My niece Bonnie sent this to me, so I thought I'd use it as a blog entry.
1. Do you like bleu cheese? Absolutely
2. Have you ever smoked? I tried it once. I found some cigarettes Daddy had picked up from the city park where he worked as a caretaker. He had stuck the package in the glove box of his pickup. Daddy, Mother & I were there. I asked if I could try them. They said go ahead & watched me. I was standing on a manure pile in the corral on the farm & I threw up my toenails. Never wanted to try it after that.
3. Do you own a gun? No. I used to love to target practice though with Daddy's .22 rifle.
4. What flavor Kool-Aid is your favorite? Black cherry
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Not usually. We have so many doctor's appt., that the voice message on my cell phone suggests I might not be answering because I'm in a doctor's appt., LOL
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Once in a while I'll eat them, but I normally get a severe attack of IBS.
7. Favorite Christmas movie? I don't have one. Unless it's the church one named from the scriptural reference from Luke.
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water & Mt. Dew. The Mt. Dew cuts the phlegm in my throat.
9. Can you do push ups? Probably not.
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? It was my CTR ring, but it broke.
11. Favorite hobby? Internet
12. Do you have ADD? ADD was ruled out. I probably have bipolar disorder.
13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? I have grand plans & can never follow through with them. I think it's called grandiosity.
14. Middle name? I don’t have one
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
(1) Is there going to be any more trick or treaters?
(2) I told Mother I'd go help her with trick or treaters & didn't go do it.
(3) Why did I start this?
16. Name 3 drinks you drink regularly. Water & Mt. Dew. Kool-Aid on Sunday.
17. Current worry? Money
18. Current hate right now. My messy house.
19. Favorite place to be? My mom's
20. How did you bring in the New Year? I was either sleeping or getting ready to go to bed.
22. Name three people who will complete this. That's not something odd about me, but then #15 asked for 3 thoughts right now, so that upped it to 46, & now we're down to 45. And, of course no one will complete this because I didn't send it to anyone, LOL
23. Do you own slippers? Yes, I think I do, somewhere.
24. What color shirt are you wearing? Heather with a glittery picture of a cute little witch that says "Miss Witch." It was my costume today. I should've looked for my witch hat, but I forgot.
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I have a funny to tell about this. I've never slept on satin sheets, but Mother made me some sheets out of tricot. She also made me some nighties out of tricot. Anyway, I know now that I have restless leg syndrome. But I was wearing a tricot nightie & was sleeping on tricot sheets & had a nightmare & fell out of bed. Never slept on slick sheets since. My favorite kind of sheets are fleece or cotton.
26. Can you whistle? No, I never learned. I can't pucker since my brain surgery either.
27. Favorite color M&M? Doesn't matter to me, as long as it's an M&M. I don't like substitutes very well.
28. Would you be a pirate? No, I don't think so. Their value system goes against mine.
29. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't shower. For one thing, we don't have one. For another, I don't like showers. I hate the spray hitting me. I don't sing in the tub either.
30. Favorite girl's name: We were going to name a daughter Justine. I like Bernadetta too.
31. Favorite boy's name: Has always been Michael & Nick.
32. What's in your pocket right now? $120.36 Nick just got paid today & paid me his rent & telephone.
33. Last thing that made you laugh? I don't remember. I don't laugh like I used to.
34. Best bed sheets as a child? Flannel sheets
35. Worst injury you ever had. The concussion I had when I slipped on the ice about 5 years ago. It split my right cheek open.
36. Do you love where you live? I can't think of any place I'd rather live. I lived the first 20 years of my life here, & it looks like I'll live the last 20 years or so here.
37. How many TVs do you have in your house? I think there are only 4. We have more computers than TVs.
38. Who is your loudest friend? My LOUDEST friend? I don't think I have a loud friend.
39. How many dogs do you have? No dogs, but we have 5 cats. We just lost 2 of our oldest cats in September.
40. Does someone have a crush on you? A crush? LOL.
41. What is your favorite book(S)? My favorite genre of books is mysteries. But I'm beginning to like memoirs.
42. What is your favorite candy? Still has to be chocolate, truffles or malted milk balls
43. Favorite sports team? I don't like sports
44. What song do you want played at your funeral? "Because I Have Been Given Much, I Too Must Give." I love that hymn. It was sung at my father-in-law's funeral.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Nick's "new" chair
Nick still weighs over 300 lb. He has broken another chair. This time an office chair. The carpet in his bedroom is thick wool carpet & even though it's almost 50 years old, it's still thick although threadbare in some places. It's not threadbare in front of his computer. There is no chair pad either, so the chairs take a beating trying to move on the carpet & also they're not designed for his weight either. He's been using a folding chair. I don't know how many folding chairs we've gone through.
He came out this morning & said he'd found another cheap office chair at Staples & he was going to ask Nana if she'd buy it for him. I do Mother's checkbook & I told him she didn't have enough money in her account & besides that, he needed a heavy duty chair that would hold his weight & trying to scoot across the carpet.
So, Mother & I went to Logan today to have her protime taken. It's still low, but is coming up slowly. And dang it, I forgot to fill her pill box with the right dose of coumadin. I'll have to try to remember to do that tomorrow.
Anyway, I'd been thinking about Nick's chair all day. On our way out of town, I asked Mother if she minded if we drove by the DI just on the off chance that there might be a steno chair or executive chair. She said that was fine. She didn't feel like going in though. So, I went in without my purse. Not that the purse would have done me any good anyway, there wasn't only a couple of dollars in it & I knew a chair would cost more than that. My purse is heavy & I really didn't want to carry it. Mother tells me that she is only supposed to lift 10 lb. & my purse is too heavy for her to lift, hehe. Because of that, I weighed my purse on the digital scale the last time she was at her doctor's appt with Dr. Carlson, her primary care physician, & my purse weighed 5 lb. something.
