Once Again, over a month

So--try as I might to write something every day or at least every other day--I have failed and it's been over a month. I guess the truth is I'm just not that motivated to write something. Sometimes, I start to write in my mind, but never quite get around to actually writing.

So--what have I been up to? Nothing, really. Well, nothing unusual, that is. I finished off October with Halloween fun. We actually get to dress up at work. This year we got to dress up 2 days in a row. The first day, I dressed like a typical ND football fan (I know, what a stretch, right?) The second day, my co-worker and I dressed as Macy's Bridal Registry gifts--those are gift bags we give out to people who purchase gifts for couples who register at Macy's. We had a terrific time.

My granddaughters dressed as bags of JellyBelly jellybeans. I wish I had a pic of them to post. They were too cute! Of course, I am their Nana, so I'm very prejudiced.

This month, the shopping has commenced! It is great to be busy once again. Especially since it has been soooo sloww. I think people were just getting in gear for the upcoming season. Which brings up the belabored point of why wait? Why wait until it is so crowded and things are so crazy? Shop all year around instead of waiting. Then again, most of us have other things to shop for during the year--i.e. birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, mothers day, fathers day, etc. So, it really is difficult for us to just shop for Christmas too early. Then again, it probably wouldn't be half as much fun for some. There is the thrill of making it through "Black Friday" and the rest of the Holiday shopping. My daughter loves it. I actually do too, but for a different reason. Since I work retail, it provides me with a lot of stress and fun. That's right, I said fun.

For example, I took care of a very nice man who wanted to buy tablecloths for the diningroom table he and his wife are having built for his daughter. The table is finished and will be delivered this week. He wanted to buy 2 Lenox tablecloths because the table has leaves. We unfortunately didn't have the right sizes in stock. Neither did our warehouse. I was able to do a search and found that the Macy's in Chicago had the right sizes. They will be shipping them to him so he and his wife can present them to his daughter. Thank goodness for overnight shipping. It made me happy to see him so excited. They are doing this because it is his daughter's first Thanksgiving as a married woman and she is cooking her first turkey so the family will all be together.

Then there is the inevitable stress. I accidentally put a customer's coupon in my register drawer after using it. Naturally, the register picked that time to go crazy on me. Plus, it had been awhile since the customer had been in the department, so she was stressed. I was really ready to die. She was so mad. I tried to apologize, but I don't think she was really happy with me. I wasn't happy with me, either. She left without getting the coupon back because the register wouldn't open. It had to be re-booted and she definitely didn't want to wait.

Oh well. There's always the end of the shopping season to look forward to.

My "Zelig" Life

Well, it's been a month, as usual, so here is my monthly post. I really need to do this more often. It's a lot like my pledge to walk and exercise more. Not working out lately like I want it to, but improving slightly.

The thing is, I always seem to be composing these blogs in my head, but getting it down on "paper" is something else.

This past month has been eventful, if not for me, then friends and family members. Along with work, there have been a lot of events going on. Some fun--some not so fun.

A friend of mine had major surgery this month. I was really worried about her. She has been really sick for a long time now. However, the surgery has gone well and it seems she is well on the road to recovery (had to re-type--otherwise would really look like I can't spell at all). Thank God for the ability to pray and put things in his hands. It works.

Other friends are going thru some tough times right now, so I am once again praying that all goes well for them and all their troubles will soon be ending. They are part of my extended family, so it really is hard to watch them go through this. The fact that part of their originally troubles has ended makes it really hard to wait for the rest of this all to end.

Other than that, this month has just plain been fun. Big football fan that I am, I really loved this weekend. Spent it with my eldest Granddaughter doing the whole football weekend at our "local university" as my co-worker refers to it. Just a hint--GO IRISH! (Sorry, couldn't resist).

We loved the whole thing--especially the part about winning. I'm including a picture of her with a past coach. Sorry to say, I wasn't one of his biggest supporters during the time he coached--losing clouded my opinion then. However, he is apparently still a huge fan and came to the bookstore to sign copies of one of his books. Plus, he was really nice about just taking a picture without our buying any of his books (which I still intend to read). Thanks to Coach Faust--he made my Granddaughter's and my day!

