We have 3 inches of snow, hurrah! It's so pretty I love it! We got a little the day before Thanksgiving and were thinking it'd melt yesterday but it didn't. So... this snow fell on top of it.. thus begins the mountains of snow that will accumulate for the next 4 or 5 months!
As for why this is written in yellow... well, the dogs went out into the snow and... well... you know... ;-)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
blah blah blah
It has been gray and gloomy all day, and is now starting to rain. It is 5:30 and already dark! I am feeling really grouchy for no particular reason. Usually I'm a pretty positive person, so this is kind of strange. Part of it could be because I'm tired. DH had surgery Thursday, so part could be the stress of his having surgery & worrying about his health and all that.
I know that part of the grouchiness is disappointment because the day before his surgery he was offered a different position at work which would've had him working the hours we'd love, but because it pays significantly less he turned it down yesterday... which of course brings us to money. Ugh.
After the holidays I will probably be getting a full-time job. Doing what? I don't know. What I do know is that right now I'm working very hard at a place where my boss appreciates me greatly but the "powers that be" take me for granted. My boss has asked them (repeatedly) to increase my work-time by 4 hours a week so I would be eligible for benefits (insurance, retirement, etc.) but they won't. :-(
I've been working there for over 5 years now. If I had stayed Kentucky teaching I'd have 20 years under my belt (instead of 15), but I didn't. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I screwed that one up. :-/ Moving here for love & with no thought of retirement... but can you really live your whole life with your retirement being the main goal? I don't think so.
A former co-worker of mine started teaching the same year I do. From the very beginning she was counting down the days to retirement! Imagine somebody in their 20's saying "2 years down, just 28 more to go!" OMG if you feel that way you should find yourself a different job. Her attitude reflected the counting down too - she didn't have any of the enthusiasm or love of children that would've made her a better teacher.
I, on the other hand, had enthusiasm and love and was considered by many to be a wonderful teacher (if I do say so myself LOL) ... yet here I am being the one who is no longer teaching while she is still down there plugging away. (After 15 years of living as a strong, very independent single woman/teacher I was swept off my feet by DH and in the blink of an eye I'd sold my house, quit my job, and left everybody I knew hundreds of miles away.)
Anyway, back to my current job, the kicker is that they have decided that the office needs to be open on Friday mornings now (for 4 hours) but instead of offering ME those hours (which would mean I'd get benefits..see the last paragraph) and would have useful time to get some of the zillions of things I'm expected to get done in 16 hours) they are having a woman come in as a volunteer. This kind of ticks me off. Of course she doesn't do any of the things I do, she just answers the phone... what a waste.
Ok, so the more I write the more I realize why I'm grouchy.
I'm disappointed because even though Lasik surgery has given me perfect vision during the day, I have the halo-effect at night which makes it difficult to drive. :-( I don't know if that will get better or not... when I had the Lasik done the dr. said that my vision would change some during the first year - but in a couple of weeks it will have been a year and the halos are still there.
Ok, complaining will now come to a screeching halt because one of the dogs is gazing at me with his "gee I sure do need to go outside" look. :-) That means I get to go out and walk in the freezing rain in the dark, yee ha! (Really it's not that bad, sometimes walking outside can make you feel better even when it is icky weather.)
Icky. Yep I said it - such a good vocabulary I have. Yep I have a Master's Degree. (snort!) (If Jason reads this he will know why I snorted-)
Anyway, onward and upwards - the canine bladder awaits...
I know that part of the grouchiness is disappointment because the day before his surgery he was offered a different position at work which would've had him working the hours we'd love, but because it pays significantly less he turned it down yesterday... which of course brings us to money. Ugh.
After the holidays I will probably be getting a full-time job. Doing what? I don't know. What I do know is that right now I'm working very hard at a place where my boss appreciates me greatly but the "powers that be" take me for granted. My boss has asked them (repeatedly) to increase my work-time by 4 hours a week so I would be eligible for benefits (insurance, retirement, etc.) but they won't. :-(
I've been working there for over 5 years now. If I had stayed Kentucky teaching I'd have 20 years under my belt (instead of 15), but I didn't. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I screwed that one up. :-/ Moving here for love & with no thought of retirement... but can you really live your whole life with your retirement being the main goal? I don't think so.