Anyway, I walked back to the "As Is" & was disappointed that there were no office chairs in the furniture department. As I was turning to leave I noticed there was a room called "yard." At the old Logan DI they had a "yard" area that they kept miscellaneous things that didn't really fit in the dept. in the store. So, I went back there, just to see what was there. I saw a bar stool. Nick & I had measured how high he needs his chairs & we decided he needed his chair 20 inches off the floor. I measured it against my hip, then wondered how tall that was. I turned away & there was a steno chair. It was just like the chair I had at the church office bldg. Wow! My heart did a leap. I checked it out. It is sturdy metal & the upholstery is in really good condition.
A lady I know saw me looking at the chair & she came over. Are you going to buy that chair? I said yes, it was just what I needed. She said, "Do you have a desk to use it at?" I'm thinking impatiently, "If I didn't have a desk, why would I be looking at a desk chair?" But I said, "Oh, yes, we have 2 or 3 desks to use it at." We actually have 4 desks here at this house & one at Mother & Don-Mike's. Only one desk has an actual desk chair at it. And it's on it's second desk chair. Nick broke the first one. Two of the desks have folding chairs, one has nothing & Don-Mike's desk at his house has a kitchen chair at it. We talked for a few minutes & I told her that I had left Mother sitting out in the car & I had to run.
I wheeled the chair up to the front & the DI was really busy. I thought that if I left the chair there while I ran out to get my money, it would probably be gone by the time I got back in. It had been hidden in the yard area, but now I had unearthed it. I saw a supervisor standing there & I boldly walked up to him & asked him if he would watch my chair for me while I ran out & got my money. He grinned at me & told me that he was 99.9 percent certain it would still be there when I came back in.
I ran out to Mother & asked her if I could have $10 back of the $20 I gave her. I felt like a little kid begging Mama for money. I told her I'd pay her back. So, I took her wallet back in & there was the supervisor with his foot on the base of my chair. I told him thanks & paid for my chair. I wheeled it out in the parking lot & Mother's eyeing it. "Where are you going to put it?" I said I was going to call Don & ask him to come by & put it in his car. I sat there on the chair next to Mother in the car. She felt a little silly with me sitting on a chair in the shade of the car. Luckily we were parked in a handicapped stall & so there was no problem of someone coming in & parking next to us. We visited while we waited for Don to get off work. He gets off at 4.
Mother asked me if the chair had jumped out & grabbed me. I laughed & said no. Then I slowly said, "Well, I guess it did. I didn't see it right away." I guess I've talked too much about being "led." **BLUSH**
I had called & left a message for Don & then about 10 after 4 I called him again. I told him where I was & he said he was about 2 blocks west of me. He thought I would be in town & so he was heading to Wal-Mart. That's where I'm usually at. So, within just a few minutes he was there. We put the chair in the trunk of his car & came home.
Mother, Don & I "knew" Nick wouldn't like his new chair. And he doesn't. But, it's like I told Mother. If it's still in one piece when we finally get the house finished & I get my scrapbooking "studio," I'll have a chair I can use.
He came out this morning & said he'd found another cheap office chair at Staples & he was going to ask Nana if she'd buy it for him. I do Mother's checkbook & I told him she didn't have enough money in her account & besides that, he needed a heavy duty chair that would hold his weight & trying to scoot across the carpet.
So, Mother & I went to Logan today to have her protime taken. It's still low, but is coming up slowly. And dang it, I forgot to fill her pill box with the right dose of coumadin. I'll have to try to remember to do that tomorrow.
Anyway, I'd been thinking about Nick's chair all day. On our way out of town, I asked Mother if she minded if we drove by the DI just on the off chance that there might be a steno chair or executive chair. She said that was fine. She didn't feel like going in though. So, I went in without my purse. Not that the purse would have done me any good anyway, there wasn't only a couple of dollars in it & I knew a chair would cost more than that. My purse is heavy & I really didn't want to carry it. Mother tells me that she is only supposed to lift 10 lb. & my purse is too heavy for her to lift, hehe. Because of that, I weighed my purse on the digital scale the last time she was at her doctor's appt with Dr. Carlson, her primary care physician, & my purse weighed 5 lb. something.
Anyway, I walked back to the "As Is" & was disappointed that there were no office chairs in the furniture department. As I was turning to leave I noticed there was a room called "yard." At the old Logan DI they had a "yard" area that they kept miscellaneous things that didn't really fit in the dept. in the store. So, I went back there, just to see what was there. I saw a bar stool. Nick & I had measured how high he needs his chairs & we decided he needed his chair 20 inches off the floor. I measured it against my hip, then wondered how tall that was. I turned away & there was a steno chair. It was just like the chair I had at the church office bldg. Wow! My heart did a leap. I checked it out. It is sturdy metal & the upholstery is in really good condition.
A lady I know saw me looking at the chair & she came over. Are you going to buy that chair? I said yes, it was just what I needed. She said, "Do you have a desk to use it at?" I'm thinking impatiently, "If I didn't have a desk, why would I be looking at a desk chair?" But I said, "Oh, yes, we have 2 or 3 desks to use it at." We actually have 4 desks here at this house & one at Mother & Don-Mike's. Only one desk has an actual desk chair at it. And it's on it's second desk chair. Nick broke the first one. Two of the desks have folding chairs, one has nothing & Don-Mike's desk at his house has a kitchen chair at it. We talked for a few minutes & I told her that I had left Mother sitting out in the car & I had to run.
