As we were sitting here in our respective rooms watching Biggest Loser & American Idol last night (me: living room, biggest loser; DH & DD, computer room, AI), DH got a call from his best buddy and coworker saying that there'd been an accident at work after DH had left for the day. The company DH works for not only has the chemical blend building where DH works, but a Salt-shack where industrial sized (50 to 80 pound) bags of salt are filled for shipment to the North Slope for use in the mining operations, for sale to the DOT for roads, and even for filling personal home water-filter systems. This is the position DH held years ago when he previously worked for this company. This is the position he was in when he blew out his back.
The company now employs two crews, one day-crew, one night-crew. The night crew came in after most of the day staff had left (DH included) and set to work. The salt comes down through this enormous funnel into the salt-bags, and the bags are then sealed & stacked. There is an augur with rotating blades that sits in the center of the funnel to stir the salt keep it from jamming in the neck of the funnel. Evidently one of the night crew noticed that a piece of salt wasn't dislodging from the neck of the funnel, so stuck his hand up IN the funnel, while the augur was running, and wound up having 3 of his fingers on that hand cut off by the blades. *shaking head* He was, of course, rushed up the street to the ER, while DH's buddy & another of their coworkers sifted through the bags of salt trying to find the guy's 3 missing fingers. *GAG!*
So, DH's friend called last night to warn DH that this has happened & that things would be rather shaken up today at work. So, guess who's now working BACK in the salt-shack for the day?!?! Yep. Dh got sent back to the salt-shack. Never mind that he'd previously blown out his back (and been given the shaft by the Workers Comp. company that handled his claim) doing this job. *sigh* I warned him to keep his fingers away from that damned funnel & augur. He said he doesn't plan on sticking his hand in there. I reminded him that I'm sure the other guy didn't go into work yesterday planning on getting fingers cut off either.
When DH's buddy called last night, they'd just taken the unlucky guy in to surgery and were going to attempt to reattach the fingers. (Because the buddy & the other coworker DID find all 3 fingers in the bag of salt.) *shaking head*
**********
I just got off the phone with one of the folks at Human Resources to ask what I can do to gain the experience while working my job. She said that I need to BE a library assistant, before I can get the library assistant position. *shaking head* What kind of F****** sense does that make?!?!?! She said that I must have 2080 hours of employment as a library assistant, before I could possibly qualify for this Library Assistant 3 position. At the rate I'm volunteering at the school, that's 14 years of volunteer work. Of course, she said that maybe I should look into volunteering more hours. I reminded her that I'm already working 30 hours a week in at Noel Wien Lib. That doesn't leave a lot of time for volunteer work. *sigh*
And she said that it appears that my job duties as a volunteer Lib. Assist. at the school are the SAME type of duties I already do as a Circ. Page at N.W.L., and that I'd need a higher degree of experience, even though the school considers my duties as Lib. Assist. duties, not page duties. So, I don't know what the hell I'm going to do now. I really don't.
I'm not going to give up on this Lib. Assistant 3 position. No way in hell. That's what I want to do, and someday I'm going to be doing it. But freak!!!! I don't know HOW I'm going to get the experience without a chance at a regular Library Assistant position. I got shot down for that one because I didn't have MS Word or Excel experience, OR at least a year in a clerical position. Even one of my Circ. Assist. coworker, Gabbie, who DID apply for the most recent Lib. Assist. 1 position to open up and DID get an interview, didn't get the position because she just didn't cut it. Which means that her position isn't going to come open, either. (And, Gabbie's position I might have a shot at, if my boss doesn't hate me so thoroughly that she'd block my progression to that job.)
*sigh* I just want to crawl back into bed. Today's starting to look like it could be a crummy day, and I just don't want to deal with it. And nobody else should have to deal with me being in a crummy-mood, either. I know that my mood is up to me, and I'm trying to be hopeful, but it's damned hard to be hopeful and positive when you keep getting shot down, time & time again, for something that you want so freaking badly!
**********
Oh. DD's appointment with the Dr. went ok the other morning. It's not strep, from what the Dr. said. She thinks it looks like the beginning of a Sinus Infection. But she decided to hold off putting DD on any antibiotics due to the rate at which these things are becomming resistant to such measures. Said she wants to give DD's body another week to fight off the infection on it's own, before she prescribes meds.
That's fine by me, but I'm starting to wonder if it's not time to get DD in to see her ENT doc again. It may simply come down to the need to have her sinuses flushed again. She had that done 5 years ago (this spring), and it made a world of difference in the way she slept & behaved & breathed. That time, the sinus infection just wasn't disappearing after multiple rounds of antibiotics so the Dr. finally just schedualed her for the sinus wash (and removed her adnoids). DD just barely escaped having tubes put in her ears as well, as those cleared up on the last round of antibiotics before surgery was schedualed. Things aren't quite as tough as they were last time, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.
We'll see. The Dr. said to give it till this coming Monday (Feb. 2), then give her a call if DD's cough isn't sounding better, and the throat isn't feeling better, and she'll prescribe some antibiotics over the phone (since she's just seen DD). If that happens, we'll just have to take it from there.
**********
Anyway..... I've gotta get something to eat & get dressed & get headed to work.
Have a Blessed Day!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Home, Home on the Range....
Well.... We won't be going out to dinner tonight after all. DH told the FIL about MIL's plans for us all to go out to Two Rivers for dinner, and FIL said that not only would he NOT want to go because of how cold it is, but he doesn't want to go be around MIL for that long at all. He can't stand MIL, and seeing as how miserable she makes him with her nagging & constant bitching at him, I don't really blame her. But damnit! I was looking forward to dinner out too. And since FIL won't go, DH won't go. So we've taken out steaks for supper, which means DH thinks he's going to grill tonight.
I highly doubt he'll want to grill tonight, though, seeing as it's currently about -27 deg. below 0. After dark, it'll be more along the lines of -35 or -40. *sigh*
And, besides just the cold temps, this pushes our weekly menu up by two days. Not only did I not stick around at the hockey game last night & shell out hard-earned money for pretzels & nachos, but we're not going out to eat tonight. So, rather than having Biscuits & Gravy on Sunday, and grilled Steaks & baked potatoes on Monday, we had B&G last night for dinner, and steaks & potatoes for dinner tonight. That means I've got to figure out what I'm going to make for supper tomorrow night, and what I'm going to have DH make Monday night. *sigh*
The drive to town & back last night was reasonably uneventful. Slow, but uneventful. We got there well over a half-hour before anybody else did, so I stood around ackwardly while waiting for other IceBreaker's parents to get there. Once they did, we set to taping tickets to frisbees to "sell" for a chance to win a prize, to help fundraise for our league. Then, when DH got there, I left so I wouldn't have to drive home with the rest of the crowd leaving the game at 10 pm. And DH finally brought DD home when the game started winding down at 9:00 (and after our commitment was fulfilled to the league).
**********
So far this morning I've been sitting around watching TV and crocheting. I've done dishes, a load of laundry, and as soon as I'm done online here I'm going to go back to more crocheting. While tidying up the living room this morning, I realized how very many projects I've got in progress. I need to finish some of them before I start on any more.
Here's the tally:
3 afghans (1 child-size, 2 adult)
1 apron
1 shawl
1 scarf
So, I need to finish some of these projects before I start any more. It just doesn't make any sense for me to keep starting new projects when I've got several that must be done first. But my attention span has been short lately. I've been starting a long-term project (like an afghan), then leaving it in favor of a short-term (or rush) project like my grocery sacks (or a baby afghan for a friend about to "pop"). I need to just set myself down for the next several weeks to finish these projects that I'm already working on. One of the adult size afghans was supposed to be for a friend of mine. I started making it for her a couple of years ago. I think it was like 3 years ago. Anyway, I REALLY need to get that one finished & sent off to her. *wry smile* The other adult sized afghan is that autumn colors one I was talking about some time ago. It's the closest to being done, so it's the one I'm going to complete first. It's the one I was working on this morning. Next weekend I'll make a point of getting the apron finished & sent off to the friend that it is going to belong to. After that, the scarf will be my next "must-finish" I think. The afghan for the friend is going to take a good while longer, as it's made of smaller medallions, so I think I'll take that one to Anchorage with me, when we go for the tournament. The shawl will be the next to the last. It's a pretty yellow simple knit shawl with an eyelet around the edge. It'll be nice to have that done in time for spring. And lastly, the children's afghan I'm crocheting in camoflage yarn. I'm kinda, potentially, making it for my older nephew. I never made him an afghan when he was born, and I figured that if I get suckered into making one for my soon-to-be-niece, then I really should make one for the younger nephew as well. (The reason I didn't make one for the younger nephew is because the one I made for the OLDER nephew prior to his birth wasn't well received at all, so I never bothered for the younger nephew, figuring I'd make him one when HE could appreciate it, rather than expecting any appreciation from SIL.)
So, those are my crafting plans for now. Finish the damn projects I've got going, before I start any more. *wry smile* Now to make myself do it!
**********
Edited to Add:
Robin, I've been stocking up on canned goods. Esp. the fruit & veggie type. Worst comes to worst, hunting & trapping animals is an option around here any time of year, but fruit & veggies would be VERY hard to come by till about June at the soonest (when the wild strawberries come ripe, though I guess some of the wild veggies come ripe sooner). Also canned & dried milk products (again, hard to get if you don't have direct access to a milk-producing animal). I'm trying to stock up on TP, but we go through that very quickly. (Esp. during my time of the month.) I've been buying & putting away crafting supplies & such, though not too much too fast as this gets expensive. I think things such as yardage-goods (fabric, thread, needles, as well as yarn) may become something of a necessity if things go downhill quickly. (Just read some of the memoirs from the Great Depression to get some idea of the things folks wished they'd had, and it's easy to find proof that often children outgrew their clothing at a much quicker rate than their parents could afford to replace it. And that was in days when a lot of folks still had basic & not-so-basic tailoring skills.) Oh, also candles & matches, and some luxuries such as chocolate milk powder, hard candies, and canned shrimp & crab for treats.
I'm also reading up on past times & places where things were considerably harder than they've been for us here in the USA in the past 30 years. The Great Depression (USA), the Soviet Union years of Russia, Europe during & immediately following WW1 & WW2..... In all these times & places growing one's own produce & reuse, reduce, recycle were manners that helped them survive.
From what I've seen, already folks are realizing that reviving these skills is going to stand them in good stead in the coming years here in our country. This past fall the books on canning & preserving wouldn't stay on the shelves. Even this winter it appears a LOT of people are making plans for their veggie gardens this summer, as well as the canning & preserving of the produce they get. This Christmas saw a very constant, heavy turnover of our crafting books (from woodworking, to knitting & crochet, to quilting, to origami) for gift-making, but probably also for learning tradable skills for future use. (This section of the library is still seeing a LOT of use even now, after Christmas has passed.) And the gardening books by themselves are being more selectively picked over. Not so many people looking at flower-garden type books, but very quick turnover of veggie gardening books, as well as sustainable gardening techniques. And in the cooking section, the fancy cookery books are seeing less use, while books on foraging & good ol' fashioned peasant cooking are seeing a lot more use. The small-farming books are also being checked out heavily, with a lot of interest going into the fowl & rabbit books, slightly less interest going toward cows, pigs & goats. And last but not least, the books on building & weatherizing one's own home, and alternative sources of energy & "convienences" (such as toiletry and water sources).
