Hubs was in Hawaii this weekend and, according to him, he, "Hit the motherlode." When I asked for a translation, I was told that there was a humongo yard sale, an old couple cleaned out their house and things were selling for donations. So he got a bunch of stuff, then found out that it was a one day sale and everything that didn't go was headed for a dumpster. So, guess who went dumpster diving with his crazy Hawaiian friend?
These people did a lot of traveling and bought souvenirs, so we've got sumo wrestler calendars, geisha pictures, tons of post cards and what I"m pretty sure are carved wooden African fertility gods, which just isn't a good idea to keep hanging around the house when you're our age. Talk about tempting fate. sheesh!
He also brought home a ton of vintage dresses from the 70's and 80's, some of which are really kind of funky. But nothing fits since the lady was a tiny little Japanese woman and I'm a rather busty Scandinavian frau. So now I've got to find some miniature vintage clothing buff who's interested in a bunch of old dresses.
Also, is anyone interested in an autographed picture of Don Ho?
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Mother knows best
The other day at work we had a guy come in and asked if we had any Vicks. We asked what kind of Vicks and he said it's just called Vicks. We grabbed him a jar of vapor rub and he said, This is it! and bought it. I mentioned to my co-worker that it sounded like he had a cold and called his mom what would help and she told him to get some Vicks. Later that afternoon another guy came in looking for Neosporin ointment, we showed him where to get it and when he was at the register I asked if he needed band-aids as well. He assured me he had band-aids. He burned his finger and called his mom and she told him to put some Neosporin on it. They may think they're all grown up when they head to college, but they all still call on mom when they need help. I get regular texts from WE asking for cooking advice. He's turning into quite a chef.
My band-aid add-on at the register is part of my mission to convince people they need to buy more stuff. I don't push unneeded items on them, just suggest additional items to compliment what they're already buying, a drink to go with their chips, etc. My favorite is the pencils. We've got this cup of cheap 25 cent pencils by the register and I'm determined I'm going to sell every single one of them. Everyone who buys them always only grabs one pencil. I just look at them intently and ask, is one going to be enough? What if it breaks during class? They always, without fail, buy at least one more, one guy even bought 3 more. Afterwards I announce to my co-workers how many extra pencils I convinced someone to buy. It's become a point of pride and they all think my customer manipulation skills are hilarious. Everyone needs those little challenges at their job to help them get up in the morning and go to work.
My band-aid add-on at the register is part of my mission to convince people they need to buy more stuff. I don't push unneeded items on them, just suggest additional items to compliment what they're already buying, a drink to go with their chips, etc. My favorite is the pencils. We've got this cup of cheap 25 cent pencils by the register and I'm determined I'm going to sell every single one of them. Everyone who buys them always only grabs one pencil. I just look at them intently and ask, is one going to be enough? What if it breaks during class? They always, without fail, buy at least one more, one guy even bought 3 more. Afterwards I announce to my co-workers how many extra pencils I convinced someone to buy. It's become a point of pride and they all think my customer manipulation skills are hilarious. Everyone needs those little challenges at their job to help them get up in the morning and go to work.
Friday, November 8, 2019
Well, that messed me up something fierce
My bedside clock thought it was daylight savings last night and really screwed me up this morning. My clock has this feature that makes it automatically change for daylight savings, but it didn't work last weekend. I didn't think too much about it since it's an old clock I got for $2 at a thrift store and figured it just didn't work anymore, so I changed the clock myself and went on my merry way. Until this morning. I woke up at (what I thought was) 5:30 am this morning and couldn't fall back to sleep. I also couldn't figure out why my neighborhood was so active so early in the morning. I laid around in bed for awhile hoping to fall back to sleep. I must have dozed back off, then was woke up by hubs calling me (he's out of town) at (again, what I thought was) 6:50am. I answered but was wondering, what the heck, dude? Why would you call me so stinking early? After talking to him, I got out of bed, ate breakfast, drank some coffee then opened my computer and wondered how it was 9 o'clock already and somehow time really flew and I"d better get in the shower. That's when I went back into the bedroom and realized that my clock said it was only 8am. I changed it to the right time and did some investigating. The date was set wrong on the clock. Since the date isn't displayed anywhere on the clock, there's no way I could have known that. I went to change the date and when I put it to November 8, it automatically knew it was Friday. How did it know that? It doesn't have a year setting function that I could see. There's some weird sorcery going on here, folks.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Fall Back
I hate daylight savings, it gets me all out of wack. But, on the plus side, we didn't go to church an hour early. We never have. The only time we forget about daylight savings is in the spring. Twice we realized it when it was too late to get there on time. One unforgettable time we didn't realize we were late until we actually walked in while they were singing the last hymn. We got picked on a bit about that one, lemme tell ya.