I wheeled the chair up to the front & the DI was really busy. I thought that if I left the chair there while I ran out to get my money, it would probably be gone by the time I got back in. It had been hidden in the yard area, but now I had unearthed it. I saw a supervisor standing there & I boldly walked up to him & asked him if he would watch my chair for me while I ran out & got my money. He grinned at me & told me that he was 99.9 percent certain it would still be there when I came back in.
I ran out to Mother & asked her if I could have $10 back of the $20 I gave her. I felt like a little kid begging Mama for money. I told her I'd pay her back. So, I took her wallet back in & there was the supervisor with his foot on the base of my chair. I told him thanks & paid for my chair. I wheeled it out in the parking lot & Mother's eyeing it. "Where are you going to put it?" I said I was going to call Don & ask him to come by & put it in his car. I sat there on the chair next to Mother in the car. She felt a little silly with me sitting on a chair in the shade of the car. Luckily we were parked in a handicapped stall & so there was no problem of someone coming in & parking next to us. We visited while we waited for Don to get off work. He gets off at 4.
Mother asked me if the chair had jumped out & grabbed me. I laughed & said no. Then I slowly said, "Well, I guess it did. I didn't see it right away." I guess I've talked too much about being "led." **BLUSH**
I had called & left a message for Don & then about 10 after 4 I called him again. I told him where I was & he said he was about 2 blocks west of me. He thought I would be in town & so he was heading to Wal-Mart. That's where I'm usually at. So, within just a few minutes he was there. We put the chair in the trunk of his car & came home.
Mother, Don & I "knew" Nick wouldn't like his new chair. And he doesn't. But, it's like I told Mother. If it's still in one piece when we finally get the house finished & I get my scrapbooking "studio," I'll have a chair I can use.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Another Monday
It happened again. A death notice showed up just as a hole showed up! I never plan these holes, they just kind of show up when they are needed.
Today I had TWO, yes two, ladies to help with the paper. Besides that, the paper was chuck full of ads. Kelly bragged that HE packed the paper tight just so it wouldn't be too hard for us to edit. I let Vicki Atkinson, new co-worker, & Karen Naylor, she used to work at The Citizen, my two helpers today, proof & Karen made some of the changes on the computer. At 4 o'clock Karen & Vicki had caught up to me. They had seen all 18 pages, minus the 3 full page ads. So, we let Karen go home. I told Kelly we would be through by 6. Vicki stayed & I'm sure glad she did. She was my runner, she did the checking on facts, spellings & signed us off on the pages. And yes, we were finished by 6!! So, cool, that's the first time we've been done that soon all year!! A cause to celebrate.
We have to sign off when we release a page to go to the next step. I was the second copy editor today. It reminded me of Mrs. Pollifax & the Second Thief or Tony Hillerman's The First Eagle. In both cases it was the second one that got caught, hehe.
Anyway, about 4:30, we got to a sports page that had a 1 column by 2-3 inch hole that Bob (Merrill, assistant editor) had put a box & instructions to use an in-house ad. I had just scrolled down to it & was commenting to Vicki that we needed to find something to fill this. I hadn't even finished making my comment when Stacey (Comeau, ad salesman) came around the corner with a fax in her hand & said, "I don't know if you guys have seen this obituary. It was on the fax machine." I just sat there, took the obit & said, "No, we haven't seen it." I said to Vicki, "This happens all the time. And it never ceases to amaze me."
I went in to the editors' office & told them we had a space to fill & we had an obituary just handed to us. Neither Rod (Boam) nor Bob batted an eye. Bob said, "Well, then fill it."
It fit, perfectly, of course. Just blows me away. I never expect it. If we plan it, it never happens. I hadn't even started on the obituary page this morning about 10 when Doug Webb called & said there was an obituary. He promised it just after lunch. At about a quarter to 3, I told Vicki & Karen that we still hadn't got the obituary. Before I could finish what I was going to say, Jessi interrupted & said Webb's didn't get to dictate when we finished the paper. That if they didn't have the obit there by 3 p.m., they were out of luck. Vicki called Webb's at 10 to 3 & told them that we had to have the obituary by 3. Jordan said he only had 2 paragraphs left to type. OMG, that was a humongous obituary. We had to split cards of thanks & move 2 of them over to another page.
I was getting so agitated, I was ready to bitch slap someone.
Today I had TWO, yes two, ladies to help with the paper. Besides that, the paper was chuck full of ads. Kelly bragged that HE packed the paper tight just so it wouldn't be too hard for us to edit. I let Vicki Atkinson, new co-worker, & Karen Naylor, she used to work at The Citizen, my two helpers today, proof & Karen made some of the changes on the computer. At 4 o'clock Karen & Vicki had caught up to me. They had seen all 18 pages, minus the 3 full page ads. So, we let Karen go home. I told Kelly we would be through by 6. Vicki stayed & I'm sure glad she did. She was my runner, she did the checking on facts, spellings & signed us off on the pages. And yes, we were finished by 6!! So, cool, that's the first time we've been done that soon all year!! A cause to celebrate.
We have to sign off when we release a page to go to the next step. I was the second copy editor today. It reminded me of Mrs. Pollifax & the Second Thief or Tony Hillerman's The First Eagle. In both cases it was the second one that got caught, hehe.
Anyway, about 4:30, we got to a sports page that had a 1 column by 2-3 inch hole that Bob (Merrill, assistant editor) had put a box & instructions to use an in-house ad. I had just scrolled down to it & was commenting to Vicki that we needed to find something to fill this. I hadn't even finished making my comment when Stacey (Comeau, ad salesman) came around the corner with a fax in her hand & said, "I don't know if you guys have seen this obituary. It was on the fax machine." I just sat there, took the obit & said, "No, we haven't seen it." I said to Vicki, "This happens all the time. And it never ceases to amaze me."