I'd wager that a lot more people than me are also reading up on the Great Depression & other areas of our history for insight as to how to weather the coming storm.
Just some ideas of where to start. Get yourself to your local library & update your library card if you don't have it current. Be aware of the terms Branch Borrow (borrowing from libraries in your local library system) and Inter Library Loan (borrowing from libraries from other boroughs & districts, even other states). Be aware of the ability to request books for library purchase, and even the option to "adopt an author", if you feel you've got the money to spare toward your local library's collection. Also, be aware that a lot of libraries get their funding based on their end-of-the-day tallies. My library system keeps track of how many people come & go each day, how many books & magazines are off-shelf at the end of the day, how many questions the circulation & reference staff are asked.... These tallies somehow (I'm not really sure exactly how) go to persuade our borough of the grants & monies we need for purchasing materials & keeping our library current. We actually tell our patrons (the nice ones) that as much as we appreciate their desire to help us keep our library clean & tidy for the next user, we PREFER if they don't reshelve their books or magazines themselves (though we DO ask that the books & mags are left on carts at the ends of the shelves for US to count then reshelve), as this is how we count the usage of our books, so that we can prove that the books & magazines are being used and need to be replaced when necessary!
**********
Ok. I think that about covers it for today.
Have a Blessed Day!
I highly doubt he'll want to grill tonight, though, seeing as it's currently about -27 deg. below 0. After dark, it'll be more along the lines of -35 or -40. *sigh*
And, besides just the cold temps, this pushes our weekly menu up by two days. Not only did I not stick around at the hockey game last night & shell out hard-earned money for pretzels & nachos, but we're not going out to eat tonight. So, rather than having Biscuits & Gravy on Sunday, and grilled Steaks & baked potatoes on Monday, we had B&G last night for dinner, and steaks & potatoes for dinner tonight. That means I've got to figure out what I'm going to make for supper tomorrow night, and what I'm going to have DH make Monday night. *sigh*
The drive to town & back last night was reasonably uneventful. Slow, but uneventful. We got there well over a half-hour before anybody else did, so I stood around ackwardly while waiting for other IceBreaker's parents to get there. Once they did, we set to taping tickets to frisbees to "sell" for a chance to win a prize, to help fundraise for our league. Then, when DH got there, I left so I wouldn't have to drive home with the rest of the crowd leaving the game at 10 pm. And DH finally brought DD home when the game started winding down at 9:00 (and after our commitment was fulfilled to the league).
**********
So far this morning I've been sitting around watching TV and crocheting. I've done dishes, a load of laundry, and as soon as I'm done online here I'm going to go back to more crocheting. While tidying up the living room this morning, I realized how very many projects I've got in progress. I need to finish some of them before I start on any more.
Here's the tally:
3 afghans (1 child-size, 2 adult)
1 apron
1 shawl
1 scarf
So, I need to finish some of these projects before I start any more. It just doesn't make any sense for me to keep starting new projects when I've got several that must be done first. But my attention span has been short lately. I've been starting a long-term project (like an afghan), then leaving it in favor of a short-term (or rush) project like my grocery sacks (or a baby afghan for a friend about to "pop"). I need to just set myself down for the next several weeks to finish these projects that I'm already working on. One of the adult size afghans was supposed to be for a friend of mine. I started making it for her a couple of years ago. I think it was like 3 years ago. Anyway, I REALLY need to get that one finished & sent off to her. *wry smile* The other adult sized afghan is that autumn colors one I was talking about some time ago. It's the closest to being done, so it's the one I'm going to complete first. It's the one I was working on this morning. Next weekend I'll make a point of getting the apron finished & sent off to the friend that it is going to belong to. After that, the scarf will be my next "must-finish" I think. The afghan for the friend is going to take a good while longer, as it's made of smaller medallions, so I think I'll take that one to Anchorage with me, when we go for the tournament. The shawl will be the next to the last. It's a pretty yellow simple knit shawl with an eyelet around the edge. It'll be nice to have that done in time for spring. And lastly, the children's afghan I'm crocheting in camoflage yarn. I'm kinda, potentially, making it for my older nephew. I never made him an afghan when he was born, and I figured that if I get suckered into making one for my soon-to-be-niece, then I really should make one for the younger nephew as well. (The reason I didn't make one for the younger nephew is because the one I made for the OLDER nephew prior to his birth wasn't well received at all, so I never bothered for the younger nephew, figuring I'd make him one when HE could appreciate it, rather than expecting any appreciation from SIL.)
So, those are my crafting plans for now. Finish the damn projects I've got going, before I start any more. *wry smile* Now to make myself do it!
**********
Edited to Add:
Robin, I've been stocking up on canned goods. Esp. the fruit & veggie type. Worst comes to worst, hunting & trapping animals is an option around here any time of year, but fruit & veggies would be VERY hard to come by till about June at the soonest (when the wild strawberries come ripe, though I guess some of the wild veggies come ripe sooner). Also canned & dried milk products (again, hard to get if you don't have direct access to a milk-producing animal). I'm trying to stock up on TP, but we go through that very quickly. (Esp. during my time of the month.) I've been buying & putting away crafting supplies & such, though not too much too fast as this gets expensive. I think things such as yardage-goods (fabric, thread, needles, as well as yarn) may become something of a necessity if things go downhill quickly. (Just read some of the memoirs from the Great Depression to get some idea of the things folks wished they'd had, and it's easy to find proof that often children outgrew their clothing at a much quicker rate than their parents could afford to replace it. And that was in days when a lot of folks still had basic & not-so-basic tailoring skills.) Oh, also candles & matches, and some luxuries such as chocolate milk powder, hard candies, and canned shrimp & crab for treats.
I'm also reading up on past times & places where things were considerably harder than they've been for us here in the USA in the past 30 years. The Great Depression (USA), the Soviet Union years of Russia, Europe during & immediately following WW1 & WW2..... In all these times & places growing one's own produce & reuse, reduce, recycle were manners that helped them survive.
From what I've seen, already folks are realizing that reviving these skills is going to stand them in good stead in the coming years here in our country. This past fall the books on canning & preserving wouldn't stay on the shelves. Even this winter it appears a LOT of people are making plans for their veggie gardens this summer, as well as the canning & preserving of the produce they get. This Christmas saw a very constant, heavy turnover of our crafting books (from woodworking, to knitting & crochet, to quilting, to origami) for gift-making, but probably also for learning tradable skills for future use. (This section of the library is still seeing a LOT of use even now, after Christmas has passed.) And the gardening books by themselves are being more selectively picked over. Not so many people looking at flower-garden type books, but very quick turnover of veggie gardening books, as well as sustainable gardening techniques. And in the cooking section, the fancy cookery books are seeing less use, while books on foraging & good ol' fashioned peasant cooking are seeing a lot more use. The small-farming books are also being checked out heavily, with a lot of interest going into the fowl & rabbit books, slightly less interest going toward cows, pigs & goats. And last but not least, the books on building & weatherizing one's own home, and alternative sources of energy & "convienences" (such as toiletry and water sources).
I'd wager that a lot more people than me are also reading up on the Great Depression & other areas of our history for insight as to how to weather the coming storm.
Just some ideas of where to start. Get yourself to your local library & update your library card if you don't have it current. Be aware of the terms Branch Borrow (borrowing from libraries in your local library system) and Inter Library Loan (borrowing from libraries from other boroughs & districts, even other states). Be aware of the ability to request books for library purchase, and even the option to "adopt an author", if you feel you've got the money to spare toward your local library's collection. Also, be aware that a lot of libraries get their funding based on their end-of-the-day tallies. My library system keeps track of how many people come & go each day, how many books & magazines are off-shelf at the end of the day, how many questions the circulation & reference staff are asked.... These tallies somehow (I'm not really sure exactly how) go to persuade our borough of the grants & monies we need for purchasing materials & keeping our library current. We actually tell our patrons (the nice ones) that as much as we appreciate their desire to help us keep our library clean & tidy for the next user, we PREFER if they don't reshelve their books or magazines themselves (though we DO ask that the books & mags are left on carts at the ends of the shelves for US to count then reshelve), as this is how we count the usage of our books, so that we can prove that the books & magazines are being used and need to be replaced when necessary!
**********
Ok. I think that about covers it for today.
Have a Blessed Day!
Friday, January 25, 2008
I just don't rate....
So, I just got a call a bit ago from a woman at the Human Resources Dept. regarding my application for the Library Assistant 3 position out here at NP Branch. The woman said that based on the fact that I don't meet ONE of the minimum qualifications for the Lib. Assist. 3 position, I'm not going to get to have an interview for the position. I asked which qualification it was that I don't meet and she replied that according to their reading of my application, it doesn't appear I've worked at more than the page level. I responded with "What about the fact that for nearly 5 months now I've been working as a VOLUNTEER Library Assistant at North Pole Elementary?" And she said that "Even IF we counted that, it still isn't a full year." *sigh*
So, I asked her if I could get that in writing and sent to my home. Then I called & left a message for the woman at work who helped me with my application, to see if she wouldn't mind calling me back. If I can appeal it, I'm going to.
So, I'm sitting here just a bit bummed. Not suprised at all, just bummed.
But, regardless of how THIS application for THIS job gets handled, I'm going to continue working at the school on Fridays, I'm going to continue working on my Word & Publisher skills, and I'm going to keep on applying for every damn job that comes open at NPB.
Oh, and the Librarian at the school taught me to cover hard-backed books today. She said that if I'm willing to come in early one of these mornings, she'll show my how to cover paperbacks. But the paperbacks, evidently, are considerably more time consuming & tedious, and therefore require being uninterrupted by children. Thus the need to go in before school starts. Anyway, so she's quite willing to teach me what she's able, in hopes that I will someday land that Library Assistant 3 position.
**********
DD's head is doing ok. It's still a bit sore when touched. But that comes with the fact that it's bruised. It was never really causing more problems than just the pain of the bruising & scrape itself. No concussion, disorientation, or even a real wound. Just a scrape & a bruise. And a good laugh over how darned tough the girl is! *grin*
On the other hand, she's had a nasty little sore throat for over a week now, so I've just gotten off the phone with the Dr's office and am schedualed to take her in to see the Dr. on Monday morning. The school's nurse, when I talked to her today, said that since DD's throat's been sore for so long, I should have her looked at in case she's got strep throat. Or, it may just be her allergies & we wind up putting her back on singulair for the allergies, though not the asthma (which still hasn't cropped back up as an issue).
**********
Greg, I certainly agree that regardless of how the economic troubles of our country turn out, regardless of whether the Mayans were right or not about the end-date of the world-as-we-know-it, we should continue on with life as best as possible. Certainly making arrangements for trouble should it come, but not losing ourselves in the process. That is why I told DD that regardless of what happens, she still needs to work on her math. *grin* Whether or not she ever gets to High School, I still want to see her pass 4th Grade with a math grade BETTER than a C-minus. (And, certainly, anything LESS than a C-minus is completely unacceptable, and should that happen, I will once again be pushing to hold her back.)