After church we went to all you can eat Chinese buffet. They sat us at a table, and we went and got our food. After sitting down a few minutes, I kept getting wafts of smelly air whenever someone walked past. Then I realized the guy sitting behind me smelled really gross. Not b.o., but just like dirty, unwashed, hadn't taken a bath in months, homeless person kind of smelly. I've got nothing against homeless people, there was a time in my life that my best friend was homeless (I am NOT making that up, his name was Chris and we had a blast together), but there's no reason to be a smelly homeless person. Plus, I don't think this guy was homeless, just gross. We quietly asked to be moved to a different table and our waitress totally knew why and apologized, though it wasn't like it was her fault, she wasn't even the one who put us at that table. I noticed that the rest of the time they were there they didn't seat anyone else in the surrounding tables. Do people honestly become so used to it that they don't know they smell really bad, or do they know and just don't care? He was there with a woman, I don't know if she smelled too, my sense of self-preservation prevented me from sniffing in her general area.
After church we went to all you can eat Chinese buffet. They sat us at a table, and we went and got our food. After sitting down a few minutes, I kept getting wafts of smelly air whenever someone walked past. Then I realized the guy sitting behind me smelled really gross. Not b.o., but just like dirty, unwashed, hadn't taken a bath in months, homeless person kind of smelly. I've got nothing against homeless people, there was a time in my life that my best friend was homeless (I am NOT making that up, his name was Chris and we had a blast together), but there's no reason to be a smelly homeless person. Plus, I don't think this guy was homeless, just gross. We quietly asked to be moved to a different table and our waitress totally knew why and apologized, though it wasn't like it was her fault, she wasn't even the one who put us at that table. I noticed that the rest of the time they were there they didn't seat anyone else in the surrounding tables. Do people honestly become so used to it that they don't know they smell really bad, or do they know and just don't care? He was there with a woman, I don't know if she smelled too, my sense of self-preservation prevented me from sniffing in her general area.
Friday, November 1, 2019
That didn't work out as planned
The World Series ended very sadly. That's all I'm saying about that.
Yesterday was Halloween, trick or treating was postponed in our town because of a ridiculous amount of snow. Yes, snow. Quite a bit of it. In October. Is this a foreshadowing of the winter to come? This has got me really reconsidering my life choices.
Not all my life choices are poorly thought out, however. Yesterday I made a very wise purchase. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you, Kenny and Margaret:
You can't see it in the picture, but their heads are on springs and they bob around! They're an awesome addition to my other living room decor. I have Johan, the turquoise giraffe, Judy, the flower girl zombie doll who's riding on the back of Angus, the metal rooster and, of course, the rainbow unicorn head mounted on the wall. I realized today that the unicorn doesn't have a name. Then I realized that it's Heidi. I don't name these objects, they name themselves, people. Missing from the menagerie is Ben, the margarita drinking flamingo. He's still down in Houston at the girl's house. I think they've claimed him as their own and he won't be coming back home to me. Spread your wings and fly little guy, see the world! I left him in good hands.
Yesterday, after I got them home, I noticed that somewhere between me picking her up from the shelf in the thrift store and getting her home, Margaret lost her left eye. I think it happened when her head bounced off while I was in the check-out line. I'm debating whether or not I should find a replacement, or just let it be. It kind of gives her that rogue, devil-may-care alley cat look that you just can't fake, it's gotta come naturally.
Yesterday was Halloween, trick or treating was postponed in our town because of a ridiculous amount of snow. Yes, snow. Quite a bit of it. In October. Is this a foreshadowing of the winter to come? This has got me really reconsidering my life choices.