Plus, bandmembers and other fans and great pep rally that really made it extra fun. The "zelig" ( I can only hope I'm spelling that right) part is that every time I go to any event at ND I somehow end up meeting with famous or locally famous people, i.e. Coach Faust, players, band members (America's First University Marching Band, by the way) or someone like that. I don't really plan it, it just happens.

Well, another end to another post. Till next time.

What not to do with spare time

O.K. I really like having the evening off and am looking forward to tomorrow when I will be off all day long. No having to get up early (I probably will anyway, tho.), no having to take kids to school, no having to get ready to go to work.

What I will do will probably be pretty boring, tho. My day off usually goes something like this--library, grocery shopping, Facebook, e-mail, cooking or baking something because I have time. Eat too much.

Enough, already! I WILL do SOMETHING different!! O.K.--maybe football. Who am I kidding? Maybe? Make that DEFINITELY! Even if only t.v.--not live. I did go to a high school football game tonight. I haven't done that in awhile. O.K--I admit it--my granddaughters were involved. I missed it tho, because nobody told me they were going to run on the field. If I wouldn't have gone on Facebook, I never would've known. Totally not a good thing. If I would've known, I would've gone. Of course, it could've been they didn't want me to know. That is a possibility. I just got the distinct impression that nobody told me on purpose. Maybe they thought I was working, though. Or, maybe (and this is ENTIRELY possible, trust me) I was told and just forgot about it. Knowing me, this is a distinct possibility.

That said, I did eat something different than a grilled cheese sandwich (my usual dinner when home alone). The pizza I picked up after work was still yummy. Plus, I have plenty left for dinners the rest of the weekend. The dessert I made--not as good as I wanted. Homemade chocolate almond ice cream got icy--yuck. I am leaving it out to thaw a little. Will find out if its as bad as I think it is.

Tomorrow, I also want to take a walk. I really need to start walking regularly again. It helps me clear my head and lose weight. Pants getting too tight--need to walk and walk often. The funny thing is, I almost walked to the game tonight. Next time its at Mishawaka, I will. It really isn't that far and would do me good. Maybe I'll walk to the high school tomorrow and see how long it takes me. Also, there is a great sale tomorrow for the Junior League. Maybe I'll go there.

Then--football. GO IRISH!

Just Some Thoughts

Here is another attempt to make this more of a journal. It probably won't happen, but this is my second post in three weeks, so I am getting better. Sort of.

I just think that if I wrote more, I would personally feel better. I mean, it is supposed to be a vent, right?

Right. So now, I'm venting a lot of pent up stuff. You can stop reading here right now, if you want to.

There is a reason I don't write more often tho. I have several blogs I read myself and I've decided that mine aren't nearly as interesting as the ones I read. Truly. I think they are just something I wouldn't personally read.

That said, here is my vent for today. I had the day off again and planned to go to the movies or do something different than what I usually do on my day off. Generally, my days off are about as interesting as watching grass grow. The routine is usually like this lately. First, stop granddaughters from fighting and attempting to kill each other before taking them to school. Oh, wait, no, actually--first is get up before anyone else--normally 6:15 a.m.--make coffee, read e-mail and check Facebook (naturally--who doesn't?). Then, take my husband a cup of coffee. Then, I go back downstairs, open my back door and turn on lights so my granddaughters can see. Then, I make sure my husband is awake by the time the girls get here. When the kids are here, I usually have a little time to drink my coffee and we decide what to have for breakfast. In the midst of this, I sometimes have to break up an argument or two between the girls and remind them to please, please, be quiet! Also, making sure my husband is definitely up and dressed and ready to go by about 7:30 is a must. He's generally a sleepyhead and has trouble waking up so early in the morning. After he leaves (and sometimes a little bit before) I start breakfast for the girls and myself. They usually like pancakes (Paige especially like chocolate chip ones) or oatmeal. Sometimes eggs. While we eat, we usually watch a movie or television. Or read a book. Or they play with dolls. Or do homework. During this time, another fight usually breaks out. Paige generally wants to talk to her Mom then. Sometimes, I call her, sometimes not. Those two can fight like crazy one minute and be quiet as mice the next.
After about an hour, I take them to school. If I have to go to the grocery store or need to be back home in a hurry, I drive them and then come back home or run the errand.

