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.