Not all my life choices are poorly thought out, however. Yesterday I made a very wise purchase. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you, Kenny and Margaret:
You can't see it in the picture, but their heads are on springs and they bob around! They're an awesome addition to my other living room decor. I have Johan, the turquoise giraffe, Judy, the flower girl zombie doll who's riding on the back of Angus, the metal rooster and, of course, the rainbow unicorn head mounted on the wall. I realized today that the unicorn doesn't have a name. Then I realized that it's Heidi. I don't name these objects, they name themselves, people. Missing from the menagerie is Ben, the margarita drinking flamingo. He's still down in Houston at the girl's house. I think they've claimed him as their own and he won't be coming back home to me. Spread your wings and fly little guy, see the world! I left him in good hands.
Yesterday, after I got them home, I noticed that somewhere between me picking her up from the shelf in the thrift store and getting her home, Margaret lost her left eye. I think it happened when her head bounced off while I was in the check-out line. I'm debating whether or not I should find a replacement, or just let it be. It kind of gives her that rogue, devil-may-care alley cat look that you just can't fake, it's gotta come naturally.
Monday, October 28, 2019
Take it back, baby!!
Okay, it's time to confess. I'm a baseball junkie. I love me some Astros and they're doing awesome right now. They're ahead 3-2 in the World Series and hopefully tomorrow night they get all trophied up.
Ok, now that I've got that off my chest we can go on to other things.
This morning my darling 3rd child was horribly traumatized by my husband. It started with a simple text: Dad, how much do I owe you? The response? "You owe me your life. You're lucky I was horny that day and your mom's so hot." To which, the horrified child replied: Ew ew ew I MEANT how much money do I owe you for the plane tickets to Houston and to make sure I never have to hear you say that ever again?
He's probably broken for life now.
At work today we were making up little candy bags as gifts/bribes for instructors to lure the into the bookstore and tell us what books they're requiring for the winter & spring terms so we can order them before the students start filing in looking for them. We needed 37 bags and were supposed to put about a dozen pieces of candy in each bag. Once we realized that we had WAY more candy than we were going to need, we got a little more selective in filling the bags, strategically keeping back the good candy for ourselves and placing the icky candy, like the Nerds and the dark chocolate, into the goody bags. We're obviously not idiots.
⚾ GO 'STROS!!!! ⚾
Ok, now that I've got that off my chest we can go on to other things.
This morning my darling 3rd child was horribly traumatized by my husband. It started with a simple text: Dad, how much do I owe you? The response? "You owe me your life. You're lucky I was horny that day and your mom's so hot." To which, the horrified child replied: Ew ew ew I MEANT how much money do I owe you for the plane tickets to Houston and to make sure I never have to hear you say that ever again?
He's probably broken for life now.
At work today we were making up little candy bags as gifts/bribes for instructors to lure the into the bookstore and tell us what books they're requiring for the winter & spring terms so we can order them before the students start filing in looking for them. We needed 37 bags and were supposed to put about a dozen pieces of candy in each bag. Once we realized that we had WAY more candy than we were going to need, we got a little more selective in filling the bags, strategically keeping back the good candy for ourselves and placing the icky candy, like the Nerds and the dark chocolate, into the goody bags. We're obviously not idiots.
⚾ GO 'STROS!!!! ⚾
Saturday, October 19, 2019
RIP Eddie
I think I mentioned a while ago that hubs brought home a gecko in his luggage last time he came home from Hawaii. We named him Eddie and let him wander around the house to his heart's content. He was all over the place, we'd see him in the kitchen, bedroom closet, bathroom, everywhere. Then we'd not see him for a day or two and he'd show up again someplace completely different. Well, the other day he chose a bad spot to sit and chill and hubs accidentally stepped on him on his way out the door. I found his lifeless body about an hour later. So, there went our brief foray into having a roommate living with us.