A former co-worker of mine started teaching the same year I do. From the very beginning she was counting down the days to retirement! Imagine somebody in their 20's saying "2 years down, just 28 more to go!" OMG if you feel that way you should find yourself a different job. Her attitude reflected the counting down too - she didn't have any of the enthusiasm or love of children that would've made her a better teacher.
I, on the other hand, had enthusiasm and love and was considered by many to be a wonderful teacher (if I do say so myself LOL) ... yet here I am being the one who is no longer teaching while she is still down there plugging away. (After 15 years of living as a strong, very independent single woman/teacher I was swept off my feet by DH and in the blink of an eye I'd sold my house, quit my job, and left everybody I knew hundreds of miles away.)
Anyway, back to my current job, the kicker is that they have decided that the office needs to be open on Friday mornings now (for 4 hours) but instead of offering ME those hours (which would mean I'd get benefits..see the last paragraph) and would have useful time to get some of the zillions of things I'm expected to get done in 16 hours) they are having a woman come in as a volunteer. This kind of ticks me off. Of course she doesn't do any of the things I do, she just answers the phone... what a waste.
Ok, so the more I write the more I realize why I'm grouchy.
I'm disappointed because even though Lasik surgery has given me perfect vision during the day, I have the halo-effect at night which makes it difficult to drive. :-( I don't know if that will get better or not... when I had the Lasik done the dr. said that my vision would change some during the first year - but in a couple of weeks it will have been a year and the halos are still there.
Ok, complaining will now come to a screeching halt because one of the dogs is gazing at me with his "gee I sure do need to go outside" look. :-) That means I get to go out and walk in the freezing rain in the dark, yee ha! (Really it's not that bad, sometimes walking outside can make you feel better even when it is icky weather.)
Icky. Yep I said it - such a good vocabulary I have. Yep I have a Master's Degree. (snort!) (If Jason reads this he will know why I snorted-)
Anyway, onward and upwards - the canine bladder awaits...
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Peppy Poodle Puppy
Sunday afternoon DH and I went to the pet shop to get some dog food. (We use a snazzy brand that Walmart doesn't carry.) (Kind of ironic when the humans are eating Walmart-brand generic pizza while the dogs munch on the Fabuloso Stuff, but that's another topic...)
Anyway, this pet shop had recently re-opened and now has what seems to be wonderful care for the animals. (hurrah!)
There was the most adorable little chocolate poodle there (not real chocolate, just the color LOL) and one of the sales people (who wore Safari Outfits, how cute is that?) apparently noticed that DH & I were enamored with it 'cause next thing we knew he was taking it out of its cage and bringing it out to see us. :-)
Within about 5 seconds it had left his hands and was in my embrace. (Well, maybe 6 seconds because they require that you use hand-sanitizer before holding the dogs - "their immune systems are still developing".)
The toy poodle was SOOOO cute, about the size of our Polly when we first got her (barely 2 pounds). It was 4 months old and had the wildest hair I've ever seen on a dog! DH said it had "bed head" all over! LOL Seriously, with its softly spiked coif shooting out in all directions and its tail strongly resembling that of a cartoon cat who has just stuck its claws in an electric socket, you'd never know that there was a sophisticated poodle hiding within, just waiting for the clippers to shape it into a snazzy creature sporting a ball on the end of its tail!
We took it to the petting area and played with the little bundle of energy. It was hysterical, bouncing all around, I'd forgotten just how crazy puppies can be (crazy in a good way)! After a bit we left Mr. Poodle in the hands of Safari Guy and headed home, where we were greeted by our own 2 furboos who sniffed each part of my clothes that had touched the puppy.
They knew something was up - went straight past the 'you're home, you're home!' phase and immediately started the suspicious "ummm hmm... who was he??" sniffing. After a bit they settled down as if to say "ok, you can pet 'em, just don't bring 'em home!"
Anyway, this pet shop had recently re-opened and now has what seems to be wonderful care for the animals. (hurrah!)
There was the most adorable little chocolate poodle there (not real chocolate, just the color LOL) and one of the sales people (who wore Safari Outfits, how cute is that?) apparently noticed that DH & I were enamored with it 'cause next thing we knew he was taking it out of its cage and bringing it out to see us. :-)
Within about 5 seconds it had left his hands and was in my embrace. (Well, maybe 6 seconds because they require that you use hand-sanitizer before holding the dogs - "their immune systems are still developing".)