I went in to the editors' office & told them we had a space to fill & we had an obituary just handed to us. Neither Rod (Boam) nor Bob batted an eye. Bob said, "Well, then fill it."
It fit, perfectly, of course. Just blows me away. I never expect it. If we plan it, it never happens. I hadn't even started on the obituary page this morning about 10 when Doug Webb called & said there was an obituary. He promised it just after lunch. At about a quarter to 3, I told Vicki & Karen that we still hadn't got the obituary. Before I could finish what I was going to say, Jessi interrupted & said Webb's didn't get to dictate when we finished the paper. That if they didn't have the obit there by 3 p.m., they were out of luck. Vicki called Webb's at 10 to 3 & told them that we had to have the obituary by 3. Jordan said he only had 2 paragraphs left to type. OMG, that was a humongous obituary. We had to split cards of thanks & move 2 of them over to another page.
I was getting so agitated, I was ready to bitch slap someone.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Food
I took the chicken & Alfredo sauce from Amy's & brought it home. She told me I could have it. So, it was really thick. I thinned it out with some milk, heated it up & put some linguine with it. I like linguine a lot better than fettucine, but can never remember "linguine." When I send Don to the store I tell him I don't want fettucine, but the one thinner than that. He'll tell me linguine & the next time I want linguine, I can't remember it. I think I must have a mental block where that's concerned. I had to stop & think when I started typing this. Nick really liked Amy's Alfredo sauce, but I noticed he still put a lot of ranch dressing on it. At least it wasn't catsup. Mother puts catsup on everything, shudder.
I went to Ogden this weekend to a scrapbooking seminar. It started Friday evening, but I was too tired to drive down after spending Thursday night in the sleep lab with Mother at Logan Regional Hospital. I kept falling asleep at work on Friday & then at the computer Friday night. I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. Friday & woke up at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. I left as soon as I took my meds because Nick was obsessing about something & I wanted OUT of here.
I still had trouble staying awake while I was driving. I stopped in Dry Basin in Sardine Canyon, & got out & walked around. I stopped at Wal-Mart in Brigham City. I got to the checkout stand & couldn't find my money. I had stopped at the bank & withdrew $50. I thought that would give me enough to buy gas, some goodies & still give me $20 to spend at the vendor booths at the seminar. Anyway, no money. That gave me an adrenalin rush & woke me right up.
I called home & no one could find my money. I know it's in the house somewhere. I had paid DUP dues from the money the camp members had given me. I kept $77 & hadn't taken care of it Friday. It was still in the car. Whew. There was one check for $22 & the rest, $55, was in cash. I've been spending that. I'll have to replace it when I find my money.
While I was gone, Don-Mike fixed the "green baize" door. I thought they were going to get a "real" door, but they didn't. Don-Mike took a piece of plywood & put hinges on it & a handle several months ago. He also lined the inside of this makeshift door with a green piece of fleece & a piece of a blue blanket. The door that separated the staff from the family in Victorian England's big houses was lined with a fabric called baize to keep the sounds of the kitchens & behind the scenes activities from filtering out to the "family." Baize typically came in green, so it was called the green baize door.
Don-Mike took a handle & fixed it so that the door latches. There is still a crack that you can see out, so Don said they'd take some cloth or plastic & put it down that seam on the outside of the door. I have a roll of plastic that has been laying in the doorway between the kitchen & the front room for a couple of years. Yes, I said years.
I went to Ogden this weekend to a scrapbooking seminar. It started Friday evening, but I was too tired to drive down after spending Thursday night in the sleep lab with Mother at Logan Regional Hospital. I kept falling asleep at work on Friday & then at the computer Friday night. I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. Friday & woke up at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. I left as soon as I took my meds because Nick was obsessing about something & I wanted OUT of here.
I still had trouble staying awake while I was driving. I stopped in Dry Basin in Sardine Canyon, & got out & walked around. I stopped at Wal-Mart in Brigham City. I got to the checkout stand & couldn't find my money. I had stopped at the bank & withdrew $50. I thought that would give me enough to buy gas, some goodies & still give me $20 to spend at the vendor booths at the seminar. Anyway, no money. That gave me an adrenalin rush & woke me right up.
I called home & no one could find my money. I know it's in the house somewhere. I had paid DUP dues from the money the camp members had given me. I kept $77 & hadn't taken care of it Friday. It was still in the car. Whew. There was one check for $22 & the rest, $55, was in cash. I've been spending that. I'll have to replace it when I find my money.
While I was gone, Don-Mike fixed the "green baize" door. I thought they were going to get a "real" door, but they didn't. Don-Mike took a piece of plywood & put hinges on it & a handle several months ago. He also lined the inside of this makeshift door with a green piece of fleece & a piece of a blue blanket. The door that separated the staff from the family in Victorian England's big houses was lined with a fabric called baize to keep the sounds of the kitchens & behind the scenes activities from filtering out to the "family." Baize typically came in green, so it was called the green baize door.
Don-Mike took a handle & fixed it so that the door latches. There is still a crack that you can see out, so Don said they'd take some cloth or plastic & put it down that seam on the outside of the door. I have a roll of plastic that has been laying in the doorway between the kitchen & the front room for a couple of years. Yes, I said years.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Another social blunder
We missed another wedding anniversary in this week's paper. How do we do this? I think somebody confiscates them & then sticks them in the envelope after the fact. If I had someplace to go, I'd quit, sigh. But I need the money.