In other exciting news, the Astros are doing pretty good in the playoffs. GO 'STROS!!! Hubs doesn't get my fascination with baseball, but will sit and watch the games with me like a trooper. What a great guy. He even puts up with me yelling at the screen in the vain attempt to make them hear me and accept my sage baseball advice or to change a really stupid call. My grandma used to do that with the Green Bay Packers so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. My other grandparents used to turn the Brewer game on the radio and sit out on their screen porch in the dark and quietly listen to the game, those are some of my greatest memories of them. So between the Packers hollering grandma and the nightly Brewers games in the dark on the other side of the family, I am truly a product of my environment. Last month I went to the Brewers home game when they were playing the Astros. I wore my Astros jersey and had a great time. Fortunately Wisconsin baseball fans aren't nasty to opposing teams fans, I've heard stories otherwise at other stadiums and other sports. But here things were great and at the end of the game I even got high-fives from the Brewers fans sitting in front of us at the end of the game (the Astros won it in extra innings). It was a great experience I was both proud to be an Astros fan, but also to be a Wisconsinite where people are so stinking nice.
In other exciting news, the Astros are doing pretty good in the playoffs. GO 'STROS!!! Hubs doesn't get my fascination with baseball, but will sit and watch the games with me like a trooper. What a great guy. He even puts up with me yelling at the screen in the vain attempt to make them hear me and accept my sage baseball advice or to change a really stupid call. My grandma used to do that with the Green Bay Packers so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. My other grandparents used to turn the Brewer game on the radio and sit out on their screen porch in the dark and quietly listen to the game, those are some of my greatest memories of them. So between the Packers hollering grandma and the nightly Brewers games in the dark on the other side of the family, I am truly a product of my environment. Last month I went to the Brewers home game when they were playing the Astros. I wore my Astros jersey and had a great time. Fortunately Wisconsin baseball fans aren't nasty to opposing teams fans, I've heard stories otherwise at other stadiums and other sports. But here things were great and at the end of the game I even got high-fives from the Brewers fans sitting in front of us at the end of the game (the Astros won it in extra innings). It was a great experience I was both proud to be an Astros fan, but also to be a Wisconsinite where people are so stinking nice.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Can I still call her my baby?
My baby, my youngest angel, my final attempt at creating the perfect child turned 21 years old today. That's pretty freaking crazy if you ask me. All my kids are full fledged, alcohol drinking able adults now. And if that's not enough to make me feel my mortality, another one of the kiddos got engaged this weekend. Yep, Angel #1 proposed to the woman of his dreams on Saturday and they're getting married next year. I wonder if this is how it's going to be, a wedding every year until they're all married off, then the grand babies will start coming. That's what happens when you have your kids all in a row like I did. So I've got plans to be in Miami in December of next year. :) The cool thing is that it was my idea to tour Villa Vizcaya last weekend, the kids liked it so much they went back this weekend and that's where he popped the question. So that's my contribution to the engagement, besides birthing the groom-to-be.
This weekend we went up to visit WE and his wife. We went out to dinner with our friends/daughter-in-laws parents on Friday and Saturday night both, which is always a good time. They're such great friends and I'm so glad that we're sort of shirt-tail related to each other through our kids. I feel so fortunate that not only do I love my son's choice for a wife, but I love her family as well. I don't know Angel #1's prospective mother-in-law real well yet, we've only met her a couple of times and her English is limited, but from what I DO know of her, she's an incredible women. #1's fiance and her twin sister were only 2 months old when their father was killed. Her mother raised those two little girls along with their 2 older brothers by herself, after moving to the US. Can you imagine moving to a foreign country, not knowing the language, with 4 little kids all by yourself? Not only that, she did an incredibly awesome job in the raising of those kids and they're all college educated adults with successful careers and good lives. How can you not admire someone like that. Plus, she already considers my little boy her son and it makes me feel good that even though he lives so far away, he's got family nearby who care about him. Everybody wins!
This weekend we went up to visit WE and his wife. We went out to dinner with our friends/daughter-in-laws parents on Friday and Saturday night both, which is always a good time. They're such great friends and I'm so glad that we're sort of shirt-tail related to each other through our kids. I feel so fortunate that not only do I love my son's choice for a wife, but I love her family as well. I don't know Angel #1's prospective mother-in-law real well yet, we've only met her a couple of times and her English is limited, but from what I DO know of her, she's an incredible women. #1's fiance and her twin sister were only 2 months old when their father was killed. Her mother raised those two little girls along with their 2 older brothers by herself, after moving to the US. Can you imagine moving to a foreign country, not knowing the language, with 4 little kids all by yourself? Not only that, she did an incredibly awesome job in the raising of those kids and they're all college educated adults with successful careers and good lives. How can you not admire someone like that. Plus, she already considers my little boy her son and it makes me feel good that even though he lives so far away, he's got family nearby who care about him. Everybody wins!