That said, should we get a tax rebate this year, DH and I, I'm going to put $100 away for a clothes-line tree, and I am continuing my preparations & stocking up for the Recession/Depression to come. I don't want to go into a recession/depression COMPLETELY unprepared. I want to know that should our paychecks get slimmer, or prices get considerably higher, that I've stocked up on some things to help us weather the storm.
**********
DD and I each had dentist appointments yesterday morning. Unfortunately, my dentist once again canceled on me for the exams that we're due up for. This is the third time in 12 month's time that she's canceled on me. This time she's in the Cayman Islands. But, we DID get our teeth cleaned, anyway. The report on DD's teeth is that she's doing a good job, from what the hygenist could say. My teeth, not so much. She said my gums are appearing much more sensative & bleeding more easily. So, I got harped at to brush & floss better and more frequently, as usual. *wry smile*
What I didn't tell the hygenist (who's a perfectly nice woman) is that I'm going to change dentists. It was a 45 minute drive in to our dentist's office yesterday, and we didn't even get the Xrays & exams that were half the reason I'd made the appointments. And I made them both at the same time to try to prevent having to go in a second time. Now, if the dentist has her way, I'll be making a second trip in anyway, and possibly a third. (Possibly a third because it's unlikely that I'd be able to get 2 appointments, one immediately after the other, again any time soon. So I'd wind up with 1 appointment on 1 day for myself, and a second appointment on a second day for DD.) I burned 1/4 tank of fuel in my car yesterday, with 2 round trips to town. Once for the appointments, and once for work after bringing DD back out to school.
Next week I'm going to call the dentist's office where DH had his root canal, and I'm going to see if I can have DD and myself both set up in July with exams, X-rays, and cleanings, and we'll start seeing Dr. E. for our dental work, instead of Dr. B. in town. Even just the fact that it's a 10 minute drive, instead of 45 minutes, makes it worthwhile. Add in the fact that I'm sick of being jerked around by Dr B's inability to keep an appointment..... Yeah, I'm making the change-over.
**********
DD finally got to play a game against her buddy from the church nursery. DD and A. have been friends since they were literally both in diapers, at 2 years old, in the nursery at the church that I used to attend with my Dad. A's mom is a nice lady who I get along with rather well, on the rare occasions I get to see her. A. & DD have played hockey with and against each other since they started. (A. started only 1 year ahead of DD, as he's approx. 6 months older than DD is.) Well, yesterday's hockey game had both DD and A. in the goal nets for their respective teams. A. did a FANTASTIC job!!!! This is also his second year as goalie, though he's never been "only" goalie the way DD has. He also plays Left Wing, when he plays out. So A's mom & I are hoping that in their next match-up, A. and DD can play Left Wing against each other, the way they played goalie against each other this time.
Anyway, we beat A's team, 6 to 1. But it wasn't an easy game. They really fought us hard in the first two periods, but it appeared that they got wore out in the third period, as that's when we made 4 of our 6 goals on A. DD got only maybe half as many shots on her as A. did, and she didn't get the shut-out she was hoping for. But it was a good game. And I got some chuckles as I was in the warm-up/viewing room rooting for both DD AND A. The fact that I'm mom to one of the goalies, and the other goalie is a friend of DD's (and therefore also somebody I'll root for) made for some funny moments.
Tonight I've got to take DD in to town to sell programs & frisbees for the University's (The Nanooks) hockey game. The whole team, and one of the parents from each child, have got to be there. DH is going to work in the concession stand (as it sounds like they're short a couple of folks) while I walk around with DD and whatever other of the girls she goes around with. *sigh* I hate doing this part of the hockey-mom bit. I hate fundraising, and I esp. hate anything that requires me to make change. *wry smile* Not to mention it's going to be a tense drive INTO town, then a tense drive HOME from town in the dark, with a lot of other vehicals.
**********
Why is it going to be tense??? Because the driving conditions haven't eased up at all in the last few days. Not only did we get rain on Sunday, but it was 30 above and windy as hell on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday it cooled a bit, and yesterday was about -30 (below zero) again. Then last night it clouded over & started snowing again. We haven't gotten the 3 inches of snow that were predicted for us, but the snow has nonetheless made the driving conditions even more iffy than the rain had already caused. Because not only is there BLACK ICE on the roads, but there is also now snow covering it.
Evidently this morning, as everybody was rushing off to work, there was a multiple car pile-up at the base of the second over-pass heading up the Richardson Hwy in to town. The last mile as you approach the overpass is pure ice (looks like a poorly zammed ice rink), then had the 3/4 inch layer of snow over top of that. Folks evidently didn't remember that just the night before you could get a good look at the ice, so they were driving as if the snow would quickly blow off an otherwise clear Hwy. Not so. So many, many cars found themselves jam packed in a pile-up.
And it's been this way for almost a week now. Every day, on my way to work I've seen at least 2 more vehicals in the ditch, replacing the 2 or 3 (or 4, or 5) from the day before. And on the way home, it's not much better. Why everybody seems to think the roads will have cleared up completely while they slept, is anybody's guess. I would only blame it on terribly short memories & idiotic thinking.
Anyway, so tonight, that's what I'm doing. Please keep us in your thoughts & prayers as we venture out on those roads. I'm really, really not looking foward to the drive.
**********
Tomorrow, DD and I will get to be home all morning. YEAH!!!!! I'm going to watch TV and veg, and maybe do some laundry. Then in the evening we'll be heading up Chena Hot Springs Road to Two River's Restaraunt for supper. My MIL's birthday was on the 18th of this month, mine on the 22nd, and my FIL's is today (the 25th) so we're going out to celebrate all three at once. The Inlaws often treat, this way, in leau of presents. It's just easier to buy a nice dinner out as a celebration for us 3, than to try to find a real present, I suppose. *wry smile* I'm not one to complain about a free dinner with great food, though.
**********
I think that about covers it for now. I'll catch up tomorrow, hopefully.
Have a Blessed Day!
So, I asked her if I could get that in writing and sent to my home. Then I called & left a message for the woman at work who helped me with my application, to see if she wouldn't mind calling me back. If I can appeal it, I'm going to.
So, I'm sitting here just a bit bummed. Not suprised at all, just bummed.
But, regardless of how THIS application for THIS job gets handled, I'm going to continue working at the school on Fridays, I'm going to continue working on my Word & Publisher skills, and I'm going to keep on applying for every damn job that comes open at NPB.
Oh, and the Librarian at the school taught me to cover hard-backed books today. She said that if I'm willing to come in early one of these mornings, she'll show my how to cover paperbacks. But the paperbacks, evidently, are considerably more time consuming & tedious, and therefore require being uninterrupted by children. Thus the need to go in before school starts. Anyway, so she's quite willing to teach me what she's able, in hopes that I will someday land that Library Assistant 3 position.
**********
DD's head is doing ok. It's still a bit sore when touched. But that comes with the fact that it's bruised. It was never really causing more problems than just the pain of the bruising & scrape itself. No concussion, disorientation, or even a real wound. Just a scrape & a bruise. And a good laugh over how darned tough the girl is! *grin*
On the other hand, she's had a nasty little sore throat for over a week now, so I've just gotten off the phone with the Dr's office and am schedualed to take her in to see the Dr. on Monday morning. The school's nurse, when I talked to her today, said that since DD's throat's been sore for so long, I should have her looked at in case she's got strep throat. Or, it may just be her allergies & we wind up putting her back on singulair for the allergies, though not the asthma (which still hasn't cropped back up as an issue).
**********
Greg, I certainly agree that regardless of how the economic troubles of our country turn out, regardless of whether the Mayans were right or not about the end-date of the world-as-we-know-it, we should continue on with life as best as possible. Certainly making arrangements for trouble should it come, but not losing ourselves in the process. That is why I told DD that regardless of what happens, she still needs to work on her math. *grin* Whether or not she ever gets to High School, I still want to see her pass 4th Grade with a math grade BETTER than a C-minus. (And, certainly, anything LESS than a C-minus is completely unacceptable, and should that happen, I will once again be pushing to hold her back.)
That said, should we get a tax rebate this year, DH and I, I'm going to put $100 away for a clothes-line tree, and I am continuing my preparations & stocking up for the Recession/Depression to come. I don't want to go into a recession/depression COMPLETELY unprepared. I want to know that should our paychecks get slimmer, or prices get considerably higher, that I've stocked up on some things to help us weather the storm.
**********
DD and I each had dentist appointments yesterday morning. Unfortunately, my dentist once again canceled on me for the exams that we're due up for. This is the third time in 12 month's time that she's canceled on me. This time she's in the Cayman Islands. But, we DID get our teeth cleaned, anyway. The report on DD's teeth is that she's doing a good job, from what the hygenist could say. My teeth, not so much. She said my gums are appearing much more sensative & bleeding more easily. So, I got harped at to brush & floss better and more frequently, as usual. *wry smile*
What I didn't tell the hygenist (who's a perfectly nice woman) is that I'm going to change dentists. It was a 45 minute drive in to our dentist's office yesterday, and we didn't even get the Xrays & exams that were half the reason I'd made the appointments. And I made them both at the same time to try to prevent having to go in a second time. Now, if the dentist has her way, I'll be making a second trip in anyway, and possibly a third. (Possibly a third because it's unlikely that I'd be able to get 2 appointments, one immediately after the other, again any time soon. So I'd wind up with 1 appointment on 1 day for myself, and a second appointment on a second day for DD.) I burned 1/4 tank of fuel in my car yesterday, with 2 round trips to town. Once for the appointments, and once for work after bringing DD back out to school.
Next week I'm going to call the dentist's office where DH had his root canal, and I'm going to see if I can have DD and myself both set up in July with exams, X-rays, and cleanings, and we'll start seeing Dr. E. for our dental work, instead of Dr. B. in town. Even just the fact that it's a 10 minute drive, instead of 45 minutes, makes it worthwhile. Add in the fact that I'm sick of being jerked around by Dr B's inability to keep an appointment..... Yeah, I'm making the change-over.
**********
DD finally got to play a game against her buddy from the church nursery. DD and A. have been friends since they were literally both in diapers, at 2 years old, in the nursery at the church that I used to attend with my Dad. A's mom is a nice lady who I get along with rather well, on the rare occasions I get to see her. A. & DD have played hockey with and against each other since they started. (A. started only 1 year ahead of DD, as he's approx. 6 months older than DD is.) Well, yesterday's hockey game had both DD and A. in the goal nets for their respective teams. A. did a FANTASTIC job!!!! This is also his second year as goalie, though he's never been "only" goalie the way DD has. He also plays Left Wing, when he plays out. So A's mom & I are hoping that in their next match-up, A. and DD can play Left Wing against each other, the way they played goalie against each other this time.
Anyway, we beat A's team, 6 to 1. But it wasn't an easy game. They really fought us hard in the first two periods, but it appeared that they got wore out in the third period, as that's when we made 4 of our 6 goals on A. DD got only maybe half as many shots on her as A. did, and she didn't get the shut-out she was hoping for. But it was a good game. And I got some chuckles as I was in the warm-up/viewing room rooting for both DD AND A. The fact that I'm mom to one of the goalies, and the other goalie is a friend of DD's (and therefore also somebody I'll root for) made for some funny moments.
