he just KNEW I would like them. He was right! I told him that I would be honored to serve Thanksgiving dinner on them. Either lasagne, or perhaps we could carry them to Bob Evans with us.
Tom just left to do some clothes shopping. The cold weather took him by surprise this week and he wasn't garbed for outside work. He is really enjoying his job, despite the commute. Next week he is supposed to start working in Mount Vernon. What happened to "closer to home"?!
Yesterday at the grocery store Andy did a wonderful thing for me. I had sent him in search of bread when he came back and asked if he could borrow some money. He said he found something that he really, really, really wanted to give me because I would really, really, really like it. I agreed to lend him the money as long as he held onto whatever it was and gave it to me for Christmas (I should have known better!). When it came time to check out, Andy told me to go around to the other side of the checkout stand because he needed to tell the cashiers that he had a surprise for me and wanted it bagged so that I couldn't see it. One of the cashiers is a lady who has become a sort of friend, even though I only see her when I grocery shop. Several years ago she noted that on one of my weekly grocery trips I didn't buy cigarettes like I usually did and I told her that I had quit. She said she was trying to quit too, and asked for advice on how I did it. From then on we saw each other every Friday when I did my shopping and she would tell me how she had done the previous week and ask for more encouragement. She eventually stopped and hasn't smoked in a few years now, and credits me with that, but I was really only moral support. She did the work herself. Next she said I needed to help her lose the weight she gained when she quit smoking - ooops! One look at me ought to make her realize her mistake in asking that! ANYWAY - (I dost ramble) - this lady helped Andy package my surprise and she had two other cashiers pitch in and help. These cashiers even unloaded my carts (I had two!) and rang up everything so that they could put everything, including my surprise, in the carts and all I would have to do is pay. When they finally told me I could come back, there was a huge banana box in one of the carts with brown grocery bags placed everywhere there might have been an opening through which I could see. They did quite a job! We hadn't been home for an hour when Andy couldn't stand the suspense any longer. He brought the banana box to me and said that I just HAD to open it! I did, even though it was supposed to be for Christmas. It is a beautiful set of dishes. Andy said that he knew I liked dishes and that the design on these was "really cool" (his words) and he just KNEW I would like them. He was right! I told him that I would be honored to serve Thanksgiving dinner on them. Either lasagne, or perhaps we could carry them to Bob Evans with us.
Tom just left to do some clothes shopping. The cold weather took him by surprise this week and he wasn't garbed for outside work. He is really enjoying his job, despite the commute. Next week he is supposed to start working in Mount Vernon. What happened to "closer to home"?!
Friday, November 11, 2005
Monday, November 07, 2005
Nuts To You
What an interesting day. Tom started his new job today. He left at 4 AM to be sure he was there on time. He called at 5:25 to let us know he had arrived. It was a little worse getting home, though. He said he took a wrong turn somewhere (Albuquerque?!) and ended up in Alexandria and had to figure his way out of there and back on the beltway. He is working for an HVAC company and right now they are finishing up work on a rec center in Fairfax. Tom said he helped build a catwalk on the side of the building today that will be used to access the new units that were installed earlier. It's too early to say if he likes it or not - the initial jitters haven't worn off yet.
Sometimes the boys tease me about what they call my "family orientation". I am a stickler for eating dinner together at the table with no television on, and I try at least on Sundays for us all to eat breakfast together. I am also known for initiating "family pizza and movie nights", "video game time", where all of us compete against one another, and other things which really bug them sometimes. Oh, well - there will be time enough for everyone to be off on their own doing their own things. Right now we are blessed enough to all be in one place, so I think a little (or a lot) of "togetherness" is nice! The boys didn't see it that way when I initiated a "family split-and-stack-firewood-for-the-whole-winter day". Anyway, in true "family orientation" spirit, I made everyone get up to see Tom off to work this morning. Yes, at 4 AM. To be honest, I think everyone kind of had the jitters, because all of us had trouble getting to sleep and it really wasn't difficult waking anyone when it was time for him to leave. Jerry gave him last-minute map checks and I made sure he didn't forget his lunch. One day very soon, we PROMISE to treat him according to his age - but not today! I don't expect that he'll have the same send-off tomorrow morning, but you never can tell with this bunch.
In science Andy was learning about Venus (the planet - not the woman!). The atmosphere is so thick there that scientists use radar to "see" the surface as they can't get a clear picture through the thick clouds covering the planet. As an experiment, I had to make up a model for Andy to map out using a kind of radar. I crumpled newspaper into a small box and then poured plaster over it, creating hills and valleys in the box when the plaster dried. Then I made a numbered grid on paper and covered the box with it. Andy had not seen the box and so didn't know what was in it. He had to mark a stick (we used a wooden kebob skewer) with measurements, then poke the stick through each grid and mark the measurement on a corresponding paper. By using the measurements when he was finished, he was able to make a "picture" of what was in the box based on his measurements. Then he took the paper off to see how close he was, and he had mapped our Venus-in-a-box perfectly. The experiment took a while, but it was a lot of fun. Low-tech, but it worked!