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Florida survived me
We had a wonderful weekend in Miami with my little boy and his girlfriend. On Friday we went out for Honduran food, she's originally from Honduras, so we had her order for us and it was delicious! We went for a loooong walk on Saturday. The kids live about a mile from the ocean, so we walked there, through Little Havana, the downtown area and then down to Brickell Key and walked around there, looking at the big yachts going by.
On Sunday we went and toured Villa Vizcaya, a beautiful mansion built about 100 years ago. It was falling into disrepair when the owners donated it to the county and it's slowly being repaired. The inside of the house is pretty much done and is beautiful. The gardens are huge and so much fun to wander around it. My favorite thing was the barge though. It's a big cement breakwater made to look like a ship. Back in the day it had palm trees and gazebos on it and it looked very elegant, today it looks more like a shipwreck, so still cool, but in a different way. If you're ever in Miami, I highly recommend taking a look.
So, now we're back home and settling back into life, until we head out again this weekend, this time to see WE and his wife. We haven't seen them since August, which is pretty sad since they're the kids we actually live closest to.
On Sunday we went and toured Villa Vizcaya, a beautiful mansion built about 100 years ago. It was falling into disrepair when the owners donated it to the county and it's slowly being repaired. The inside of the house is pretty much done and is beautiful. The gardens are huge and so much fun to wander around it. My favorite thing was the barge though. It's a big cement breakwater made to look like a ship. Back in the day it had palm trees and gazebos on it and it looked very elegant, today it looks more like a shipwreck, so still cool, but in a different way. If you're ever in Miami, I highly recommend taking a look.
So, now we're back home and settling back into life, until we head out again this weekend, this time to see WE and his wife. We haven't seen them since August, which is pretty sad since they're the kids we actually live closest to.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Off we go again
After a fairly uneventful week, we're on the road again. This time it's Miami to see Angel #1. I haven't been down there in about 2 years, so it'll be nice to see him in his native habitat. Though with my traveling track record, Florida will probably be hit with a hurricane. I've managed to get Harvey, Sandy and tropical storm Imelda already, so it's just a matter of time before I decimate the Sunshine State as well. In my defense, the volcanoes didn't blow until a month after I left Hawaii, so I can hardly be responsible for that. I'm only a hurricane magnet, other natural disasters are on their own.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
We had one of our typical Saturdays today. First we went to Franks Diner, a very old diner with great greasy food, a sassy staff and always a line and a crowd. It's a fun place to go, apparently it's the oldest continuously run dining car in America, though I'm not sure who exactly was keeping track. There's always a line to get in, so it's not one of those grab and go quickly stops, but the waiting in line if half the fun. We all celebrated Saturday with a diner-wide free tequila shot, which is I think rather unique in itself. I don't know of any other diner that does something like that, though I'm no diner expert by any means.
After Franks we walked to the Farmer's Market. We've got a pretty good sized farmers market and it's got so much good stuff, we love making it a regular stop. Things are starting to look a little scare there though, since the weather is starting to get chilly and vendors and shoppers alike are not quite so apt to sit around in the cold. There's only 2 more weeks of the outdoor market, then it moves inside. We stopped at the fudge place and they had $5 flop bags available. Those are bags of misshapen and corner pieces of fudge. You don't know what you're going to get, you just grab a bag and hope for the best. One of our offerings today was root beer fudge. It sounds wrong, and after tasting it, I assured myself that it IS wrong. gross, just gross. That's hard to believe of any kind of fudge, I know, but it's true. Take my word for it, don't try and see for yourself. There's my life advice for the day.
After Franks we walked to the Farmer's Market. We've got a pretty good sized farmers market and it's got so much good stuff, we love making it a regular stop. Things are starting to look a little scare there though, since the weather is starting to get chilly and vendors and shoppers alike are not quite so apt to sit around in the cold. There's only 2 more weeks of the outdoor market, then it moves inside. We stopped at the fudge place and they had $5 flop bags available. Those are bags of misshapen and corner pieces of fudge. You don't know what you're going to get, you just grab a bag and hope for the best. One of our offerings today was root beer fudge. It sounds wrong, and after tasting it, I assured myself that it IS wrong. gross, just gross. That's hard to believe of any kind of fudge, I know, but it's true. Take my word for it, don't try and see for yourself. There's my life advice for the day.