I caught Golightly in Clover's wedding announcement, Dale & Michelle were spelled Golighty. But this one just did not show up. I'm so bummed. Another one I did not see & Jessi & Ann say that it was in the envelope. Jessi did confiscate it, so she can talk to Kelly. So, I gave her a couple of ideas on a memo, then gave a copy to Kelly & one to Jessi.
The bill for the concrete work came today. We had saved enough money for the quote, but it came in at double the bid. I told Don to pull out the money we'd agree to & then tell the contractor that we would pay him $50 a month & the balance when his mom's house sold. I also told him to ask the contractor to help us pray that the house sells, soon.
Mike suggested dropping the price on the house to $99.9.
I caught Golightly in Clover's wedding announcement, Dale & Michelle were spelled Golighty. But this one just did not show up. I'm so bummed. Another one I did not see & Jessi & Ann say that it was in the envelope. Jessi did confiscate it, so she can talk to Kelly. So, I gave her a couple of ideas on a memo, then gave a copy to Kelly & one to Jessi.
The bill for the concrete work came today. We had saved enough money for the quote, but it came in at double the bid. I told Don to pull out the money we'd agree to & then tell the contractor that we would pay him $50 a month & the balance when his mom's house sold. I also told him to ask the contractor to help us pray that the house sells, soon.
Mike suggested dropping the price on the house to $99.9.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Fall out from death notice
I found out the family of Jon Roley was upset that we published Jon's death notice & wouldn't publish an obit. I guess I wasn't "led" after all. Oh, well, it saved them some money.
Amy got a call & had to leave really fast yesterday. She called me tonight, after she texted me at 11:35 p.m., to see if I was still awake. She had left the crockpot on & they weren't going to be home until tomorrow.
Amy got a call & had to leave really fast yesterday. She called me tonight, after she texted me at 11:35 p.m., to see if I was still awake. She had left the crockpot on & they weren't going to be home until tomorrow.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Amy's last day?
I don't know. She didn't come in to say good-bye. In fact, everyone left without saying good-bye except Rod & Krysta. Vicki Atkinson, my new job-share partner, came in today. I don't know how she'll remember everything cuz she won't be back til Dec. 1. At least she shadowed Amy. Shadowing stresses me out.
I didn't feel good again today. I need to make appts with the Nurse Practitioners & Dr. Broadbent. I forgot to get Mother's coumadin. She'll be low again. Nick suggested I put it on my cell phone calendar, which I promptly did. I'm sure glad I have a cell phone.
Don-Mike priced siding today. It will cost over $2,000 to buy siding for the house. Which ain't gonna happen until Don's mother's house sells. Don & Mike talked yesterday, but I don't know what they decided. Mike had been up to rake leaves & shut off the water. He stopped & talked to Don-Mike on his way through Preston, but DM said he didn't say anything. Mike drove right by Mother's, he should've recognized his mother's car sitting on the side of the road. But, if he's like Don, he wouldn't have noticed, LOL.
I didn't feel good again today. I need to make appts with the Nurse Practitioners & Dr. Broadbent. I forgot to get Mother's coumadin. She'll be low again. Nick suggested I put it on my cell phone calendar, which I promptly did. I'm sure glad I have a cell phone.
Don-Mike priced siding today. It will cost over $2,000 to buy siding for the house. Which ain't gonna happen until Don's mother's house sells. Don & Mike talked yesterday, but I don't know what they decided. Mike had been up to rake leaves & shut off the water. He stopped & talked to Don-Mike on his way through Preston, but DM said he didn't say anything. Mike drove right by Mother's, he should've recognized his mother's car sitting on the side of the road. But, if he's like Don, he wouldn't have noticed, LOL.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
More Big J's stuff
Don-Mike worked last week &has worked so far this week helping clean up after the Big J's fire. Today he's cutting the combination locks off the employee lockers in the bathrooms. The combinations were filed in the office.
There are so many little things you don't even think about that are lost in fire.
Today I walked into the kitchen & found a sheet of paper with Don-Mike's writing on it. He had documented an accident at the light on State & Oneida from several years ago. There was no date on it & so I assumed that it had just happened. I asked him about it & he said it happened several years ago.
My house is like a black hole. Little things get lost & every so often something will regurgitate to the top & you're wondering, "Where did that just come from?"
There are so many little things you don't even think about that are lost in fire.
Today I walked into the kitchen & found a sheet of paper with Don-Mike's writing on it. He had documented an accident at the light on State & Oneida from several years ago. There was no date on it & so I assumed that it had just happened. I asked him about it & he said it happened several years ago.
My house is like a black hole. Little things get lost & every so often something will regurgitate to the top & you're wondering, "Where did that just come from?"
Hat box
Yesterday at lunch I saw a "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt in the window of Gingerbread Shoppe & so I walked over to look at it. I was window shopping when 3 hatboxes caught my eye. I've been wanting a hatbox for the hat that Ev gave me. It's still in the car because I don't want it to get smashed & really have no place to put it.
The hatbox I REALLY want is an octagonal metal box. Gorgeous. It has a scene on both sides, but only one side opens. It is only $16.95 or something like that. If the money I had in my pocket had not been for groceries, I would have bought it. I want it that bad. I gave Don this idea for a Christmas present. I have a hard time reconciling spending money on something "frivolous" like this, when we need other things. Basic things, like heat, electricity & mortgage payments.
I'll give him a week or 2 to act on this idea & if it's still there in a couple of weeks, I'll get it for myself. It's so pretty & practical. That's what I like about it. A pretty place to store my hats, hehe AND, it's NOT round, they are so hard to store, but has edges & could be stacked with square things, if I had to stack it. I want to just put it on end & display it.