Tonight I've got to take DD in to town to sell programs & frisbees for the University's (The Nanooks) hockey game. The whole team, and one of the parents from each child, have got to be there. DH is going to work in the concession stand (as it sounds like they're short a couple of folks) while I walk around with DD and whatever other of the girls she goes around with. *sigh* I hate doing this part of the hockey-mom bit. I hate fundraising, and I esp. hate anything that requires me to make change. *wry smile* Not to mention it's going to be a tense drive INTO town, then a tense drive HOME from town in the dark, with a lot of other vehicals.
**********
Why is it going to be tense??? Because the driving conditions haven't eased up at all in the last few days. Not only did we get rain on Sunday, but it was 30 above and windy as hell on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday it cooled a bit, and yesterday was about -30 (below zero) again. Then last night it clouded over & started snowing again. We haven't gotten the 3 inches of snow that were predicted for us, but the snow has nonetheless made the driving conditions even more iffy than the rain had already caused. Because not only is there BLACK ICE on the roads, but there is also now snow covering it.
Evidently this morning, as everybody was rushing off to work, there was a multiple car pile-up at the base of the second over-pass heading up the Richardson Hwy in to town. The last mile as you approach the overpass is pure ice (looks like a poorly zammed ice rink), then had the 3/4 inch layer of snow over top of that. Folks evidently didn't remember that just the night before you could get a good look at the ice, so they were driving as if the snow would quickly blow off an otherwise clear Hwy. Not so. So many, many cars found themselves jam packed in a pile-up.
And it's been this way for almost a week now. Every day, on my way to work I've seen at least 2 more vehicals in the ditch, replacing the 2 or 3 (or 4, or 5) from the day before. And on the way home, it's not much better. Why everybody seems to think the roads will have cleared up completely while they slept, is anybody's guess. I would only blame it on terribly short memories & idiotic thinking.
Anyway, so tonight, that's what I'm doing. Please keep us in your thoughts & prayers as we venture out on those roads. I'm really, really not looking foward to the drive.
**********
Tomorrow, DD and I will get to be home all morning. YEAH!!!!! I'm going to watch TV and veg, and maybe do some laundry. Then in the evening we'll be heading up Chena Hot Springs Road to Two River's Restaraunt for supper. My MIL's birthday was on the 18th of this month, mine on the 22nd, and my FIL's is today (the 25th) so we're going out to celebrate all three at once. The Inlaws often treat, this way, in leau of presents. It's just easier to buy a nice dinner out as a celebration for us 3, than to try to find a real present, I suppose. *wry smile* I'm not one to complain about a free dinner with great food, though.
**********
I think that about covers it for now. I'll catch up tomorrow, hopefully.
Have a Blessed Day!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Boot To The Head!
LOL Quite literally, I'm afraid. But not for myself, for DD. Unfortunately the goose-egg isn't brilliant enough purple to show up well on camera, otherwise I'd be sharing a pic with y'all.
Evidently yesterday she & a bunch of classmates were playing football (what can I say, the kiddo is BUILT for those rough type sports) and evidently she tripped over somebody else & before long there was some sort of doggy-pile thing going on, and DD took an unfortunate stray boot to the head. Right over her right eye. She's got a nice little abrasion there (not too bad, mild case of boot-print-patterned road rash is what it looks like) and a goose egg that'd give her a slightly neanderthal-ish look if it was both eyes. (And if her bangs weren't covering it over so well.) *grin* I'm keeping her dosed up on Ibuprofrin as best I can, and advised her no more boots-to-the-head today.
Nobody got in trouble (it doesn't sound like) for yesterday's little accident. And it sounds like that's what it was. 3 or 4 kids tripping over each other trying to get the football, and one of them wound up taking a boot to the forehead. DD did go to the nurse, but only when recess was over & she noticed that her head was actually hurting a bit. And evidently the nurse gave her an icepack to hold to her head for a bit before sending her back to class. Obviously it didn't hurt TOO much, as I didn't hear anything about it till I got home from work last night. *shaking head* Gotta love that kid!
**********
Also, as she was going to bed last night, DD told me that somebody in her class mentioned that the world was going to end in 2012 and was this true?!?!
The best answer I could come up with was to tell her that this is indeed the prediction of the Mayan calendar. But, that there have been multitude other predictions made even in the most recent couple of years that the world would end soon & it didn't happen. I DID tell her that if our society ends, it won't be a COMPLETE end, but it'll be based on the incredibly stupid situation we've dug ourselves into economically (and fuel-reliance wise). I ALSO told her that we can't really predict accurately when our world will end. That we could ALL be wiped off the face of the earth tomorrow by an asteroid like the dinosaurs were. (Ok, so we'd have probably a BIT more time to think about it than a day's time, but not necessarily by much, depending on where the asteroid would come from.)
I told her that to worry about something like that is senseless and that if she's going to worry about ANYTHING, it needs to be doing her best to learn math, to get a good enough education that she can someday be a contributing part of society with a satisfying job, and how she's going to do on the next hockey game. I told her that worries like these are not things little girls need to be concerned about, and in the scheme of things there's nothing she can do about it if we are looking at a world-end on Dec. 12th 2012 (or was it Dec. 21st 2012, I can't remember).
I told her that while one person CAN make a difference, one person, one little girl, can't stop a world from ending, so she needs to focus on being a kid & enjoying what time she has. (Then she asked how old she'll be in 2012. *sigh* I told her that she'll be just entering HS at that point. Which she promptly said was "really young".)
*sigh* I know that massive climate shift is a reality. I know that the economical problems we're facing right now are set to become a major problem & big reality. And I know that the Mayan's calendar was one of unprecidented accuracy and they were much more highly skilled at the telling of time & the prediction of catastrophe than most of us truly want to give them credit for (else we'd have to face the thought that they may be right, in a big way). But, I don't really want my 10 year old daughter making herself sick with worry over such issues. I want my 10 year old daughter to get back out on that playground field today & think about football. I want my 10 year old daughter to go have fun at hockey practice tonight. I want my 10 year old daughter to bring her lowest grade (a C-minus in math) up to the level of the rest of her grades (A's & B's, otherwise across the board).
*sigh* Where does a mom draw that line???? How do I tell her the truth, without causing her to feel such anxiety over such issues that she cannot enjoy her childhood?
**********
Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes yesterday!!! It was a quiet one, but good. Of course I got my pressies the evening before, as I'd mentioned. And I had to work till 9:15 last night, which precluded going out for dinner or any such thing. I got home about 9:50 (after driving VERY slowly home so as to avoid any accidents prompted by slick roads) and found that DH and DD still hadn't eatten dinner. DH made tacos for supper last night, but he was still slicing & dicing the toppings as I walked in the door, while also helping DD through her math homework. (Which she'd attempted earlier in the day, but had done wrongly, so DH had to help her correct it.) We finally finished dinner at about 10:30, sent DD in to brush her teeth, and passed up on some Chocolate Silk Pie that DH had purchased for my birthday. We'll have it tonight. *sigh* So, nothing of any great importance happened yesterday. Just a quiet day.
**********
I just got off the phone with Dad and found out that he spent half the day at the Army Post's ER yesterday consulting dr's about some nasty chest pains the night before. He'd woken in the middle of the night on the 21st, evidently, with his chest hurting him somewhat, and very tight. Eventually the pain eased off & he fell back to sleep. But when he woke up yesterday morning, he said the pain was back, though somewhat milder. So after getting off the phone with me (during which he said NOTHING about any chest pains!) he headed over to the ER at Bassett (Army Hospital) for a run-up on all their machines. I guess they gave him a couple of little heart pills under his tongue (I forget what they're called) which he said was the ODDEST sensation! They also gave him an IV and did bloodwork, 3 EKG's, a stress test, and chest X-rays. Come to find out, they couldn't find a single thing wrong with his heart. But they said that it seems he may have had a problem with Acid Reflux or heartburn that was causing the initial problem, then anxiety over the possibility of having a heart-attack making things worse. *wry smile* Same crap DH was facing a year & a half ago. The Dr's gave Dad a prescrip. for Prilosec for the acid reflux & sent him home.
**********
There were a BOATLOAD of vehicular accidents yesterday. With the temp in the 30's and snow & rain coming down, even driving slowly didn't prevent a lot of the accidents that took place yesterday. One of my FIL's friends (who also happens to be the grandpa of DD's best friend) reported seeing a trooper car plowed into as the trooper was stopped at another accident. B. (FIL's friend) reported that it was just like watching one of those hard hit TV shows where you see the cop car hit. The cop was not hurt, evidently, but the guy who plowed into the back of the cop car was hauled into the ER & placed in the bed right next to my dad. The guy was dealing with head pain, neck pain, and back pain. *shaking head* And he said that he was only going 45 miles per hour (on a 55 mph stretch of road). Evidently the guy in front of HIM tapped his brakes as he saw the cop car, so he could safely go around. So the guy that hit the cop car, tapped HIS brakes, started fishtaling, tried to correct but couldn't get control back, and hit the cop car while praying that HE could avoid the cop car altogether & just go in the ditch.
DH had to stay in town late yesterday, picking up our fundraiser Ham & Crab sales, and while chasing around after the person he was supposed to get our orders from, he wound up stuck waiting for an accident to be cleared up. Evidently it was a 5 car pile-up on top of a bridge. *shaking head* Yesterday was NOT a good day to be driving around Fairbanks. DH and I, fortunately, avoided all problems ourselves and didn't sustain any damage to either of our vehicals. *wry smile*
**********
I think that about covers it for the day. Gotta get on with the tutorials on the darned MS Word program.
Have a Blessed Day!
Evidently yesterday she & a bunch of classmates were playing football (what can I say, the kiddo is BUILT for those rough type sports) and evidently she tripped over somebody else & before long there was some sort of doggy-pile thing going on, and DD took an unfortunate stray boot to the head. Right over her right eye. She's got a nice little abrasion there (not too bad, mild case of boot-print-patterned road rash is what it looks like) and a goose egg that'd give her a slightly neanderthal-ish look if it was both eyes. (And if her bangs weren't covering it over so well.) *grin* I'm keeping her dosed up on Ibuprofrin as best I can, and advised her no more boots-to-the-head today.
Nobody got in trouble (it doesn't sound like) for yesterday's little accident. And it sounds like that's what it was. 3 or 4 kids tripping over each other trying to get the football, and one of them wound up taking a boot to the forehead. DD did go to the nurse, but only when recess was over & she noticed that her head was actually hurting a bit. And evidently the nurse gave her an icepack to hold to her head for a bit before sending her back to class. Obviously it didn't hurt TOO much, as I didn't hear anything about it till I got home from work last night. *shaking head* Gotta love that kid!
**********
Also, as she was going to bed last night, DD told me that somebody in her class mentioned that the world was going to end in 2012 and was this true?!?!