Friday, September 27, 2019
Settling back into normal.
It's been a pretty quiet week around here. Now that the school rush is over, work is pretty relaxed. I wouldn't like it like this all the time, because it would be a little boring, but after a month of craziness it's nice for us all to catch our breath a bit and get the store cleaned and up to snuff. We literally didn't have time to restock, straighten shelves or even sweep the floor, but today all those things got done. Plus, we're getting rid of textbooks that we didn't sell, and clearing off shelves and condensing them is a very satisfying feeling. We'll start stocking graduation stuff next month, check in return textbook in December, then start all over again in January with a new semester. The circle of university life.
It's starting to feel a bit like fall now. It was cold and rainy today and our main sales at work were rain ponchos, umbrellas, windbreakers and cold medicine. It's all downhill from here.
Hubs was working in Hawaii the beginning of the week and brought a gecko home in his suitcase. They run around wild down there and are as common in a house as a housefly. So, now we've got a gecko of our own running around in the kitchen. It's been hiding under the stove but comes out occasionally to see what's going on in the rest of the house. Oh well, at least it's not a dog.
It's starting to feel a bit like fall now. It was cold and rainy today and our main sales at work were rain ponchos, umbrellas, windbreakers and cold medicine. It's all downhill from here.
Hubs was working in Hawaii the beginning of the week and brought a gecko home in his suitcase. They run around wild down there and are as common in a house as a housefly. So, now we've got a gecko of our own running around in the kitchen. It's been hiding under the stove but comes out occasionally to see what's going on in the rest of the house. Oh well, at least it's not a dog.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Houston, we have a problem
I've been in Houston for the last 4 or 5 days. Not a good travel choice, as my good friend Tropical Storm Imelda reminded me, once I got there.
The airline did try to warn me, sending me emails telling me I may want to change my plans at no charge because of the storm, but the DOWNTON ABBEY MOVIE WAS OPENING ON THURSDAY!! Yes, I flew across the country in a tropical storm so I could go to the movies with my daughters. Stop judging me, it was a good movie and we've been looking forward to it for ages.
My flight on Thursday was only an hour delayed, so I thought things were going my way. We had a relatively smooth landing in Houston, I got off the plane the went to the passenger pick-up area to wait for my girls to come get me. That's when things went bad. My first clue things weren't right is when I went to the pick-up area and there were only about 8 cars sitting there, 2 of the police cars, and none of them were moving or even turned on. As a matter of fact, only 2 of them had people in them. If you've ever spent time in a post 9/11 airport, you know that this is NOT a thing. Turns out that after much texting and calling with the girls, that all the roads and from the airport were under water and the airport sent out a tweet telling people to not come pick up their passengers, that they had food and electricity and they'd be fine. They never actually told any of this to those of us sitting in the airport waiting for our rides, we had to find out through comparing notes with fellow stranded passengers and calls to our Houston contacts.
After waiting at a complete stand-still for an hour on the road to the airport, the girls gave up and managed to find a place to turn around and went back home to wait for further updates. 4 hours later there was a break in the storm and they found out through someone on Twitter (NOT the airport) that there was one lane open, so they jumped in the car and got their momma. YAY!! So 5 hours after I landed, I finally walked into the door and I was officially there. The drive back was apocalyptic. There were abandoned cars sitting all over the place, some tire deep in water. People were driving through ditches in an attempt to get out of parking lots and jumping the curbs to avoic roads that were under water. And, worst of all, all the theaters were closed, so we had to postpone the movie until Saturday night. 😲
Friday it was still raining, so I spent the day juicing limes. What? Doesn't everyone juice limes when they're on vacation visiting their kids? Someone had given the girls a huge case of limes and they were making the whole house smell funky. Since the girls were busy, I just juiced away, made a pitcher of limeade and a lime pie. So the citrus portion of our program was definitely covered.