The hatbox I REALLY want is an octagonal metal box. Gorgeous. It has a scene on both sides, but only one side opens. It is only $16.95 or something like that. If the money I had in my pocket had not been for groceries, I would have bought it. I want it that bad. I gave Don this idea for a Christmas present. I have a hard time reconciling spending money on something "frivolous" like this, when we need other things. Basic things, like heat, electricity & mortgage payments.
I'll give him a week or 2 to act on this idea & if it's still there in a couple of weeks, I'll get it for myself. It's so pretty & practical. That's what I like about it. A pretty place to store my hats, hehe AND, it's NOT round, they are so hard to store, but has edges & could be stacked with square things, if I had to stack it. I want to just put it on end & display it.
Where was the calm?
I read the entry just below yesterday's entry that reads:
& every time I've wondered, "Where was the 'calm' in my storm yesterday?" I think the "storm" was in my head. Is this what a bipolar episode is?? I have had them before.
I can plainly see, now, where the turning point was. I was so upset that they were so quick to tell me that the page was gone & there was nothing I could do. Now is a perfect time to get the "control journal" or job manual updated with the little "nuances" of the style.
Sometimes God calms the storm,
other times he lets the storm rage on and he calms his child.
& every time I've wondered, "Where was the 'calm' in my storm yesterday?" I think the "storm" was in my head. Is this what a bipolar episode is?? I have had them before.
I can plainly see, now, where the turning point was. I was so upset that they were so quick to tell me that the page was gone & there was nothing I could do. Now is a perfect time to get the "control journal" or job manual updated with the little "nuances" of the style.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Almost quit today
We kept having obituaries and weddings come in. We had a death notice from an accidental shooting of one of the community's prominent citizens. Mike Kunz, a businessman & city councilman, was cleaning his gun at his office down town this morning. It discharged & killed him. We also had an obituary. And then 2 weddings. Amy, job share partner, accepted one & had to jump the weddings, but turned the second one down. It was too late, there was no room.
Amy was so overwhelmed from weddings & obituaries & death notices that when I asked if the obituary was Mike's obit or a new one, she told me it was a new one. I asked who, she said someone from Whitney. She's new in the area, the names don't mean anything to her & I know this. Whitney is too close to home. I go to church in Whitney as part of the Whitney 2nd Ward & our ward shares the building with the other Whitney ward. I was positive it was someone I knew.
Then I found out that they had redone the obit page, page 9, and had started obits on page 5, the social page. Well, they (not sure who, but I'm assuming Rod, Bob, Kelly, Jessi & Krysta) shoved pages 5 & 11 through without me even seeing them, & checking for style. Pages 8 (DUP) & 9 (OBITS) were redone & sent to Bear River Publishing without me checking for style. I wanted to see page 9 with the new obit. They refused to let me see it. It was already gone, there was nothing I could do. I absolutely lost it & had a temper tantrum right there. I wanted to read the new obit. I wanted to see who it was. No one was telling me who had died. I was so upset.
Krysta handed me the page. I saw that it was Josie Winward. She was 101. Her daughter Gayla was in the same grade in school as I was. Josie has a daughter Renee & the husband's name is Rene. How strange is that? In reading the obit, I also noticed that all but one of the obit pictures were not the requisite 4 lines down from the name. That's ok, who's going to notice but me & Abby, maybe Necia. Amy either doesn't know or can't remember that little tidbit.
They ruined my DUP page, absolutely ruined it. I had a terrible headache. I thought I was going to have a stroke. I can't get that angry & upset.
Then they did pages 5 & 11 without me seeing them. They did an obituary & Mike's death notice on page 5. You don't put obits on the Social page, but if you get them late & have to pull something, you pull the filler articles anyway. Page 11 was the book signing of the guy that didn't like the last article we ran.
OK, something positive did come out of this. I finished by a little after 10 p.m. & don't have to go back in the morning. Woo hoo! I do have to go back in tomorrow afternoon & do Jean's personalized children's stories that I was supposed to have done a week ago. She came in today at 4 & wanted them. I was so stressed. Kelly came in the editor's office & then turned around & left.
He had upset me before the obit fiasco by telling me to get back to work. I was out in the bookstore using the classified ad computer showing Nancy Cale the blog for Baby Jonah. Jim was there & he & I had been talking about Jonah. Nancy Cale wanted to hear about him. She couldn't comprehend a baby so tiny. I thought Kelly had come in to tell me to get back to work. Jean said she guessed she'd better go & not come in on Monday's.
Kelly told me later he had come in to tell Jean not to come in on Monday's & bother us. But then decided against it. I'm glad he told me, but I was still upset. I was so ready to just gather up my stuff & walk out the door.
I'm still considering it.
Amy was so overwhelmed from weddings & obituaries & death notices that when I asked if the obituary was Mike's obit or a new one, she told me it was a new one. I asked who, she said someone from Whitney. She's new in the area, the names don't mean anything to her & I know this. Whitney is too close to home. I go to church in Whitney as part of the Whitney 2nd Ward & our ward shares the building with the other Whitney ward. I was positive it was someone I knew.
Then I found out that they had redone the obit page, page 9, and had started obits on page 5, the social page. Well, they (not sure who, but I'm assuming Rod, Bob, Kelly, Jessi & Krysta) shoved pages 5 & 11 through without me even seeing them, & checking for style. Pages 8 (DUP) & 9 (OBITS) were redone & sent to Bear River Publishing without me checking for style. I wanted to see page 9 with the new obit. They refused to let me see it. It was already gone, there was nothing I could do. I absolutely lost it & had a temper tantrum right there. I wanted to read the new obit. I wanted to see who it was. No one was telling me who had died. I was so upset.