Today, though, I was off and had decided to go to the movies. I am such an idiot, I actually thought this was going to happen. I looked at the schedule and decided to do a little window shopping and birthday shopping before the movie. I did that, went to the theater. However, the movie that I thought started at 12:45 didn't start until 1:55. It wouldn't have ended until 4:30 and I really needed to be home by about 4:00 at the very latest. I was so disappointed. The only time I can go to a movie that I want to see is during the day, by myself. If I go to a movie with Steven, it's always something he wants to see. Sometimes I do too, so I don't mind. It's just that anything I really want to see, I have to see alone. This goes for any theater performance (unless its Shakespeare), too. We don't really go to a play together anymore. God forbid we should go to what he terms "chick flicks". I can't watch anything remotely "chick flicky" at home, either. I mean, how many times have I watched some ridiculous science fiction movie or opera just because he wants to? However, we do watch some shows together. Currently, we are (along with most teenage girls in America) on a vampire movie kick. Right now, for instance, he's watching (and I am listening to) "TrueBlood" Maybe it is the theme song, maybe the fact that it is both gory and funny or maybe I'm just crazy. I really love that show. And the books that inspired it.

Well--that's it. I gotta go--TrueBlood is on.

Just some thoughts

Well, ok, don't hit the enter button right away after typing the title. That would be my first new thought. Also, practice typing as it is getting pretty bad.

I haven't really had anything new to add lately. The last day at work was awesome, especially for a Monday. For some reason unknown to me, people decided to buy things and a lot of them. As the old father-in-law says in "Moonstruck", I'm confused. Especially since Monday is generally return day and basically a non-sale day. Holy Cow, I had a $900.00 sale and the day was busy with other sales on top of that. I couldn't believe it. It did wonders for raising my spirits, since not a lot of good has been going on at work or on a personal level for awhile.

If you think I've been upbeat and don't realize things aren't so good, I'm a better actress than I think I am. Maybe I'm just stressed--I don't know. To start with, my weight loss is pretty much stalled. Been too hot to walk or exercise much and once I stop exercising, I eat due to boredom or whatever. Also, I think I drink way much more than I did last year at this time. O.K., I'm stopping.

Also, worried about my oldest daughter. She isn't feeling well and doctors don't seem to know what is wrong. She has had so many tests and basically feels like a pincushion. Whenever she seems to come to a conclusion about what it is, she is proven wrong. Hopefully, something will come of all the tests soon.

Another bright spot though is getting to spend quite a bit of time with my family lately. Naturally, the granddaughters are always around and good for either a laugh or good talk. Or just plain fun. Yesterday, we enjoyed a movie together. Had some great time with my daughters also. Just family stuff--dinners and talks and hugs, etc.

So--that brings us to just what is up with me. Naturally, money still seems to be the biggest thing. My car definitely needs repair, or I need a new one soon. Credit is so bad, though. I'm taking it in to see if it will be worth a repair job today. How I'm going to afford that, I don't know. Might be better just to trash it and do without for awhile. Difficult to decide, too.

Job is decidedly difficult, too. Other than Monday's good day, there really isn't much good to report. I'm just not good enough, and probably never will be. I really can't get excited about it anymore. Not really even enough to stress about it, tho. I guess it's when you really don't care that you probably need to think about doing something about not caring or do something else. Will see.

I did decide to put aside money for rainy days, so that is good. Probably only a small amount. At least it'll be something, tho. And, concentrate more on paying off some old stuff. I say that now until something else comes up and I need to spend everthing I have on it.