Saturday we ran errands and did random stuff until it was movie time. But right before we left to go, the girls discovered an injured baby squirrel, wrapped him up, brought him in the house and named him Alfred. *sigh* It's like these critters know then they've got a couple of suckers around.
We went to the movie (AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!) and it was AWESOME. It was fun being in a theater with a bunch of people who also knew and loved all these characters and laughed at the inside jokes and snarky comments together.
Sunday we brought Alfred to the SPCA, then spent a ridiculous amount of time there so Angel #4 could pet all the cats. I had an uneventful flight home, got in about 10pm last night and here I am now. So, we're all caught up for the moment.
The airline did try to warn me, sending me emails telling me I may want to change my plans at no charge because of the storm, but the DOWNTON ABBEY MOVIE WAS OPENING ON THURSDAY!! Yes, I flew across the country in a tropical storm so I could go to the movies with my daughters. Stop judging me, it was a good movie and we've been looking forward to it for ages.
My flight on Thursday was only an hour delayed, so I thought things were going my way. We had a relatively smooth landing in Houston, I got off the plane the went to the passenger pick-up area to wait for my girls to come get me. That's when things went bad. My first clue things weren't right is when I went to the pick-up area and there were only about 8 cars sitting there, 2 of the police cars, and none of them were moving or even turned on. As a matter of fact, only 2 of them had people in them. If you've ever spent time in a post 9/11 airport, you know that this is NOT a thing. Turns out that after much texting and calling with the girls, that all the roads and from the airport were under water and the airport sent out a tweet telling people to not come pick up their passengers, that they had food and electricity and they'd be fine. They never actually told any of this to those of us sitting in the airport waiting for our rides, we had to find out through comparing notes with fellow stranded passengers and calls to our Houston contacts.
After waiting at a complete stand-still for an hour on the road to the airport, the girls gave up and managed to find a place to turn around and went back home to wait for further updates. 4 hours later there was a break in the storm and they found out through someone on Twitter (NOT the airport) that there was one lane open, so they jumped in the car and got their momma. YAY!! So 5 hours after I landed, I finally walked into the door and I was officially there. The drive back was apocalyptic. There were abandoned cars sitting all over the place, some tire deep in water. People were driving through ditches in an attempt to get out of parking lots and jumping the curbs to avoic roads that were under water. And, worst of all, all the theaters were closed, so we had to postpone the movie until Saturday night. 😲
Friday it was still raining, so I spent the day juicing limes. What? Doesn't everyone juice limes when they're on vacation visiting their kids? Someone had given the girls a huge case of limes and they were making the whole house smell funky. Since the girls were busy, I just juiced away, made a pitcher of limeade and a lime pie. So the citrus portion of our program was definitely covered.
Saturday we ran errands and did random stuff until it was movie time. But right before we left to go, the girls discovered an injured baby squirrel, wrapped him up, brought him in the house and named him Alfred. *sigh* It's like these critters know then they've got a couple of suckers around.
We went to the movie (AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!) and it was AWESOME. It was fun being in a theater with a bunch of people who also knew and loved all these characters and laughed at the inside jokes and snarky comments together.
Sunday we brought Alfred to the SPCA, then spent a ridiculous amount of time there so Angel #4 could pet all the cats. I had an uneventful flight home, got in about 10pm last night and here I am now. So, we're all caught up for the moment.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Haunted tee shirts and lucky dreams
I've gotta say, I love Asian moms. One of the kids I work with is Hmong and every once in awhile shares a morsel of wisdom passed down from her mother. When I was talking about my favorite thrift store the other day she informed me that she'd never shopped at one because her mother didn't like them. I asked if it was because she didn't like the idea of wearing other people's clothes and she said it had more to do with dead people. "She's afraid dead people wore the clothes and now they've got dead people cooties??" Nope, she's afraid that the former owners of the clothes are still with them in spirit and will haunt the clothes. So, yeah, she won't buy used stuff because she's afraid of haunted mini skirts. She also said her mom called yesterday to tell them to buy lottery tickets because she dreamed of poop. Apparently, that means luck is coming your way. And all this time I just thought it meant you should probably wake up and go to the bathroom before something really bad happened.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
So, yeah, already not writing every day
Yesterday was catch-up day. We had a branch fall down in the yard on Friday, so that needed cleaning up. I also refuse to use the dryer in the summer time, which limits my laundry time to the weekend, so I did that. Also got the lawn mowed and hubs and I got a start on my raised bed gardens for next summer. He got his hands on one of those big square plastic tubs they use to haul liquids in, cut it in half and put it up on some posts. So essentially, they're like a giant version of those little sandbox tubs they had in your kindergarten classroom. We filled the bottom half with wood chips from the stump we had removed, then filled the rest with dirt. Next spring they'll be all ready to plant and I'll be a happy gardener.