I wonder what it means when the nut trees and pine trees are VERY productive? Does it mean a harsh winter or something? Yesterday Andy, Hilda and I picked up shagbark hickory nuts that had fallen from the three trees near our driveway. We have never seen this many before. Most of the time the squirrels get just about all of them and we are lucky if we get a few. Not this year. We picked up an entire bucketful, plus a huge Tupperware bowlful, and Andy and I went back out today and filled a cardboard box top with several more. Looks like we'll have nut bread this year! While we were out today, Andy and I noticed that there were lots of pinecones lying on the ground, too - more than I can remember seeing in a long time. Today was a beautiful fall day and we really enjoyed being outside. Andy wanted to do his lessons outside, so that's what we did.
Jerry is hard at work on his truck. The motor on his brown truck (his baby) had finally died, so he ordered another one which finally came in and he has been hard at work putting in the new engine. A while back Jerry was working on a house when the man who lived across the street came to the job to ask if Jerry would give him a price to put siding on his house when he was finished that job. Well, they started talking and it turns out that this man painted vehicles for a living and Jerry just happened to need new paint on his baby, and so they worked out a deal - siding for paint. Shortly after starting on Jerry's truck, the man found out that he had cancer. It took him a long time to finish the truck because in between he needed surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. Jerry felt badly and kept telling Lonnie that it didn't need to be finished, but Lonnie kept at it, and he finished painting it. It was two-tone, brown with beige down the middle, but Lonnie got the brown done and was going to get to the beige later on, but he just got too sick to finish it, and we felt terrible that he was pushing himself to finish. We brought it home as it was, and I guess it will stay that way unless Jerry decides to paint the beige himself. Sadly, Lonnie died a few weeks ago. His wife called here a few days before and said that Lonnie was asking for all of his friends to come visit him, as he knew he wasn't doing well. Lonnie was a good guy, and Jerry really misses him. Anyway, soon his truck will be back on the road, with a new engine and new paint.
Whew - long post this time! I really should start posting more often and maybe each entry would be shorter!
Sometimes the boys tease me about what they call my "family orientation". I am a stickler for eating dinner together at the table with no television on, and I try at least on Sundays for us all to eat breakfast together. I am also known for initiating "family pizza and movie nights", "video game time", where all of us compete against one another, and other things which really bug them sometimes. Oh, well - there will be time enough for everyone to be off on their own doing their own things. Right now we are blessed enough to all be in one place, so I think a little (or a lot) of "togetherness" is nice! The boys didn't see it that way when I initiated a "family split-and-stack-firewood-for-the-whole-winter day". Anyway, in true "family orientation" spirit, I made everyone get up to see Tom off to work this morning. Yes, at 4 AM. To be honest, I think everyone kind of had the jitters, because all of us had trouble getting to sleep and it really wasn't difficult waking anyone when it was time for him to leave. Jerry gave him last-minute map checks and I made sure he didn't forget his lunch. One day very soon, we PROMISE to treat him according to his age - but not today! I don't expect that he'll have the same send-off tomorrow morning, but you never can tell with this bunch.
In science Andy was learning about Venus (the planet - not the woman!). The atmosphere is so thick there that scientists use radar to "see" the surface as they can't get a clear picture through the thick clouds covering the planet. As an experiment, I had to make up a model for Andy to map out using a kind of radar. I crumpled newspaper into a small box and then poured plaster over it, creating hills and valleys in the box when the plaster dried. Then I made a numbered grid on paper and covered the box with it. Andy had not seen the box and so didn't know what was in it. He had to mark a stick (we used a wooden kebob skewer) with measurements, then poke the stick through each grid and mark the measurement on a corresponding paper. By using the measurements when he was finished, he was able to make a "picture" of what was in the box based on his measurements. Then he took the paper off to see how close he was, and he had mapped our Venus-in-a-box perfectly. The experiment took a while, but it was a lot of fun. Low-tech, but it worked!
I wonder what it means when the nut trees and pine trees are VERY productive? Does it mean a harsh winter or something? Yesterday Andy, Hilda and I picked up shagbark hickory nuts that had fallen from the three trees near our driveway. We have never seen this many before. Most of the time the squirrels get just about all of them and we are lucky if we get a few. Not this year. We picked up an entire bucketful, plus a huge Tupperware bowlful, and Andy and I went back out today and filled a cardboard box top with several more. Looks like we'll have nut bread this year! While we were out today, Andy and I noticed that there were lots of pinecones lying on the ground, too - more than I can remember seeing in a long time. Today was a beautiful fall day and we really enjoyed being outside. Andy wanted to do his lessons outside, so that's what we did.