The toy poodle was SOOOO cute, about the size of our Polly when we first got her (barely 2 pounds). It was 4 months old and had the wildest hair I've ever seen on a dog! DH said it had "bed head" all over! LOL Seriously, with its softly spiked coif shooting out in all directions and its tail strongly resembling that of a cartoon cat who has just stuck its claws in an electric socket, you'd never know that there was a sophisticated poodle hiding within, just waiting for the clippers to shape it into a snazzy creature sporting a ball on the end of its tail!
We took it to the petting area and played with the little bundle of energy. It was hysterical, bouncing all around, I'd forgotten just how crazy puppies can be (crazy in a good way)! After a bit we left Mr. Poodle in the hands of Safari Guy and headed home, where we were greeted by our own 2 furboos who sniffed each part of my clothes that had touched the puppy.
They knew something was up - went straight past the 'you're home, you're home!' phase and immediately started the suspicious "ummm hmm... who was he??" sniffing. After a bit they settled down as if to say "ok, you can pet 'em, just don't bring 'em home!"
Monday, November 5, 2007
Taggity Tag Tag!
I was tagged by Ann http://www.blogger.com/profile/06918235879560864134
The Rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
Okey dokey, here are my 7 facts (feel free to ZZzzzzZZZ)
1. I am typing with a cat on my shoulder, a dog pressed against my thigh, and a dog's head in my lap (up against the laptop). Just call me loved- :-)
2. Even though I'm usually very good about following rules, I have 3 more pets than I'm allowed to have in my condo!
3. My first flying experience was a trans-Atlantic flight to England the day before my 20th birthday.
4. Bare mattresses give me the creeps. (yes I'm serious!)
5. I like to dump a box of Raisinettes into my popcorn when I go to the movie.
6. My favorite day of the week is Thursday.
7. When I was twelve, I wanted to be just like Cher. :-)
I'm tagging (in no particular order)
1. Roni http://ronijj.blogspot.com/
2. Brandi http://brandibug.blogspot.com/
3. Sue http://craftchatwithsewiknit2.blogspot.com/
4. One... moms http://oneofthosehorriblemoms.blogspot.com/
5. Lisa http://lisamidwifeknits.blogspot.com/
6. Finn http://orphantrainsfromfinn.blogspot.com/
7. Sophie http://sophiejunction.blogspot.com/
The Rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
Okey dokey, here are my 7 facts (feel free to ZZzzzzZZZ)
1. I am typing with a cat on my shoulder, a dog pressed against my thigh, and a dog's head in my lap (up against the laptop). Just call me loved- :-)
2. Even though I'm usually very good about following rules, I have 3 more pets than I'm allowed to have in my condo!
3. My first flying experience was a trans-Atlantic flight to England the day before my 20th birthday.
4. Bare mattresses give me the creeps. (yes I'm serious!)
5. I like to dump a box of Raisinettes into my popcorn when I go to the movie.
6. My favorite day of the week is Thursday.
7. When I was twelve, I wanted to be just like Cher. :-)
I'm tagging (in no particular order)
1. Roni http://ronijj.blogspot.com/
2. Brandi http://brandibug.blogspot.com/
3. Sue http://craftchatwithsewiknit2.blogspot.com/
4. One... moms http://oneofthosehorriblemoms.blogspot.com/
5. Lisa http://lisamidwifeknits.blogspot.com/
6. Finn http://orphantrainsfromfinn.blogspot.com/
7. Sophie http://sophiejunction.blogspot.com/
Friday, November 2, 2007
Christmas 2006 as seen by my dog- (and if that title doesn't send you racing for a straitjacket I don't know what will!)
My little dog has her own blog on MySpace. Today I was reading through it (I know, there are lots of other things I could/should be doing, but hey, it's my day off!) and I found myself giggling at one of them. (It has been nearly a year since I.. er... SHE wrote it, and I'd forgotten about some of the things that happened.)
My dog wrote the blog to her fellow MySpace canines. There's a whole sub-culture of them out there. (Strange, but not nearly as strange as the MySpace group who like to wrap themselves and each other in saran wrap and duct tape... ah, but that is a topic for another time!)