Krysta handed me the page. I saw that it was Josie Winward. She was 101. Her daughter Gayla was in the same grade in school as I was. Josie has a daughter Renee & the husband's name is Rene. How strange is that? In reading the obit, I also noticed that all but one of the obit pictures were not the requisite 4 lines down from the name. That's ok, who's going to notice but me & Abby, maybe Necia. Amy either doesn't know or can't remember that little tidbit.
They ruined my DUP page, absolutely ruined it. I had a terrible headache. I thought I was going to have a stroke. I can't get that angry & upset.
Then they did pages 5 & 11 without me seeing them. They did an obituary & Mike's death notice on page 5. You don't put obits on the Social page, but if you get them late & have to pull something, you pull the filler articles anyway. Page 11 was the book signing of the guy that didn't like the last article we ran.
OK, something positive did come out of this. I finished by a little after 10 p.m. & don't have to go back in the morning. Woo hoo! I do have to go back in tomorrow afternoon & do Jean's personalized children's stories that I was supposed to have done a week ago. She came in today at 4 & wanted them. I was so stressed. Kelly came in the editor's office & then turned around & left.
He had upset me before the obit fiasco by telling me to get back to work. I was out in the bookstore using the classified ad computer showing Nancy Cale the blog for Baby Jonah. Jim was there & he & I had been talking about Jonah. Nancy Cale wanted to hear about him. She couldn't comprehend a baby so tiny. I thought Kelly had come in to tell me to get back to work. Jean said she guessed she'd better go & not come in on Monday's.
Kelly told me later he had come in to tell Jean not to come in on Monday's & bother us. But then decided against it. I'm glad he told me, but I was still upset. I was so ready to just gather up my stuff & walk out the door.
I'm still considering it.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sometimes He Calms the Storm
I have been reading Baby Jonah's Mommy's News faithfully since I got the URL for the blog. I read it all in one sitting the first night. Now, that is one of the first things I do when I get on the computer in the evening, check to see if there is an update on Baby Jonah. A comment by Kara on Oct. 8 said:
I "googled" it & found this song called "Sometimes He Calms the Storm" by Scott Krippayne. I've never heard of Scott Krippayne, nor have I heard of this song, much less heard it. But the words that Kara shared quickly found a place in my heart.
My sister once found a saying that said something close to the following.
Sometimes God calms the storm, other times he lets the storm rage on and he calms his child.
I "googled" it & found this song called "Sometimes He Calms the Storm" by Scott Krippayne. I've never heard of Scott Krippayne, nor have I heard of this song, much less heard it. But the words that Kara shared quickly found a place in my heart.
All who sail the sea of faith
Find out before too long
How quickly blue skies can grow dark
And gentle winds grow strong
Suddenly fear is like white water
Pounding on the soul
Still we sail on knowing
That our Lord is in control
Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn't mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child
He has a reason for each trial
That we pass through in life
And though we're shaken
We cannot be pulled apart from Christ
No matter how the driving rain beats down
On those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always
Be a quiet peaceful place
Talk about being led
Don-Mike was telling us yesterday that Nancy (Egbert, owner of Big J's) had just backed up all of her computer stuff LAST WEEK & it was stored off site. Which is a good thing, because the computers are "toast" because of the fire.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Death notice on Tuesday
Too many of us, when we accomplish what we set out to do, exclaim, 'See what I have done!' instead of saying, 'See where I have been led.'
Henry Ford
Monday I got to work late. Then when I got there I had to edit an article about DUP that I had written. I had given TOO much information. Although it is true, Kelly (Mickelsen, the publisher) doesn't want the whole world to know. I have found that so often in journalism. You never tell the whole story.
Anyway, our cell phone bill was past due & Nick was stressing over paying his car loans & credit card bill. I took a lunch break about 4 o'clock & actually took .9 hour. There just wasn't time to take that long, especially on a Monday with an 18 page paper. I was trying to pay Verizon & help Nick with his payments. Thank goodness Nick was here & could take over when I went in to overload. I got back to work & things were just skimming along. I had to check something online & while I was online I decided to check Facebook.
I don't know what possessed me. I NEVER check my online communities at work. But ... Facebook is new & fascinating. We run MacOS 9.1, most internet communities don't even support 9.1, it is too out dated. I COULDN'T log out. Finally, in desperation, I called Amy (Peck, my job share partner). She said she just logged out. Well, I couldn't find anyplace to log out. She told me to close Mozilla. I had done that & then opened Mozilla again & checked Facebook to see if it had logged me out, I was still logged in. OMG! I was in a nervous sweat, which is why I called Amy. I closed Mozilla again & again opened it & checked Facebook. I was out. I don't know how much time that ate up, too much.
By the time I noticed the time again, it was 10 o'clock. I'm supposed to be out of there by 8 p.m. I looked at that last page & KNEW it was going to take time. I really didn't want to come back in Tuesday morning for ONE page. But, on the other hand, I didn't want to stay any later. I was hungry & tired.
I went home & just missed Don-Mike. He had already gone home. I wanted to find out how his day at Big J's had gone.
I went in to work Tuesday morning & was working on page 12, the sports page. It was awkward. By the time I made the needed corrections, I had a hole at the bottom of the page & not enough room at the top. I really didn't want to rearrange the page, but I knew if it were just flip-flopped & the picture cut down to a 2 column picture instead of 3 column, everything would fit better. I was just finishing, still didn't look great, but hey, 2 hours of fighting that page was 2 hours too many. It should have just taken half an hour.