Jerry is hard at work on his truck. The motor on his brown truck (his baby) had finally died, so he ordered another one which finally came in and he has been hard at work putting in the new engine. A while back Jerry was working on a house when the man who lived across the street came to the job to ask if Jerry would give him a price to put siding on his house when he was finished that job. Well, they started talking and it turns out that this man painted vehicles for a living and Jerry just happened to need new paint on his baby, and so they worked out a deal - siding for paint. Shortly after starting on Jerry's truck, the man found out that he had cancer. It took him a long time to finish the truck because in between he needed surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. Jerry felt badly and kept telling Lonnie that it didn't need to be finished, but Lonnie kept at it, and he finished painting it. It was two-tone, brown with beige down the middle, but Lonnie got the brown done and was going to get to the beige later on, but he just got too sick to finish it, and we felt terrible that he was pushing himself to finish. We brought it home as it was, and I guess it will stay that way unless Jerry decides to paint the beige himself. Sadly, Lonnie died a few weeks ago. His wife called here a few days before and said that Lonnie was asking for all of his friends to come visit him, as he knew he wasn't doing well. Lonnie was a good guy, and Jerry really misses him. Anyway, soon his truck will be back on the road, with a new engine and new paint.
Whew - long post this time! I really should start posting more often and maybe each entry would be shorter!
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Update!
Tom got a phone call this morning, and he will be starting work on Monday morning - in Fairfax, Virginia. This is through the meeting he had last week at the union office he went to, and someone who works for one of the companies is looking for a helper, so they called Tom. He has until January to be sure this is what he wants to do before signing up for the five years of schooling to become an apprentice and then journeyman. The man that he will be working with told him that they only have another week at the job in Fairfax, and after that he will be working near home.
After Tom told us this news this morning, I did what any mother would do - I bawled. Okay, maybe it's that time or something, but I had kind of gotten used to Tom being around, and so had Andy. Tom is working now, but his hours are erratic and most of his lessons were in the evening, so he was here with us during the day. I can't really say why I cried - I just know that I did a lot of it, and felt immensely better afterward. I think I was crying also because it felt like just the beginning of the changes that would be taking place within our family circle, and it also meant for sure and for certain that Tom wouldn't be moving with us. I know kids grow up and move on, and I have been praying for Tom to find a direction for his life, but when it came, I wasn't ready for it! Jerry just rolled his eyes when I started sniffling and babbling this morning - he's used to seeing me like this over our kids! He just shook his head and wondered aloud what it is going to be like when Andy grows up and the nest is empty for good. Which prompted a fresh onslaught of tears!
I'm better now. My eyes are a bit swollen still, but I'll live. I just refuse to think about Andy growing up - I've still got a little while yet. I'll cry about that later.
Oh, and we didn't win the raffle for the $350.00 worth of groceries at Safeway. Good thing we went to BJs, huh?!
After Tom told us this news this morning, I did what any mother would do - I bawled. Okay, maybe it's that time or something, but I had kind of gotten used to Tom being around, and so had Andy. Tom is working now, but his hours are erratic and most of his lessons were in the evening, so he was here with us during the day. I can't really say why I cried - I just know that I did a lot of it, and felt immensely better afterward. I think I was crying also because it felt like just the beginning of the changes that would be taking place within our family circle, and it also meant for sure and for certain that Tom wouldn't be moving with us. I know kids grow up and move on, and I have been praying for Tom to find a direction for his life, but when it came, I wasn't ready for it! Jerry just rolled his eyes when I started sniffling and babbling this morning - he's used to seeing me like this over our kids! He just shook his head and wondered aloud what it is going to be like when Andy grows up and the nest is empty for good. Which prompted a fresh onslaught of tears!
I'm better now. My eyes are a bit swollen still, but I'll live. I just refuse to think about Andy growing up - I've still got a little while yet. I'll cry about that later.
Oh, and we didn't win the raffle for the $350.00 worth of groceries at Safeway. Good thing we went to BJs, huh?!
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Maybe it's just me, but I believe that when I have grandchildren, (which had better not be for a LONG time yet), they will only know what trick or treating was because of being told by their parents, not because they will have the opportunity to do it themselves. We have been here 10 years and the number of children that have come here on Halloween has dwindled each year until last year, for the first time, we had NO ONE come to the door. (Had to eat all that candy by myself, you know. I considered it a mercy eating - had to save my family from the stuff, of course). This year we had two little girls come to the door, but they were my neighbor's daughter and her friend and were on their way home and stopped by. Can't really count that as true trick or treating, though. I remember a few years back when a very tall teenager dressed in combat fatigues and Army boots held out his bag and with a very manly voice said, "Trick or Treat". I looked around for a hidden camera somewhere, but not finding one, and seeing the expectant look on his face, I obligingly dropped candy into his bag. I do have my suspicions, though, that he actually WAS in the military............