So, without further ado, for your giggling pleasure I present my dog's Christmas '06 Blog:
"Hi Furry Friends! We got back last night from our very bery busy Christmas trip! We missed you all and want to tell you what we did (and we look forward to hearing 'bout what YOU did, too!)
On Christmas Eve we slept 5 hours in the car and when we woke up we were at our uncle Sharkey the poodle's house! (Well, actually we woke up at some rest areas and stuff, but just for long enough to take care of business and den get back in de car.)
Sharky and us were so excited to see each other! It was de first bisit together since Thanksgiving!! We ran and ran and played and played and ate crumbs Sharky's mommy kinda "dropped" while she was cooking. (we just LOVe her!) She was making Chex mix and cereal is one of our favorite treats!
Our human uncle Jason (Sharky's dad) got down in the floor and WRESTLED with all 3 of us, that was GREAT!! He is so so fun! We spent 2 nights at dere house, and den we headed for Lexington.
We stopped at a rest area and made 2 new friends! Dey were Bichons, a boy and a girl, and one had just been wid her new parents for 2 weeks 'cause she was rescued from a puppy farm where she was being a mommy too too many times! She was bery tiny and shy, but after a minute the 4 of us were bestest friends! Den, we got back in our cars & when we got to Lex guess what??
All our mommy's fambly was dere!! The grandparents and sisters and sons and granddaughters and eberybunny! Eben Sharkey showed up later dat night! Our cousins brought DiMaggio, who is bery old and cool and big and has long black and brown fur. We had neber met him before but we liked him right away! He is from South Carolina so he barks deeper and slower dan we do!
DiMaggio snapped at Garcia de next day but I tink that was cause Garcia just couldn't leave him alone when he was trying to nap. Plus he couldn't hear so I tink maybe Garcia startled him! Also dat day I got stepped on! Dat was cause dere were like 15 (including 4 little girl humans) and 4 dogs all in one condo and it was bery busy and fun and lots goin on and our human sister tried to stand in the same spot where I was standing. Anyway, I squealed but I wasn't hurt and eberbunny was ok. After dat happened I satted in Daddy's lap for a long time and I liked that.
So.. the whole fambly brought foods and eated and opened presents and eated and eated some more and brought more food and played games and eated and stuff... you get the idea! We got so many bery interesting crumbs plus the little girls were feeding us stuff when the big humans weren't looking, and one eben gave Garcia some Sprite!
Den Garcia and Sharkey discovered that in a bery quiet corner of the kitchen dere was dis can were they putted yummy treats and rustling plastic and stuff, so the 2 of dem were having so much fun eating and shredding paper and stuff 'til somebody noticed and said "out of de trash bois" and dey had to stop! Bwahaha I didn't care though 'cause I was in de other room where one of the littlest humans was holding her celery and letting me eat pnutbutter off of it!
Well, on de last day of eating and fun, we had a birfday party for 2 of the granddaughters. One was 2 and one was 6 and dey are sisters! We all singed and Sharkey singed really weally loud like he does when humans do. Garcia & Dimagio and I just listened though, we don't know how to sing like Sharkey does.
After de party eberbunny gadered up all dere stuffs and put it in all de cars and headed off in all different directions! We had long drives den, like Garcia & I had to trabel 7 hours north and Dimaggio had to trabel 7 hours south and our grandparents went 2 hours east but nobody went west!! So.. I guess dere are no cowboys in our fambly yet! Udder humans went different distances but I"m just telling you bout the furboos cause I know that's what interests you most!
Dis morning we are resting up & pwaying wid the cats 'cause dey didn't get to go and we just know that dey missed us so so much. Also we are pwaying with our Christmas presents, and we were pwaying wid the cats' gifts too but mommy & daddy made us stop cause we were getting the catnip balls all wet and Callie didn't like dat! Bwahahahaha!!
So.. dis was Garcia's 1st Christmas and my 2nd one, and now you know what we did! Can you tell us about yours (or about your Hannukah, whichever one you had at your house)?"
My dog wrote the blog to her fellow MySpace canines. There's a whole sub-culture of them out there. (Strange, but not nearly as strange as the MySpace group who like to wrap themselves and each other in saran wrap and duct tape... ah, but that is a topic for another time!)