The best answer I could come up with was to tell her that this is indeed the prediction of the Mayan calendar. But, that there have been multitude other predictions made even in the most recent couple of years that the world would end soon & it didn't happen. I DID tell her that if our society ends, it won't be a COMPLETE end, but it'll be based on the incredibly stupid situation we've dug ourselves into economically (and fuel-reliance wise). I ALSO told her that we can't really predict accurately when our world will end. That we could ALL be wiped off the face of the earth tomorrow by an asteroid like the dinosaurs were. (Ok, so we'd have probably a BIT more time to think about it than a day's time, but not necessarily by much, depending on where the asteroid would come from.)
I told her that to worry about something like that is senseless and that if she's going to worry about ANYTHING, it needs to be doing her best to learn math, to get a good enough education that she can someday be a contributing part of society with a satisfying job, and how she's going to do on the next hockey game. I told her that worries like these are not things little girls need to be concerned about, and in the scheme of things there's nothing she can do about it if we are looking at a world-end on Dec. 12th 2012 (or was it Dec. 21st 2012, I can't remember).
I told her that while one person CAN make a difference, one person, one little girl, can't stop a world from ending, so she needs to focus on being a kid & enjoying what time she has. (Then she asked how old she'll be in 2012. *sigh* I told her that she'll be just entering HS at that point. Which she promptly said was "really young".)
*sigh* I know that massive climate shift is a reality. I know that the economical problems we're facing right now are set to become a major problem & big reality. And I know that the Mayan's calendar was one of unprecidented accuracy and they were much more highly skilled at the telling of time & the prediction of catastrophe than most of us truly want to give them credit for (else we'd have to face the thought that they may be right, in a big way). But, I don't really want my 10 year old daughter making herself sick with worry over such issues. I want my 10 year old daughter to get back out on that playground field today & think about football. I want my 10 year old daughter to go have fun at hockey practice tonight. I want my 10 year old daughter to bring her lowest grade (a C-minus in math) up to the level of the rest of her grades (A's & B's, otherwise across the board).
*sigh* Where does a mom draw that line???? How do I tell her the truth, without causing her to feel such anxiety over such issues that she cannot enjoy her childhood?
**********
Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes yesterday!!! It was a quiet one, but good. Of course I got my pressies the evening before, as I'd mentioned. And I had to work till 9:15 last night, which precluded going out for dinner or any such thing. I got home about 9:50 (after driving VERY slowly home so as to avoid any accidents prompted by slick roads) and found that DH and DD still hadn't eatten dinner. DH made tacos for supper last night, but he was still slicing & dicing the toppings as I walked in the door, while also helping DD through her math homework. (Which she'd attempted earlier in the day, but had done wrongly, so DH had to help her correct it.) We finally finished dinner at about 10:30, sent DD in to brush her teeth, and passed up on some Chocolate Silk Pie that DH had purchased for my birthday. We'll have it tonight. *sigh* So, nothing of any great importance happened yesterday. Just a quiet day.
**********
I just got off the phone with Dad and found out that he spent half the day at the Army Post's ER yesterday consulting dr's about some nasty chest pains the night before. He'd woken in the middle of the night on the 21st, evidently, with his chest hurting him somewhat, and very tight. Eventually the pain eased off & he fell back to sleep. But when he woke up yesterday morning, he said the pain was back, though somewhat milder. So after getting off the phone with me (during which he said NOTHING about any chest pains!) he headed over to the ER at Bassett (Army Hospital) for a run-up on all their machines. I guess they gave him a couple of little heart pills under his tongue (I forget what they're called) which he said was the ODDEST sensation! They also gave him an IV and did bloodwork, 3 EKG's, a stress test, and chest X-rays. Come to find out, they couldn't find a single thing wrong with his heart. But they said that it seems he may have had a problem with Acid Reflux or heartburn that was causing the initial problem, then anxiety over the possibility of having a heart-attack making things worse. *wry smile* Same crap DH was facing a year & a half ago. The Dr's gave Dad a prescrip. for Prilosec for the acid reflux & sent him home.
**********
There were a BOATLOAD of vehicular accidents yesterday. With the temp in the 30's and snow & rain coming down, even driving slowly didn't prevent a lot of the accidents that took place yesterday. One of my FIL's friends (who also happens to be the grandpa of DD's best friend) reported seeing a trooper car plowed into as the trooper was stopped at another accident. B. (FIL's friend) reported that it was just like watching one of those hard hit TV shows where you see the cop car hit. The cop was not hurt, evidently, but the guy who plowed into the back of the cop car was hauled into the ER & placed in the bed right next to my dad. The guy was dealing with head pain, neck pain, and back pain. *shaking head* And he said that he was only going 45 miles per hour (on a 55 mph stretch of road). Evidently the guy in front of HIM tapped his brakes as he saw the cop car, so he could safely go around. So the guy that hit the cop car, tapped HIS brakes, started fishtaling, tried to correct but couldn't get control back, and hit the cop car while praying that HE could avoid the cop car altogether & just go in the ditch.
DH had to stay in town late yesterday, picking up our fundraiser Ham & Crab sales, and while chasing around after the person he was supposed to get our orders from, he wound up stuck waiting for an accident to be cleared up. Evidently it was a 5 car pile-up on top of a bridge. *shaking head* Yesterday was NOT a good day to be driving around Fairbanks. DH and I, fortunately, avoided all problems ourselves and didn't sustain any damage to either of our vehicals. *wry smile*
**********
I think that about covers it for the day. Gotta get on with the tutorials on the darned MS Word program.
Have a Blessed Day!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
29?
How is it possible that I'm actually 29??? Where did the last 10 years go?????
I remember, as a kid, friends who's moms would tell folks that they were "29 again", when asked about their birthdate. (Esp. when it was a couple of clueless young girls asking the question.) It was several years before I finally understood that these particular moms seemed to be perpetually 29. But my mom & dad have never been particularly sheepish about growing older. So maybe that's why I still don't get why telling folks I'm now 29 may be such a bad thing. Maybe it's just that I don't find 29 old. Maybe it's that I don't understand how all the sudden (or, even, not-so-suddenly) I wake up one morning and I'm a year away from 30. Where did the past 10 years go????
It's not that I don't have anything to show for the last 10 years. I've got a 10 year old daughter that I KNOW was born not long before my 19th birthday. I've got a hubby that I've been married to for 10 years (just after our daughter was born, we got hitched). I've got a house we "bought" 8 years ago. I've been a part of the workforce for 6 years now. I remember where I was working on my 26th birthday, and what kind of day that was...... But... 29??? How did this happen??? Most days I don't feel more than a couple of years older than these idiotic teens snogging in the shelves at work. And yet..... I AM. I'm a good 10 years older than most of them.
So, it's not that I'm ashamed of my age. I've got no problems being 29. I'm saying it here on Blogger, so I obviously have no problems announcing it to the world. And yet..... And yet I find it hard to believe that I actually am. As another friend kinda said, I'm an adult, and yet I still find myself feeling like a kid playing at being an adult, most days.
**********
Yep, I finally got some sourdough bread to rise properly. Got a couple more nice tall loaves of bread out of it yesterday. My sourdough must finally be strong enough to actually make decent bread. I'll have to cut into one of these loaves today to see if it tastes as good as it looks. I DID use more honey in this batch. Also placed it in the oven as the oven preheated, and brushed the crusts with butter as soon as I took it out of the oven. And I could feel that the top crust is considerably softer than the last loaf. So, we'll see if it tastes as good as the other did. I'm guessing that'll be an affirmative!
And yes, this is honest to goodness sourdough. I'd origionally started out a couple of years ago with a powdered packet of it that I bought. (It can be dried for future use, or frozen as a safety precausion against losing one's supply if the main batch goes bad). But I kept forgetting to feed that, and eventually it died. So I made my own from a touch of store-bought yeast, some flour, water & sugar, and let it sit for several days, feeding with a bit of flour every other day. I don't usually use much flour when I'm feeding it, if I don't plan on also using it. If I'm just feeding it every other (or every 3rd) day, I just use 1 to 2 Tbsp of flour, and an equal amount of water. Sometimes I'll toss in a 1/4 c of flour & water. Up till summer I was using sugar, but I stopped doing that and am just using flour & water instead. And this seems to be working better than when I was feeding it with sugar. I actually got those two loaves above (and that first, a couple of days ago) from just the flour/water sourdough. But yeah, I did use store-bought yeast to start it out. Of course, if you start yours during the summer, it's not necessary to use yeast at all. But mine was either late autumn, or winter when I started over again, and I knew that to get it going it needed yeast. And since that yeast wasn't going to be coming naturally (through an open window), then I'd have to use store-bought. Anyway. It's not hard to do if you decide to give it a go. Just pick a big enough jar to keep your sourdough in, and make sure to have a double thickness of cheesecloth (or a square of flour-sack dishcloth) to place over the top of the jar to allow air in, but not bugs.
**********
Also, DD and I got to go to Pagoda for lunch with Dad yesterday. He took me out for my birthday. I had yummy Mongolian Beef that I'm going to finish up for breakfast this morning. He also gave me a blowtorch for a present. *BWG* Yes, that's right. A blowtorch. Just what I've been wanting!!! *wink* Ok. So it's not an industrial blowtorch. It's a kitchen blowtorch for making crispy tops on creme brulee. Now I've got all the necessary accessories for making some for myself. I just have to find the time to do so. But ooooh, I've seen some yummy looking recipes for the stuff that I'm going to try out, when I have a chance. First, though, to master the basics. This may also mean picking up some real vanilla beans. Because a proper creme brulee has gotta be properly flavored, ya know!
DH and DD got me a couple of new floormats & a steering wheel cover for my car. They've got Jessica Galbraith fairies on them. He can't find properly sized seat-covers for my car, else I'm sure I'd have gotten those as well. (We've looked, in the past.) They also got me a small glass lighthouse figurine.
**********
I'm taking my application in today for that Library Assistant 3 position. I hope I get an interview. But, I've still got to get myself a story-time put together, and a sample business letter and sample event-flier printed up. My show&tell's, at it were. Proof that I know how to use the necessary computer programs for the clerical side of the job.
**********
I woke up this morning to an outside temp of 30 deg. F. That's ABOVE zero!!! It is, evidently, making the roads slicker than snot. DH said he just narrowly avoided an accident on his way to work. (By staying in the "merge" lane and letting a couple of jokers blow past him, resulting in THEM slamming on their brakes and yet rear-ending the folks who were already stopped in front of them, because of the slick roads.) So, I'm gonna have to leave really early today. After all, I DO still have to make it over to the borough building before going on to my own workplace.
Here inside the house, the ice that forms on the insides of our window frames is melting. So we've got water dripping down the INSIDE of our windows. Thus, towels are covering the inside of the windows where possible. And draped over items that shouldn't be gotten wet, when it's impossible to get the towel to stay properly balanced on the window frame. (It's hard to describe, but our double-hungs rise from the INSIDE, meaning that the lower frame emerges from under the upper frame, with a ledge that we sometimes balance towels on when the weather warms so much that it starts dripping.)
And, I think that about covers it.