Sorry it sounds so depressing--that's the way today is, tho.

Just musings

Hey--singing along with songs you know, even if just in your mind and not out loud (cuz nobody wants to hear my voice--even me) is just a great way to lift the spirits. Currently, I'm listening to the Beatles Revolver album. Is it still and album on cd? I think so, so that's what I'm callin' it, no matter what.

"Good Day Sunshine" is currently playing. So much fun, so many memories. Thanks, guys. I mean to 'the boys' of course. Last Wednesday, I watched the Paul McCartney special on PBS (he got the Gershwin Award for popular music, if you didn't know). The concert was great and included many other talented performers other than McCartney himself. It was great to see and hear so many people having a great time at the White House and just having fun instead of politicaly bickering. Just proves that music does indeed have the power to soothe people.

The only other thing I would've loved to have seen more of was the concert at the Library of Congress itself. They apparently did tape bits and pieces of it, because you can see parts of it online at PBS.org, along with a wonderful interview with Paul himself.

Of course, watching it online was great because I could then go to the McCartney website and catch up on all the other things going on right now. Apparently, fans who went to Ringo Starr's concert last week at Madison Square Garden got a great surprise because who should show up to wish his friend and former bandmate a Happy Birthday, but --tah-dah--Paul. I wish I'd been a fly on the wall, or a little mouse--but, you get my drift. It must've been wild, because several others showed up, as well!

Where was I? Oh, yes. So, this explains why the Beatles are currently playing on my cd player--very loudly, I might add!

It's a good thing I'm by myself until after 4!

Crummy Day Off

Just had a sort of crummy day off and thought writing it all down would be the best thing to do. I know, what was I thinking? Instead of spending the day at the beach with my granddaughters, I spent it weeding in my garden, mowing and watering my grass and generally not getting much done other than that. The only good thing was that I got to make homemade, from scratch, chocolate pudding and chocolate chip cookies. Since I'm into that sort of thing, I loved it.

The cookies were a request from the grandkids, so of course, I had to do it. I had to borrow the chocolate mini chips from their mother and use whole wheat flour instead of regular flour, but the girls liked them. The chocolate pudding was fun to do because the kids had never heard of someone making real pudding. The only thing was, I used Stevia instead of sugar and I don't think it went over as well as the real thing. Trouble is, sugar in the summer raises my temperature too much. It's like a little furnace goes on when I eat it. I might as well stand over an open fire. Try explaining this to someone sometime.

I did o.k. with dinner, though. grilled chicken and salad greens. Not to bad, I must say.

The rest of the day was pretty crummy. I decided the weather wasn't going to co-operate, so we didn't go to the beach today. It looked like thundershowers were on the way and by the time it was apparent that, other than a little rain this morning, no rain was coming later, it was too late to go. There...I go...trusting the radar again.

We did finish watching the movie we essentially missed last Friday night--very funny Eddie Murphy that the girls loved. I love having the girls over, I just wish they would not fight all the time. Kids--typical of them, I know.

Tomorrow and the rest of the week is back to work. It's just one of those days when just thinking about it really brings me down. I'll probably be o.k. with it once I'm there, but lately I just can't seem to get enthused at all. I have a regular late night shift tomorrow, a later night shift on Thursday with some kind of extra training thrown in and an early day on Friday. The training is called "Magic". I have no idea what that means--probably just some other stupid things they want. More changes. At least I have a job, tho.

All for now.

Twice in the Same Week! Wow!

O.K. this is my attempt to start blogging every day or every other day or just more often. Even tho I think that nobody is paying any attention to it, anyway. It's funny I read other people's blogs and just love them...I just have a little problem doing my own, I guess.

This morning, I got up at my usual time, thinking that I had to hurry and get dressed because my youngest granddaughter, Paige, would be coming over in a short time. Lo and behold, 7 a.m. came and went and NO Paige! So, I called her mom, my daughter. She honestly thought she had told me that the girls were spending the night at their cousin's house last night. My poor kid--she really didn't tell me in her phone message. In her defense, she really has had a tough time lately. I'd forget things too if I were in her shoes. Lisa--if you read this--I love you so much and I really wish I could make things better for you.