As I see from my comments, my friend Stacey is going to be a grandma next month! Wow, I'm SO not ready for that yet (well, maybe a little). But since I prefer my kids married first, then babies, my only option is little WE's running around and I'm not sure if the world is ready for that yet. I guess I'll just enjoy grandkids vicariously through Stacey for the time being.
As I see from my comments, my friend Stacey is going to be a grandma next month! Wow, I'm SO not ready for that yet (well, maybe a little). But since I prefer my kids married first, then babies, my only option is little WE's running around and I'm not sure if the world is ready for that yet. I guess I'll just enjoy grandkids vicariously through Stacey for the time being.
Friday, September 13, 2019
okay, yeah, it's been awhile
In order to get my mind back in writing mode, I'm resurrecting this baby. It's been almost 4 years since I abruptly quit writing in here. I'm not sure why I quit, I guess I just figured that after over 10 years of blogging, I just ran out of things to say. Of course, if you know me, you know that's utter BS because I NEVER run out of things to say. I guess I figured people just got sick of hearing it, which is probably true. So I'm writing in here for myself and if you want to listen in, go to it, baby.
Quick recap of the last four years for those of you still playing: The last angel graduated high school and moved to Texas to live with her sister. We sold our house, moved to Hawaii for a little while. Then moved to Texas, then back up to Wisconsin for the summer, then back down to Texas. Then hubs got a good job offer and we moved back up to Wisconsin. Got it?
So, currently, here we are, just hubs and I, living in a 3 bedroom ranch in a town situated on the shores of Lake Michigan. Our house is about a mile walk to the lake and we like to walk down there and watch the waves, enjoy the free concerts they put on at the park there and just enjoy life in general. Hubs got a job teaching at a technical college, so for the first time in our married life, he gets a regular paycheck and has regular hours. I work at a university book store with a bunch of people who understand my bizarre humor and love me for it. So, life is good.
The angels are all adulting very well, thank you. All four are going to college full-time (with Angels #1 & 2 also working full time). WE is out of the military, going to college full time and he GOT MARRIED!! Who woulda think that the craziest of my kids would be the first to settle down and tie the knot? The two of them have been together since before their junior year of high school (2012?) and Mrs WE is like a daughter to us, so life is wonderful.
I will do my best to write in here at least 3 times a week, but I'll try to be here daily. I really need to get my writing groove back into play.
Quick recap of the last four years for those of you still playing: The last angel graduated high school and moved to Texas to live with her sister. We sold our house, moved to Hawaii for a little while. Then moved to Texas, then back up to Wisconsin for the summer, then back down to Texas. Then hubs got a good job offer and we moved back up to Wisconsin. Got it?
So, currently, here we are, just hubs and I, living in a 3 bedroom ranch in a town situated on the shores of Lake Michigan. Our house is about a mile walk to the lake and we like to walk down there and watch the waves, enjoy the free concerts they put on at the park there and just enjoy life in general. Hubs got a job teaching at a technical college, so for the first time in our married life, he gets a regular paycheck and has regular hours. I work at a university book store with a bunch of people who understand my bizarre humor and love me for it. So, life is good.
The angels are all adulting very well, thank you. All four are going to college full-time (with Angels #1 & 2 also working full time). WE is out of the military, going to college full time and he GOT MARRIED!! Who woulda think that the craziest of my kids would be the first to settle down and tie the knot? The two of them have been together since before their junior year of high school (2012?) and Mrs WE is like a daughter to us, so life is wonderful.
I will do my best to write in here at least 3 times a week, but I'll try to be here daily. I really need to get my writing groove back into play.
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