Have a Blessed Day!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
MIA
Sorry I've been missing. This last week was a busy one, and this coming week looks to be another busy one. I was going to post tomorrow (when I've got the day off), but figured I'd better go ahead & do it today to assure everyone that I'm ok. *grin*
Let's see..... First off, I've been busy because I'm applying for the position out here at NPBranch Library that's reopened. You may recall that I applied for it this last fall and didn't get an interview based on the fact that I didn't have a "title" on my application indicating that I'd been more than a library page for at least a year. Well, the woman who got that job up & quit, deciding it wasn't quite what she wanted. (And, I hear tell that she really didn't seem to like kids very much & got rather grumpy during story times.) Anyway, that means that the position has opened up again. And I'm applying again. This time I'm claiming my volunteer time at the elem. library. It's only 4 months worth, but it's more than I had before.
I got my application filled out & took it in to a woman at work who'd offered to proof-read it for me, and she made ALL SORTS of corrections & suggestions for me, so I had to redo it. She's now given it her stamp of approval, so Tuesday morning I'm going to take it in. (I'm VERY glad I had this woman proof-read it for me. It's no wonder my last application got tossed. I can't believe some of the mistakes I was making!!! AND she recommended that I claim my volunteer experience from the nursery at church as part of my experience with children. She said that even though it was a small group, it counts as children's programming.)
In the mean time, I'm also doing some online MS Word & Publisher tutorials to brush up on my skills (or, LEARN skills) with both of these programs as they're both highly necessary for this job.
THIS is what's been taking up so much of my time this week. And what will be taking up a lot of time in the next couple of weeks. So, when I'm not around much, please don't worry. Just pray that I can learn the necessary programs and get an interview. *grin*
**********
Tay had a game yesterday at Polar (the ice-rink just a block away from my dad's house) that I had to take her to. *wry laugh* MAN it was a work-out for ME trying to wrestle her big goalie hockey back IN and OUT of the trunk of my car. DH wasn't sure he'd be able to make it, and knew he wouldn't be there in time to bring DD's gear with HIM (he had to work), so I had to haul the gear. DANG!!!! I asked one of the coaches to help me lift it into the back of my car, after the game, and he said that he REALLY needs to talk to DH about getting me a bigger (NEWER!) car!!!! *grin* PLEASE!!! Wanna help pay for it too????
(Not that I DON'T need a newer vehical. Lately I'm losing bits & pieces from the thing every time I turn around. First the hood ornament fell off, then this morning a piece of the metal flashing that surrounds one of my headlights..... I'm just nervous about a new vehical because EVERY TIME we look into a new car for me, something happens with the vehical DH drives. *sigh* Maybe one of these days the timing will be right.)
Anyway, as for the hockey game. It was against the Healy Coal Kings (the team we played against in the Championship game of the Christmas tournament, and lost to). 18 seconds till the end of the game, one of our girls made a goal, tying the game 4-4. WOW!!!!!! That was astonishing!!!! Of course, the clock stopped, we had 17 seconds left in the game. The puck was dropped, and immediately, the Coal Kings brought it to our side of the ice and broke that tie and with 7 seconds left on the clock, the score was now 5-4. *sigh* With only 7 seconds left, we knew there wasn't a chance of us getting another goal on them, but oooooooohhhh we came SOOOOOO close!!!!! DD was thrilled and slightly bummed with the results..... She came SOOO close to keeping them from getting a 5th goal on her. And they've always made 5 or more goals on her, she was hoping to knock it down by another number. *grin* But, they all had fun, and we all came down out of the balcony just amazed at how close that game came, and how tense & fun it was. *grin* You had us Icebreakers parents standing right next to Coal Kings parents, both yelling encouragement for our teams, then looking at each other & grinning. They're such a fabulous team to play.
And afterwards, when I went to talk to some of the parents from that team about how much we enjoy playing against them, one dad told me that OUR team is the only one that the Coal Kings look forward to playing against, because OUR team is the only one in the area (in their age group, of course) that gives the Coal Kings such a run for their money. Even though we always lose (we haven't won a game against them yet, in 2 years), we don't let them have the victory easily. And our girls pressure the puck nearly as well as their kids do. So, not only are they FIGHTING for every goal on us, but they're FIGHTING against every shot we take on them! And afterwards, all the kids seem to come off the ice feeling like they've had fun & played hard and can banter & chat with the other team without any animosity. It's VERY fun hockey. It's what hockey SHOULD be!
**********
I FINALLY got a good loaf of Sourdough bread, yesterday. It took 2 days of work, but it turned out well. (Fortunately, not such work that it makes it not worth the effort.) First, I had to feed the sourdough with enough flour & water to produce sourdough for the bread (you always keep a bit back for producing MORE sourdough). Then, take the 2 cups of sourdough out of the jar for the bread, combine with another 2 cups of flour. (I used 1 cup each whole wheat & white.) Add 3/4 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp melted butter, and a slight drizzle of honey (this wasn't called for, but I figured it'd probably help!). Set in oiled bowl, oil top of dough, cover with clean dish-towel, and set into cool oven to rise for several hours, or till doubled in size. I was going to leave this overnight, but in the 4 hours since I put it in the oven to rise protected from drafts, it had risen to double it's size, so I did the punching down THEN, before bed, and placed it in a glass bread-pan for the second rising, to be done overnight.
Yesterday morning, when I went to check & see if it had risen sufficiently, I was kinda bummed that it looked like it hadn't risen so much, but I knew it'd had several hours to rise as much as it was going to. So I took it out of the oven, turned the oven on to 375 to pre-heat, and then placed the bread in when the oven was mostly heated. One hour later, I had a nice, crusty loaf of sourdough bread. The crust was actually thicker than I think I prefer, but I cut into it almost immediately (let it sit for only about 5 minutes) for breakfast. Slathered it with some butter, and Oooooooh, just slightly sour taste, VERY nice in the middle!!!! I mean, THAT is what bread is supposed to be like, when you bite into it!!!! Just a bit chewy, not too many crumbs (in the middle, but the crust was so hard to cut that there were PLENTY of crumbs from that!)..... And, for texture, it wasn't too dense at all. It was a nice density, but NOT brick-like, as have been the other loaves of sourdough bread I've tried to make.
I think next time I'm going to place the bread in the oven WHILE it pre-heats, it may prevent such a thick crust from forming. I'm also going to brush the top with butter as soon as I take it out of the oven. That may help keep the crust from getting quite so crisp. And I think I'll add a bit more honey. I like the hint of sourness of it, but I think it'd do well with a bit of honey taste as well.
I'm going to set another batch of sourdough to proof before I head off to work, and hopefully get another batch of dough in for the first rising before we head over to see Great Grandma & Aunt Millie this evening. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pictures of some fresh loaves of Sourdough bread that I can share with y'all.
**********
I think that about covers it.
Have a Blessed Day!!!
Let's see..... First off, I've been busy because I'm applying for the position out here at NPBranch Library that's reopened. You may recall that I applied for it this last fall and didn't get an interview based on the fact that I didn't have a "title" on my application indicating that I'd been more than a library page for at least a year. Well, the woman who got that job up & quit, deciding it wasn't quite what she wanted. (And, I hear tell that she really didn't seem to like kids very much & got rather grumpy during story times.) Anyway, that means that the position has opened up again. And I'm applying again. This time I'm claiming my volunteer time at the elem. library. It's only 4 months worth, but it's more than I had before.
I got my application filled out & took it in to a woman at work who'd offered to proof-read it for me, and she made ALL SORTS of corrections & suggestions for me, so I had to redo it. She's now given it her stamp of approval, so Tuesday morning I'm going to take it in. (I'm VERY glad I had this woman proof-read it for me. It's no wonder my last application got tossed. I can't believe some of the mistakes I was making!!! AND she recommended that I claim my volunteer experience from the nursery at church as part of my experience with children. She said that even though it was a small group, it counts as children's programming.)
In the mean time, I'm also doing some online MS Word & Publisher tutorials to brush up on my skills (or, LEARN skills) with both of these programs as they're both highly necessary for this job.
THIS is what's been taking up so much of my time this week. And what will be taking up a lot of time in the next couple of weeks. So, when I'm not around much, please don't worry. Just pray that I can learn the necessary programs and get an interview. *grin*
**********
Tay had a game yesterday at Polar (the ice-rink just a block away from my dad's house) that I had to take her to. *wry laugh* MAN it was a work-out for ME trying to wrestle her big goalie hockey back IN and OUT of the trunk of my car. DH wasn't sure he'd be able to make it, and knew he wouldn't be there in time to bring DD's gear with HIM (he had to work), so I had to haul the gear. DANG!!!! I asked one of the coaches to help me lift it into the back of my car, after the game, and he said that he REALLY needs to talk to DH about getting me a bigger (NEWER!) car!!!! *grin* PLEASE!!! Wanna help pay for it too????
(Not that I DON'T need a newer vehical. Lately I'm losing bits & pieces from the thing every time I turn around. First the hood ornament fell off, then this morning a piece of the metal flashing that surrounds one of my headlights..... I'm just nervous about a new vehical because EVERY TIME we look into a new car for me, something happens with the vehical DH drives. *sigh* Maybe one of these days the timing will be right.)
Anyway, as for the hockey game. It was against the Healy Coal Kings (the team we played against in the Championship game of the Christmas tournament, and lost to). 18 seconds till the end of the game, one of our girls made a goal, tying the game 4-4. WOW!!!!!! That was astonishing!!!! Of course, the clock stopped, we had 17 seconds left in the game. The puck was dropped, and immediately, the Coal Kings brought it to our side of the ice and broke that tie and with 7 seconds left on the clock, the score was now 5-4. *sigh* With only 7 seconds left, we knew there wasn't a chance of us getting another goal on them, but oooooooohhhh we came SOOOOOO close!!!!! DD was thrilled and slightly bummed with the results..... She came SOOO close to keeping them from getting a 5th goal on her. And they've always made 5 or more goals on her, she was hoping to knock it down by another number. *grin* But, they all had fun, and we all came down out of the balcony just amazed at how close that game came, and how tense & fun it was. *grin* You had us Icebreakers parents standing right next to Coal Kings parents, both yelling encouragement for our teams, then looking at each other & grinning. They're such a fabulous team to play.
And afterwards, when I went to talk to some of the parents from that team about how much we enjoy playing against them, one dad told me that OUR team is the only one that the Coal Kings look forward to playing against, because OUR team is the only one in the area (in their age group, of course) that gives the Coal Kings such a run for their money. Even though we always lose (we haven't won a game against them yet, in 2 years), we don't let them have the victory easily. And our girls pressure the puck nearly as well as their kids do. So, not only are they FIGHTING for every goal on us, but they're FIGHTING against every shot we take on them! And afterwards, all the kids seem to come off the ice feeling like they've had fun & played hard and can banter & chat with the other team without any animosity. It's VERY fun hockey. It's what hockey SHOULD be!
**********
I FINALLY got a good loaf of Sourdough bread, yesterday. It took 2 days of work, but it turned out well. (Fortunately, not such work that it makes it not worth the effort.) First, I had to feed the sourdough with enough flour & water to produce sourdough for the bread (you always keep a bit back for producing MORE sourdough). Then, take the 2 cups of sourdough out of the jar for the bread, combine with another 2 cups of flour. (I used 1 cup each whole wheat & white.) Add 3/4 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp melted butter, and a slight drizzle of honey (this wasn't called for, but I figured it'd probably help!). Set in oiled bowl, oil top of dough, cover with clean dish-towel, and set into cool oven to rise for several hours, or till doubled in size. I was going to leave this overnight, but in the 4 hours since I put it in the oven to rise protected from drafts, it had risen to double it's size, so I did the punching down THEN, before bed, and placed it in a glass bread-pan for the second rising, to be done overnight.