So--since I have a whole morning with nothing to do, of course I got into baking trouble. I have an excuse--really. Let me just think what it might be. Hmm..... Ah--yesss! The 4th of July I need a dessert or snack for. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I decided to doctor a chocolate cake mix just a little bit. I took a mix and added hot black coffee to it and a wee bit of rum. They're really good--I just had a sample. The only thing left to do is frost them. I may just top them with something simple. Right now whipped topping and chocolate shavings sounds good. Or just whipped topping w/ a shake of cocoa powder. I can't decide.

Also, since the weather is nice, it is tempting to play hookey. Not going to, but the thought is there, just the same.

At work, we have to fill out an annoying slip everyday. We have to put our sales amount along with our sales goal (figured out by someone who cannot possibly be actually out on the floor selling, of course), a good sale story and a customer service story. Most of the things I do really don't merit a special story. I mean, seriously, who doesn't interact with customers? If you don't you won't be selling anything for very long. Granted, I do have some really crazy stories. But it takes longer to write them down than it does to actually experience them. Everyone always asks if I'm writing a book when i fill them out. It's ridiculous! I'm soooo tempted to just start making up ridiculous stories. I mean, really, how difficult is it to come up with something every day? It's CRAZY difficult! Some days, we really don't have that many customers--it's really, really difficult not to write something like "nobody cares--this is a stupid idea". I wonder what would happen if I did that? Hmm.....

They did seem to do away with one ridiculous thing at work, though. On our receipt, at the bottom, there was our website address and a dotted line. We had to sign the receipt and tell the customer to visit our website and let our company know about the OUTSTANDING customer service we gave them. Apparently, they did some sort of ridiculous study that said constantly talking about our OUTSTANDING service would sort of work like subliminal messaging for the customer and they would automatically give us an "outstanding" rating. Thus, our customer service rating would go up. Blah, blah, blah.... The thing is, the online rating doesn't really determine our customer service score. The only thing that does is done through snail mail and mailed back into our corporate office. Supposedly, the customer receives one of these forms after they have returned whatever item they bought from us. There is a rating scorecard on the form. Of course, the top is OUTSTANDING and it goes downhill from there, i.e. good, adequate, poor...you get the message. Anyway (I know, I am going on and on and on) yesterday, to my surprise, there was no sign on line and no website listed. Hopefully it's gone, gone, gone! Yeah!!

Along with that, we had to say we were outstanding every time someone asked how we were! Really! Nobody can be outstanding every fricking day!

Well--time to quit for now--maybe tomorrow. For now I will just be --fine, thank-you.

New Stuff

I think I just may have to start doing this more often. I may consider just adding things I do during the day--just like journaling. This is the second time I wrote that, I think.

Today is the 2nd day of 2 days off in a row. Yesterday, I took my granddaughters to Potato Creek State Park (in Indiana, in case you don't live here). We had a terrific time--I mostly read a magazine and took pictures while they swam. We had a terrific time, though. A quick dip in the lake was enough for me.

Today, we plan on going back. Not until we get some chores done around the house, tho. I still have laundry to finish, breakfast dishes and a shower to take before we leave.

I also plan to take more of a walk around the park itself today and possibly take more pictures. One other thing we need to do is go to the grocery store for some bread for sandwiches. No sandwiches yesterday--not much of a lunch, either. We still will take some punch for drinking and grapes, too.

Yesterday, before my eldest granddaughter got up, my youngest granddaughter and I went to Beutter Park here in Mishawaka and had a great fun walk. We met up with some ducks, which Paige really loved and saw the beautiful flowers. It is really a beautiful walk and can be long or short, depending on what way you turn on the path. The other nice thing is that the path connects to 3 (I think) other parks, so you can just go from one to another. In Central Park, there is a playground for kids and picnic area for eating. On Kamm's Island there are great places to just sit and watch the water for awhile.