So, without further ado, for your giggling pleasure I present my dog's Christmas '06 Blog:
"Hi Furry Friends! We got back last night from our very bery busy Christmas trip! We missed you all and want to tell you what we did (and we look forward to hearing 'bout what YOU did, too!)
On Christmas Eve we slept 5 hours in the car and when we woke up we were at our uncle Sharkey the poodle's house! (Well, actually we woke up at some rest areas and stuff, but just for long enough to take care of business and den get back in de car.)
Sharky and us were so excited to see each other! It was de first bisit together since Thanksgiving!! We ran and ran and played and played and ate crumbs Sharky's mommy kinda "dropped" while she was cooking. (we just LOVe her!) She was making Chex mix and cereal is one of our favorite treats!
Our human uncle Jason (Sharky's dad) got down in the floor and WRESTLED with all 3 of us, that was GREAT!! He is so so fun! We spent 2 nights at dere house, and den we headed for Lexington.
We stopped at a rest area and made 2 new friends! Dey were Bichons, a boy and a girl, and one had just been wid her new parents for 2 weeks 'cause she was rescued from a puppy farm where she was being a mommy too too many times! She was bery tiny and shy, but after a minute the 4 of us were bestest friends! Den, we got back in our cars & when we got to Lex guess what??
All our mommy's fambly was dere!! The grandparents and sisters and sons and granddaughters and eberybunny! Eben Sharkey showed up later dat night! Our cousins brought DiMaggio, who is bery old and cool and big and has long black and brown fur. We had neber met him before but we liked him right away! He is from South Carolina so he barks deeper and slower dan we do!
DiMaggio snapped at Garcia de next day but I tink that was cause Garcia just couldn't leave him alone when he was trying to nap. Plus he couldn't hear so I tink maybe Garcia startled him! Also dat day I got stepped on! Dat was cause dere were like 15 (including 4 little girl humans) and 4 dogs all in one condo and it was bery busy and fun and lots goin on and our human sister tried to stand in the same spot where I was standing. Anyway, I squealed but I wasn't hurt and eberbunny was ok. After dat happened I satted in Daddy's lap for a long time and I liked that.
So.. the whole fambly brought foods and eated and opened presents and eated and eated some more and brought more food and played games and eated and stuff... you get the idea! We got so many bery interesting crumbs plus the little girls were feeding us stuff when the big humans weren't looking, and one eben gave Garcia some Sprite!
Den Garcia and Sharkey discovered that in a bery quiet corner of the kitchen dere was dis can were they putted yummy treats and rustling plastic and stuff, so the 2 of dem were having so much fun eating and shredding paper and stuff 'til somebody noticed and said "out of de trash bois" and dey had to stop! Bwahaha I didn't care though 'cause I was in de other room where one of the littlest humans was holding her celery and letting me eat pnutbutter off of it!
Well, on de last day of eating and fun, we had a birfday party for 2 of the granddaughters. One was 2 and one was 6 and dey are sisters! We all singed and Sharkey singed really weally loud like he does when humans do. Garcia & Dimagio and I just listened though, we don't know how to sing like Sharkey does.
After de party eberbunny gadered up all dere stuffs and put it in all de cars and headed off in all different directions! We had long drives den, like Garcia & I had to trabel 7 hours north and Dimaggio had to trabel 7 hours south and our grandparents went 2 hours east but nobody went west!! So.. I guess dere are no cowboys in our fambly yet! Udder humans went different distances but I"m just telling you bout the furboos cause I know that's what interests you most!
Dis morning we are resting up & pwaying wid the cats 'cause dey didn't get to go and we just know that dey missed us so so much. Also we are pwaying with our Christmas presents, and we were pwaying wid the cats' gifts too but mommy & daddy made us stop cause we were getting the catnip balls all wet and Callie didn't like dat! Bwahahahaha!!
So.. dis was Garcia's 1st Christmas and my 2nd one, and now you know what we did! Can you tell us about yours (or about your Hannukah, whichever one you had at your house)?"
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Unexpectedly coming across images of 9-11
So do you think we'll ever get to the point where we can come across a photo of the 9-11 tragedy without feeling like we've just been kicked in the stomach? I don't.
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