Yesterday morning, when I went to check & see if it had risen sufficiently, I was kinda bummed that it looked like it hadn't risen so much, but I knew it'd had several hours to rise as much as it was going to. So I took it out of the oven, turned the oven on to 375 to pre-heat, and then placed the bread in when the oven was mostly heated. One hour later, I had a nice, crusty loaf of sourdough bread. The crust was actually thicker than I think I prefer, but I cut into it almost immediately (let it sit for only about 5 minutes) for breakfast. Slathered it with some butter, and Oooooooh, just slightly sour taste, VERY nice in the middle!!!! I mean, THAT is what bread is supposed to be like, when you bite into it!!!! Just a bit chewy, not too many crumbs (in the middle, but the crust was so hard to cut that there were PLENTY of crumbs from that!)..... And, for texture, it wasn't too dense at all. It was a nice density, but NOT brick-like, as have been the other loaves of sourdough bread I've tried to make.
I think next time I'm going to place the bread in the oven WHILE it pre-heats, it may prevent such a thick crust from forming. I'm also going to brush the top with butter as soon as I take it out of the oven. That may help keep the crust from getting quite so crisp. And I think I'll add a bit more honey. I like the hint of sourness of it, but I think it'd do well with a bit of honey taste as well.
I'm going to set another batch of sourdough to proof before I head off to work, and hopefully get another batch of dough in for the first rising before we head over to see Great Grandma & Aunt Millie this evening. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pictures of some fresh loaves of Sourdough bread that I can share with y'all.
**********
I think that about covers it.
Have a Blessed Day!!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Some Sunday Mornin' bits & pieces...
First off, THANKS DIRK and everybody else for the input on the savings account. I had considered (and have tried) having some money stashed IN the house, but I generally wind up spending it on frivolous things (not that frivolous things are always a bad way to spend some spare $$, but when that's all you use it for, and don't save for the proverbial rainy day....). So I figured that if I'm going to truly save, I need to get it (or, most of it) out of my house. Not that I don't have a small stash of cash in the house, but I can't count on my will power to leave that alone.
The current financial state of our country does worry me greatly. I hope and pray that we don't go any further down than a recession, but I'm not counting on it. Thing is, when it comes to it, I don't believe that 200 or 300 stashed in a boot under my bed (not where I REALLY hide my cash-stash) is going to save my butt. With the US $ lossing ground so quickly, it may wind up that all the money I've got winds up being useful only as toilet paper. I hope not. But whether I stash the cash here at home, or in a bank, that's not going to make a bit of difference in the quality of my cash if it comes to that. The option, of course, is to periodically pull a set amount back OUT of my bank account & use it to buy precious metal coinage. When I've got anywhere near enough, I may consider doing just that. We all know (or should) that precious metal coinage is ultimately worth more than paper that somebody "guarantees" is worth a certain amount. Cash isn't really worth the paper it's printed on, if that's all the more that's backing it. Gold and silver, on the other hand. With or without a mint-stamp, gold & silver are actually WORTH something. And that's been the case through almost every culture down through history, until our own.
And absolute worst comes to worst, open polinated seed stock, bolts of fabric, needles & thread, stock of TP, matches and candles, and a bit of property to grow some food for one's self & one's family will wind up being worth more than gold & silver, at least in local terms. These are some things that I've already started setting aside if the worst were to come. (Though, toilet paper is dreadfully hard to keep stocked, as it IS something that gets used exceedingly frequently.) I figure that if it comes down to it, I may not be fully prepared for a depression with these things lurking in my house, but maybe I'll be somewhat more prepared than my neighbour across the street who's only stashing cash that'll be worth as much as my TP.
**********
Anyway. On to other things. I did get my exercise done this morning. I did a bit of boxing (and yes, I'm going to be sore again tomorrow morning), but not as much as I did the other day. This time I only did 3 competitors, instead of six. I hope the lesser time spent boxing means I won't be as sore tomorrow. *grin* And, of course, I finished off the last several minutes of my exercise time with some walking in place while watching TV.
**********
Let's see.... Our menu for this week is:
Saturday: (last night) Chicken Tortilla bake and radishes for veggie
Sunday: Roast beef with potatoes, carrots & rutabagas (I've never had rutabagas, but have been trying to add more veggies to our diet and this one looked like something that would go well with other roasted root veggies.)
Monday: Burgers (Whether the DH grills them or not, I don't care. I just want a burger.)
Tuesday: flounder fillets baked with lemon pepper & butter, and a box of pasta or riceAroni
Wednesday: Cheddarwursts & Mac & Cheese
Thursday: BBQ Beef Sandwiches (using leftover roast beef from Sunday, and the second half of the bag of burger buns from Monday)
Friday: Chicken Stroganoff (just like beef stroganoff, but with chicken instead)
Saturday: Clam chowder
**********
I think that about covers it for today. Gotta get the kiddo some breakfast, wake up the hubby, and start getting ready for work.
Have a Blessed Day!
The current financial state of our country does worry me greatly. I hope and pray that we don't go any further down than a recession, but I'm not counting on it. Thing is, when it comes to it, I don't believe that 200 or 300 stashed in a boot under my bed (not where I REALLY hide my cash-stash) is going to save my butt. With the US $ lossing ground so quickly, it may wind up that all the money I've got winds up being useful only as toilet paper. I hope not. But whether I stash the cash here at home, or in a bank, that's not going to make a bit of difference in the quality of my cash if it comes to that. The option, of course, is to periodically pull a set amount back OUT of my bank account & use it to buy precious metal coinage. When I've got anywhere near enough, I may consider doing just that. We all know (or should) that precious metal coinage is ultimately worth more than paper that somebody "guarantees" is worth a certain amount. Cash isn't really worth the paper it's printed on, if that's all the more that's backing it. Gold and silver, on the other hand. With or without a mint-stamp, gold & silver are actually WORTH something. And that's been the case through almost every culture down through history, until our own.
And absolute worst comes to worst, open polinated seed stock, bolts of fabric, needles & thread, stock of TP, matches and candles, and a bit of property to grow some food for one's self & one's family will wind up being worth more than gold & silver, at least in local terms. These are some things that I've already started setting aside if the worst were to come. (Though, toilet paper is dreadfully hard to keep stocked, as it IS something that gets used exceedingly frequently.) I figure that if it comes down to it, I may not be fully prepared for a depression with these things lurking in my house, but maybe I'll be somewhat more prepared than my neighbour across the street who's only stashing cash that'll be worth as much as my TP.
**********
Anyway. On to other things. I did get my exercise done this morning. I did a bit of boxing (and yes, I'm going to be sore again tomorrow morning), but not as much as I did the other day. This time I only did 3 competitors, instead of six. I hope the lesser time spent boxing means I won't be as sore tomorrow. *grin* And, of course, I finished off the last several minutes of my exercise time with some walking in place while watching TV.
**********
Let's see.... Our menu for this week is:
Saturday: (last night) Chicken Tortilla bake and radishes for veggie
Sunday: Roast beef with potatoes, carrots & rutabagas (I've never had rutabagas, but have been trying to add more veggies to our diet and this one looked like something that would go well with other roasted root veggies.)
Monday: Burgers (Whether the DH grills them or not, I don't care. I just want a burger.)
Tuesday: flounder fillets baked with lemon pepper & butter, and a box of pasta or riceAroni
Wednesday: Cheddarwursts & Mac & Cheese
Thursday: BBQ Beef Sandwiches (using leftover roast beef from Sunday, and the second half of the bag of burger buns from Monday)
Friday: Chicken Stroganoff (just like beef stroganoff, but with chicken instead)
Saturday: Clam chowder
**********
I think that about covers it for today. Gotta get the kiddo some breakfast, wake up the hubby, and start getting ready for work.
Have a Blessed Day!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
A Smorgasboard of bits & pieces....
Let's see..... So last night, DD went to a sleep-over hosted by two of the girls on her team (sisters). Their mom is a very brave woman. Not only does she have 5 daughters of her own (ranging from about 12 to about 2), but she invited another 11 girls over (there are 13 girls on our team, including her own 2) for a sleep-over. And her hubby's out of town. He's coach for our local hockey team, and that team is currently wherever "Ferris State" is.
Anyway, so after dropping the kiddo off at the sleep-over, DH and I headed out for dinner at one of our favorite places to eat. If any of y'all ever get up here, and you like nachos, we've GOT to take you to Ivory Jacks for supper. They have got the OMG-WORLD'S-BEST-NACHOS! Or at least DH and I think so.
Ivory Jack's is kinda a blend between a sports bar, a resteraunt, and as close to an true Irish pub as you're likely to find in Alaska. The origional building burnt down in 1999, taking so much Yukon Quest (sled dog race) memorabilia with it, but the new one is this huge room with walls PAPERED in paraphanelia from the Yukon Quest, about sports, liscense plates from around the country, some signs from other countries, Elvis.... You name it, this place has PROBABLY got it hanging on the walls, somewhere. It's family friendly. They've frequently got local bands playing in the corner. There's sports on the TV's. Good food and Bar food, all available for eatting..... Just a great place to go.
One silly little thing I always get a kick out of, when we go, is the silly, somewhat raunchy poem printed on the paper placemats on their tables.
Ode to an Oosik
Strange things have been done in the Midnight Sun,
and the story books are full --
but the strangest tale concerns the male,
magnificent walrus bull!
I know it's rude, quite common and crude,
Perhaps it is grossly unkind;
but with first glance at least, this bewhiskered beast,
is as ugly in front as behind.
Look once again, take a second look - then
you'll see he's not ugly or vile -
There's a hint of a grin, in that blubbery chin -
and the eyes have a sly secret smile.
How can this be, this clandestine glee
that exudes from the walrus like music
He knows, there inside, beneath blubber and hide
lies a splendid contrivance -- The Oosik!
"Oosik" you say -and quite well you may,
I'll explain if you keep it between us;
In the simplest truth, though rather uncouth
"Oosik" is, in fact, his penis!
Now the size alone of this walrus bone,
would indeed arouse envious thinking -
It is also a fact, documented and backed,
There is never a softening or shrinking!
This, then, is why the smile is so sly,
the walrus is rightfully proud.
Though the climate is frigid, the walrus is rigid,
Pray, why is not man so endowed?
Added to this, is a smile you might miss -
Though the bull is entitled to bow -
The one to out-smile our bull by a mile
is the satisfied walrus cow!
**********
Well, the game that we were SUPPOSED to have this morning, wound up being another practice. Once again, the team that we were supposed to play, didn't show. NOBODY from that team showed. So rather than getting to play "out" like she was hoping, DD's team had an hour & 15 minute practice instead. *sigh* It's the same team as didn't show last time, too. I'm beginning to think that somebody who coordinates the games for that team doesn't like seeing that team play our team. It's just kinda odd that twice now, with only THAT team, we've wound up winning through forfeit because NOBODY showed up. That's good for our win/loss record, NOT for moral.