This past Saturday Mishawaka had our annual summer celebration appropriately called "Summerfest". This year it was basically held on Kamm's Island, which is smaller than its usual location of Merrifield Park. It was still a fun time for all! There were activities for the kids, crafts and live performances, also a 5k walk/run and lots of food. Something for everyone! The entire festival was capped off by fireworks on Saturday night. Best view from Beutter Park! A great time w/family!

Since I had such a good time, I'm going to make sure I have Summerfest day off every year. Also, there are various outdoor concerts and things going on during the summer here in Mishawaka/South Bend that I'm planning on attending. I love Summer!

Pretty Good 3 Days Off

O.K. so here is my attempt to blog some more and more often. We all get a 3 day weekend off every 4 weeks. This month, I really had a good 3 days. Usually, I just spend them running errands, cleaning up, etc. This time, I actually got to do some fun things. On Saturday, we went to a "People Fest". This was a fundraiser for a local Catholic School in our area--basically food and music. I must say, it was a good sampling of food--something for everyone. Since I am Hungarian, it was nice to have someone cook Hungarian without having to do the clean-up. They also had Mexican Bunuelos, Burritos, Polish sausage, cabbage and noodles, Ribs, baked beans, collards, bratwurst, Bavarian food and even American hot dogs. Plus, it was great to hear live music and spend time with my husband.

On Sunday night, I went to a party to say good-bye to a good friend from work--sad to say. We had a wonderful turnout--about 40 people in all--and it was nice to bet together outside of work. We all had a great time. He was really amazed that so many people cared so much. A real "Mr. Holland's Opus" moment.

Today, I babysat for my granddaughter. We had a splendid time. For lunch, we hit McDonald's. This morning, we did errands. Then, we had chores to do. The laundry and vacuuming went much faster with her help. She is such a hoot! I didn't think she'd be able to handle the hanging of the towels on a clothesline, but what a trooper!

Well, back to work tomorrow! I probably won't get a chance to blog for awhile. Until next time.
'

Just a new post

Well, it's my once a month post again. I think I'll just remind myself to turn this more into a journal and not an actual vent. I'm on a stacation again, so it should be fairly easy this week.

The last few days have really been busy but fun. I live in a city in northern Indiana and am a big football fan, so this weekend was great. My girls and I went to the unveiling of a certain university's alumni shirt. If you live in northern Indiana you probably know what I'm talking about. If not--I'm sorry for you.

The event was just part of a big week at the university. It's actually part of a large convention of alumni clubs that meet there once a year. Other than the unveiling of 'the shirt' and 'the Blue/Gold game festival, the alumni association hosts an event called "senate". Officers of the various ND clubs from around the world congregate for seminars and good times. I'm only aware of this because of a temporary job I had about 10 years ago. It was the best job I've ever had. period. I have gone on record to say (at least among my friends and family) that I would almost consider doing it again for free. The people were wonderful--especially since they had to put up with a crazy fan. Of course, getting to go to my favorite place played a big part in loving the job.

So--back to my original subject. My girls and I went to that unveiling Friday night. On Saturday morning I participated in the March of Dimes walk for premature babies. I do this every year. The walk itself was well attended--lots of people walking for babies. But, the company I work for didn't do well at all as far as attendance. In fact, I was the only participant. It was a drag to walk by myself. In the past, we had a really large group. However, this year there wasn't any special mention in the weeks leading up to the walk, so I don't think many remembered that it was this weekend. Nevertheless, there really should have been more participation. Boo to all those who didn't show.

On Saturday afternoon, my oldest daughter and granddaughters went to the Blue/Gold football game at ND. We are diehard fans who sat in the rain for the entire game. We saw a terrific practice and know that the potential for a wonderful season is there. New coach, new game!
We're really looking forward to this fall, I must say.

This morning, I will be taking one of my granddaughters to school and one granddaughter to her aunt (and my youngest daughter). We are taking turns with her this week, so I will get a stacation. Thanks Vicki!