Andy has only been trick or treating once, and that was when he was in kindergarten. Neither of my boys was ever really interested in it. That's not MY doing - I'm all for free candy, especially if I get a cut of the chocolate! And as for that one time that Andy went, he only went as far as Hilda's house, scored a haul there, and decided that he was finished. We had painstakingly made a paper mache (did I spell that right? Doesn't look right....!) turtle shell so that he could be Franklin. I went all out on that costume, attaching Velcro straps to the "shell", and even painting a turtle shell pattern on it. For one house. Oh, well. Once I sewed a dinosaur costume for Tom when he was small. THAT was really cute. Somewhere around here I have a picture of him in it. It was like a green jumpsuit that had a hood, and I had made "fins" all down the back and on top of the hood that were stuffed. Tom went trick or treating a few more times than Andy, but didn't start getting into the swing of it until he was older and then I finally had to gently break it to him that 18 was really too old to be doing that. Nah, just kidding. It's probably a good thing my family has no interest in reading my blog huh?! Oh, the stories I could tell......!
Andy did the neatest (I'm old, okay? I use words like "neatest") thing the other night. He plays an online game in which there are players from all over the world. He and Tom have both been playing this game for a couple of years now. There is a translation mode on the game so that all the players can understand each other while they chat, but the other night Andy took a chance and decided to try chatting in Japanese with a player from Japan. I knew he was playing the game, but I didn't realize what he had done until he excitedly screamed, "I DID IT! HE UNDERSTOOD ME! AND I UNDERSTAND HIM!". He nearly scared me out of my desk chair, but his excitement was worth it. So is homeschooling! They chatted for a minute, then Andy got stumped on something and had to write that he hadn't gotten that far yet learning the language!
It is getting late now, and I think I will read for a while. Right now I am reading Seasons of the Heart, a wonderful book by Janette Oke, which I have already read a couple of years ago, but it's huge and takes me a long time to get through it. I am also reading the new issue of The Old Schoolhouse homeschooling magazine that came in Monday's mail, and An Encouraging Word magazine which came in today's mail. And there's ALWAYS an issue of Countryside lying somewhere near me. Oyasumi!
Andy has only been trick or treating once, and that was when he was in kindergarten. Neither of my boys was ever really interested in it. That's not MY doing - I'm all for free candy, especially if I get a cut of the chocolate! And as for that one time that Andy went, he only went as far as Hilda's house, scored a haul there, and decided that he was finished. We had painstakingly made a paper mache (did I spell that right? Doesn't look right....!) turtle shell so that he could be Franklin. I went all out on that costume, attaching Velcro straps to the "shell", and even painting a turtle shell pattern on it. For one house. Oh, well. Once I sewed a dinosaur costume for Tom when he was small. THAT was really cute. Somewhere around here I have a picture of him in it. It was like a green jumpsuit that had a hood, and I had made "fins" all down the back and on top of the hood that were stuffed. Tom went trick or treating a few more times than Andy, but didn't start getting into the swing of it until he was older and then I finally had to gently break it to him that 18 was really too old to be doing that. Nah, just kidding. It's probably a good thing my family has no interest in reading my blog huh?! Oh, the stories I could tell......!
Andy did the neatest (I'm old, okay? I use words like "neatest") thing the other night. He plays an online game in which there are players from all over the world. He and Tom have both been playing this game for a couple of years now. There is a translation mode on the game so that all the players can understand each other while they chat, but the other night Andy took a chance and decided to try chatting in Japanese with a player from Japan. I knew he was playing the game, but I didn't realize what he had done until he excitedly screamed, "I DID IT! HE UNDERSTOOD ME! AND I UNDERSTAND HIM!". He nearly scared me out of my desk chair, but his excitement was worth it. So is homeschooling! They chatted for a minute, then Andy got stumped on something and had to write that he hadn't gotten that far yet learning the language!
It is getting late now, and I think I will read for a while. Right now I am reading Seasons of the Heart, a wonderful book by Janette Oke, which I have already read a couple of years ago, but it's huge and takes me a long time to get through it. I am also reading the new issue of The Old Schoolhouse homeschooling magazine that came in Monday's mail, and An Encouraging Word magazine which came in today's mail. And there's ALWAYS an issue of Countryside lying somewhere near me. Oyasumi!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