About this time, Kelly came out of his office & asked about the Roley death notice. I said, "What death notice? We didn't get a death notice." He said, "It's from Dayton. I thought we'd have it." Roley? I asked how old the guy was, wondering if it was Zach Kent's friend, Jonathan Roley. He said he was 20. I asked if it was Jonathan, he said he didn't know, he thought it was Jon. So, I got up & went in his office & we looked at the death notice in The Herald Journal. Yes, it was Jonathan, but the name at the top was Jon Roley, & Webb Funeral Home was handling the funeral arrangements. I said we hadn't received it. But, I really didn't know if we had or not, I hadn't checked the email. I was so focused on getting the paper done & that last page out of my way. I checked, nothing new since the day before.
I sat there at the computer, still trying to get that last article to fit so it didn't look too stretched out. As I sat there, I started thinking about all the times that we've fought a page & something like this has happened. So, I gave in. I got up, called Webb Funeral Home & Ron (Smellie) answered. I asked if he had a death notice he needed to give me. He said yes, but they didn't get finished with the family until 6 the night before & he said he commented they had missed The Citizen deadline. I said yes, they had, but we could usually fit something in. He said he thought the paper would be finished. I said normally it was, but I had just spent 2 hours on a page & had opened up enough space for a death notice. I told him to just give me the information & I could finish the paper. He said he could give me the funeral arrangements now. They hadn't had the information to give The Herald Journal. So, I took the funeral information, put the death notice in & the paper was done.
I am still humbled every time it happens. It might sound like I'm bragging, but I think it is SOOO cool, I still have to tell it. Like, "Look what the Lord did!" It just amazes me that I can be an instrument in His hands. It's been quite a while since it has happened & I truly was not thinking about opening a space for a death notice. I was thinking that Kelly has told me one of my big failings is being too picky about style. I was trying to get past the OCD & just let the page go. It still didn't hit me until I sat down at the computer again. Even then, I tried to argue myself out of it, but it just wouldn't go away. It was almost with resignation I stood up & called.
There were several pages that needed corrections. The biggest failing was dates on each page. Another big error was caused by my hearing loss, sigh. But it was caught, a headline on the front page that had jumped to the photo journal page.
I do the legal notices also. One time a friend had warned me that they were being foreclosed on for their house. She didn't want me to get it & be surprised. So, I came in one day & I stood there at the desk looking through the inbox. I said, "I knew this legal was coming." Jessi (Holt, my supervisor) looked up & said, "Are you being warned about legals now?" I laughed & said no, my friend had warned me.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Baby Jonah
Yesterday my uncle Jim Anderson gave me an update on his great-grandson Jonah Layne. He mentioned that Tanya had a blog that she & her husband Dave updated every day. He couldn't remember the name of it, but he hadn't had a chance to check it before he came to Preston.
I thought about it all day today & finally decided to call Loraine, Jonah's grandma, Tanya's mother, to get the URL for it. I was happy it was BlogSpot because that's where the majority of the blogs I read are.
I go by Rayni on line, so it was kind of funny to see Nick stop & look at me when I said, "Hi Rainie, this is RaNae." LOL He has always heard me call myself Rayni, not someone else.
I thought about it all day today & finally decided to call Loraine, Jonah's grandma, Tanya's mother, to get the URL for it. I was happy it was BlogSpot because that's where the majority of the blogs I read are.
I go by Rayni on line, so it was kind of funny to see Nick stop & look at me when I said, "Hi Rainie, this is RaNae." LOL He has always heard me call myself Rayni, not someone else.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Other Blogs
Aha, I knew I could figure this out. I just added a link list & named it "More Blogs." That will take care of the link for Mother's health updates on Caring Bridge & William's blog/website too!!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Beginning my blog
I enjoy reading other peoples blogs. I keep track of those blogs in a folder on Don-Mike's computer under Bookmarks. I've been thinking for a while that I needed a place to store those URLs before I lose them. Where was the big question.
In our house, computer updates happen very frequently. I lose my bookmarks almost as often as an update happens. Nick is always telling us to back up. I can't even go to ComputerWise, our favorite computer store, without being reminded to "backup your data." They have a sign on their front door!! At work we're constantly backing up our work on a flash drive.
Today, I was visiting Janelle Bartlome's blog, Random Ramblings, & saw that she has a list of blogs. Aha! I could start a blog to keep track of my blog list. I blithely created a blog. Of course, there is a learning curve & I didn't plan on spending my whole afternoon creating a blog. I should have just put those links on my personal web page. That would have been a lot faster than starting something new. Besides, it would have let me add the blog that isn't BlogSpot. Oh, well. I'll try this for a while, I might decide I like it :)
And a name. They want me to name this blog? And what will I name it? I went to my personal web page to see if I could find a quote or something. As I opened the page, there was the title, RaDoMiNic. Of course! RaDoMiNic! Ra is RaNae; Do is Don; Mi is Don-Mike & Nic is Nick!
In our house, computer updates happen very frequently. I lose my bookmarks almost as often as an update happens. Nick is always telling us to back up. I can't even go to ComputerWise, our favorite computer store, without being reminded to "backup your data." They have a sign on their front door!! At work we're constantly backing up our work on a flash drive.
Today, I was visiting Janelle Bartlome's blog, Random Ramblings, & saw that she has a list of blogs. Aha! I could start a blog to keep track of my blog list. I blithely created a blog. Of course, there is a learning curve & I didn't plan on spending my whole afternoon creating a blog. I should have just put those links on my personal web page. That would have been a lot faster than starting something new. Besides, it would have let me add the blog that isn't BlogSpot. Oh, well. I'll try this for a while, I might decide I like it :)
And a name. They want me to name this blog? And what will I name it? I went to my personal web page to see if I could find a quote or something. As I opened the page, there was the title, RaDoMiNic. Of course! RaDoMiNic! Ra is RaNae; Do is Don; Mi is Don-Mike & Nic is Nick!
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