I Really Need to Do This More Often

I was just looking at my last blog and realized the date is last month's. When I first started writing this, I think I did it almost every day. Now I'm lucky if it's once a month. Geez! Writing doesn't really improve if it's only done once a month.

So many little things keep me from doing this. My typing isn't really good...I'm too tired at the end of the day....nothing to say....etc. Still, it's a little like letter writing in the past. Only now, it's to whoever will stop to read it.

We finally have a manager in our department. She doesn't seem to have much experience managing and it seems like she is majorly overwhelmed. The department is actually a combination of many departments, so it is overwhelming. It's a huge undertaking. There is so much for her to learn, she says. I don't think she realized what it was going to entail when she applied for the position. I give her credit, though. I know I wouldn't want to do it.

Our business still seems slow at times. There are days when nobody is shopping. Period. Then, there are times when one wonders what on earth these people are doing in our store. They literally buy anything and everything. Amazing!

We have some good news in our extended family. My son-in-law's sister and her husband are adopting a daughter from Uganda. They have a son who is my eldest granddaughter's age. The girl they are adopting is 2 days older than my youngest granddaughter. We are all very excited and can't wait to meet her. Although not related by blood, we are all close and related in heart.

This does feel almost like a letter to a friend--hopefully friends are reading this. I will close by saying that's all for now. (See--just like a letter)

Baking and thinking about it

For some reason, I cannot stop thinking about food. It's all we talk about at work and all I think about. We are currently getting recipes together for a company cookbook. Also, this past week we had 2 birthdays in our department, so I decided to bake one cake for both girls (ladies, women..whatever). It has been quite awhile since I attempted to bake this particular recipe, but it really turned out nice. The chocolate frosting is absolutely delicious. I made extra, thinking I would need it to frost the cake, but I didn't so I actually had enought to freeze it. I hope it is okay for the next attempt. The cake I baked is a Hungarian Dobos Torte. Quite involved because it is a scratch cake. Although many make a round version, you can also make a "log" square version. I think the square version is easier. Also, I frosted the entire cake in chocolate frosting. The original version has one layer topped with carmalized sugar topping. Since I have never attempted to do that, I opted not to attempt it. Maybe next time. I think it turned out o.k. My co-workers liked it.

Also, we had a tremendous meal on Valentine's Day at my daughter's house. Chicken Paprikas (another Hungarian favorite) with Tarhonya (Hungarian pasta). Chocolate Trifle for dessert. Yum!!

That's all for now, I'm off to eat breakfast and get ready for work.

Ice, ice, ice

Just came in from trying (unsuccessfully, I might add) to get the ice off of the top steps on my front porch. Although we faithfully shoveled the snow off of our steps and sidewalks, we still got about 2 inches of ice on our porch steps. Since the temperature is a little warmer today, I decided to try and get rid of the ice. I tried salt, a shovel etc. Only a little came off. It is just too frozen up to do anything with. Hopefully, the extra salt I put on top will help some. Maybe tomorrow and this weekend, it will improve.

There is also ice buildup on my driveway, which will probably just melt once it turns warmer. I think I'll just leave it since I can drive o.k. on it. My driveway is only ten feet long at the very most. The ice isn't actually that thick. Most of what is there is only unmelted snow.

I hope for warmer temps as spring gets closer.

Now, it's off to get ready for work. I hope this night passes quickly. If not, it's another boring night at work. However, I also hope we aren't horrendously busy. I will be by myself again tonight, so if it's busy, there won't be anyone to help me with cranky customers who are just too busy to wait. Hey--if you're that impatient, please, do us both a favor and go to a different store. Same goes if you feel like trashing my department or shopping at 9:55 p.m. Seriously. There is simply no excuse for idiots who take things out of packages and then--hmm--can't put them back in, so let's just wad them up and throw them on the floor. Better yet, let's tear open all the packages. That way, the company can lose money on all the stuff you tore up because, face it, someone must have returned it. The package is all torn up! There MUST be something wrong with it--it's all torn up!

There--I'm done venting for today. Later.