**********
Yesterday I did something I've been getting a lot of advice to do over the last couple of years. I opened myself a savings account. Not that DH and I don't have one together, but this one is just mine. And I purposefully refused an ATM/Debit card with it. I want to have to go in to the bank itself to take out money. But my purpose is NOT to take out money, but to put money in. I'm hoping to put in $180 per quarter (of the year). Of course, if I get a higher paying job, that amount would increase with my paychecks. But, at least $180 every three months. I'm turning 29 in a week and a couple of days, and it just doesn't make sense for me to not have a savings account to build up a nest egg. With how the feds keep lowering the interest rates I hope I'm not making a mistake by starting an account. (I'm not entirely sure if it's the same interest rate that produces interest on the money I place in the bank. I think it is, but I'm not really sure how that all works.) But, I've decided that I really need to stop spending so much money, and start saving more. I've typically withdrawn $20 or $30 from each of my paychecks for mad $$, but instead of spending every dime I take out, I'm going to take the money out of my paychecks and place it in the bank instead.
I'm not doing a "buy nothing" pact or anything, just trying to consume less and save more. And I can only do that if I've got my own savings account that DH can't touch. He got a little peevish yesterday, when he found out I did this. But that's ok. If something were to happen to him, or between him and I, I need to have resources of my own that aren't tied up with him somehow.
**********
I haven't yet heard anything back on the HS library assistant position. But I didn't expect to, yesterday. I figured it'd probably be Monday at the soonest before somebody from the school district's Human Resources can get back to me.
**********
The temp is currently -26 below zero, and snowing. We cannot figure out HOW it's so damned cold (not that it won't get colder) and snowing. I mean, clouds this time of year ALWAYS mean warmer temps. The cloud cover typically traps warm air close to the ground. It's only when it's clear, that it's cold. But it's actually snowing, and -26 deg. The forcast for tomorrow is predicted to be down to -40. *brrrrrrrrrrrr* Anybody wanna donate for a ticket to Hawaii, right about now???? *wink*
I think that's about it for now.
Have a Blessed Day!
Anyway, so after dropping the kiddo off at the sleep-over, DH and I headed out for dinner at one of our favorite places to eat. If any of y'all ever get up here, and you like nachos, we've GOT to take you to Ivory Jacks for supper. They have got the OMG-WORLD'S-BEST-NACHOS! Or at least DH and I think so.
Ivory Jack's is kinda a blend between a sports bar, a resteraunt, and as close to an true Irish pub as you're likely to find in Alaska. The origional building burnt down in 1999, taking so much Yukon Quest (sled dog race) memorabilia with it, but the new one is this huge room with walls PAPERED in paraphanelia from the Yukon Quest, about sports, liscense plates from around the country, some signs from other countries, Elvis.... You name it, this place has PROBABLY got it hanging on the walls, somewhere. It's family friendly. They've frequently got local bands playing in the corner. There's sports on the TV's. Good food and Bar food, all available for eatting..... Just a great place to go.
One silly little thing I always get a kick out of, when we go, is the silly, somewhat raunchy poem printed on the paper placemats on their tables.
Ode to an Oosik
Strange things have been done in the Midnight Sun,
and the story books are full --
but the strangest tale concerns the male,
magnificent walrus bull!
I know it's rude, quite common and crude,
Perhaps it is grossly unkind;
but with first glance at least, this bewhiskered beast,
is as ugly in front as behind.
Look once again, take a second look - then
you'll see he's not ugly or vile -
There's a hint of a grin, in that blubbery chin -
and the eyes have a sly secret smile.
How can this be, this clandestine glee
that exudes from the walrus like music
He knows, there inside, beneath blubber and hide
lies a splendid contrivance -- The Oosik!
"Oosik" you say -and quite well you may,
I'll explain if you keep it between us;
In the simplest truth, though rather uncouth
"Oosik" is, in fact, his penis!
Now the size alone of this walrus bone,
would indeed arouse envious thinking -
It is also a fact, documented and backed,
There is never a softening or shrinking!
This, then, is why the smile is so sly,
the walrus is rightfully proud.
Though the climate is frigid, the walrus is rigid,
Pray, why is not man so endowed?
Added to this, is a smile you might miss -
Though the bull is entitled to bow -
The one to out-smile our bull by a mile
is the satisfied walrus cow!
**********
Well, the game that we were SUPPOSED to have this morning, wound up being another practice. Once again, the team that we were supposed to play, didn't show. NOBODY from that team showed. So rather than getting to play "out" like she was hoping, DD's team had an hour & 15 minute practice instead. *sigh* It's the same team as didn't show last time, too. I'm beginning to think that somebody who coordinates the games for that team doesn't like seeing that team play our team. It's just kinda odd that twice now, with only THAT team, we've wound up winning through forfeit because NOBODY showed up. That's good for our win/loss record, NOT for moral.
**********
Yesterday I did something I've been getting a lot of advice to do over the last couple of years. I opened myself a savings account. Not that DH and I don't have one together, but this one is just mine. And I purposefully refused an ATM/Debit card with it. I want to have to go in to the bank itself to take out money. But my purpose is NOT to take out money, but to put money in. I'm hoping to put in $180 per quarter (of the year). Of course, if I get a higher paying job, that amount would increase with my paychecks. But, at least $180 every three months. I'm turning 29 in a week and a couple of days, and it just doesn't make sense for me to not have a savings account to build up a nest egg. With how the feds keep lowering the interest rates I hope I'm not making a mistake by starting an account. (I'm not entirely sure if it's the same interest rate that produces interest on the money I place in the bank. I think it is, but I'm not really sure how that all works.) But, I've decided that I really need to stop spending so much money, and start saving more. I've typically withdrawn $20 or $30 from each of my paychecks for mad $$, but instead of spending every dime I take out, I'm going to take the money out of my paychecks and place it in the bank instead.
I'm not doing a "buy nothing" pact or anything, just trying to consume less and save more. And I can only do that if I've got my own savings account that DH can't touch. He got a little peevish yesterday, when he found out I did this. But that's ok. If something were to happen to him, or between him and I, I need to have resources of my own that aren't tied up with him somehow.
**********
I haven't yet heard anything back on the HS library assistant position. But I didn't expect to, yesterday. I figured it'd probably be Monday at the soonest before somebody from the school district's Human Resources can get back to me.
**********
The temp is currently -26 below zero, and snowing. We cannot figure out HOW it's so damned cold (not that it won't get colder) and snowing. I mean, clouds this time of year ALWAYS mean warmer temps. The cloud cover typically traps warm air close to the ground. It's only when it's clear, that it's cold. But it's actually snowing, and -26 deg. The forcast for tomorrow is predicted to be down to -40. *brrrrrrrrrrrr* Anybody wanna donate for a ticket to Hawaii, right about now???? *wink*
I think that's about it for now.
Have a Blessed Day!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I haven’t got a shot in H-E-double hockey sticks.
So, I went for that test this morning. Got all dressed up nicely just in case they were also doing interviews. They weren't.
Anyway, this woman handed me a stapled stack of paper about 6 of so sheets thick, showed me to a quiet room with a small desk, and told me to take my time & come ask for help if I needed it.I looked at the first question, then the second, third.... Second page, third page, fourth page....
OMG!!!! What the hell was I doing there???? The QUESTIONS barely made sense to me!!!! How the hell was I supposed to answer them in a sensible manner?!?!?!?! Right off I felt like taking the un-filled out test back to the woman and tell her I was sorry for wasting their time. But, I didn't. I sat down & made my way through the questions, skipping now & then, and coming back later to the ones that I hadn't understood right off. Some mistakes I KNOW I made. A lot of questions I KNOW I got wrong. But I did try my best.
Some of the questions, for example
"What is a Shelf List and what is it's importance and usage. Give examples."
"Circulation is about checking in and checking out materials. List 2 types of records that can be created by the circulation system, and discuss how you would use them."
"A teacher asks you to assemble a cart of materials for her class studies on the Solar System. She says that all of the books must be published later than 1992. You assemble a cart, only to find out that all but 1 of the books predates 1992. What do you do to fix this problem? How do you ensure the success of the class lesson the NEXT time???"
"List 2 WWW resources that can be used by a secondary student to find general information."
"A student approaches you for help in completing an assignment. Assume the assignment is on the Shakespearean Renaissance. List two questions you would ask the student to aid their search. Discuss the manner in which you would help the student complete their assignment." (This is the only question I think I did worth a damn answering.)
MOST of the questions were essay questions, asking for between 2 and 5 answers, but giving space for MAYBE 3 answers at most, with the "give us 5 reasons/examples" questions. So, I simply didn't even have the space to write out all the answers they wanted. Not to mention the absolute brain-freeze I was having, looking at the questions being asked. I didn't have a freaking clue!!!!! *sigh*So, it went considerably worse than I was hoping.
On the other hand, the secretary at work said it's a good think I didn't do excellent. She said that the school district's medical sucks (they use the same medical we do, but their union has negotiated a MUCH worse deal, sucking another 90 dollars per person insured out of the paychecks, than we have taken out of OUR paychecks for family enrollment). She also said that the union the school teachers & librarians have SUCKS for negotiating days off & pay increases. *shrug* So, after hearing that, I'm kinda glad I didn't do so well on the test.
Also, I did jot down a couple of questions that I could remember (the questions listed above) and asked my boss. She had some vague notion of what a Shelf list is, but said it's really "old school" library science stuff. She didn't have a clue what they were wanting with the Circulation records question. She said it's too vague, the way they asked, for a person to be able to adequately answer. And she said that for the "how would you remedy the lack of books published since 1992" the answer I gave (to search out new editions or similarly titled newer information & order it for the school's collection) would be the only way a person COULD solve that problem. And that's only IF the library's budget allowed for it. So, the fact that even my BOSS was stumped, made me feel considerably better about the way I answered the questions.
Anyway, so that's how things went. Thanks for all the P&PT!!!!
Have a Blessed Day!
Anyway, this woman handed me a stapled stack of paper about 6 of so sheets thick, showed me to a quiet room with a small desk, and told me to take my time & come ask for help if I needed it.I looked at the first question, then the second, third.... Second page, third page, fourth page....
OMG!!!! What the hell was I doing there???? The QUESTIONS barely made sense to me!!!! How the hell was I supposed to answer them in a sensible manner?!?!?!?! Right off I felt like taking the un-filled out test back to the woman and tell her I was sorry for wasting their time. But, I didn't. I sat down & made my way through the questions, skipping now & then, and coming back later to the ones that I hadn't understood right off. Some mistakes I KNOW I made. A lot of questions I KNOW I got wrong. But I did try my best.
Some of the questions, for example
"What is a Shelf List and what is it's importance and usage. Give examples."
"Circulation is about checking in and checking out materials. List 2 types of records that can be created by the circulation system, and discuss how you would use them."
"A teacher asks you to assemble a cart of materials for her class studies on the Solar System. She says that all of the books must be published later than 1992. You assemble a cart, only to find out that all but 1 of the books predates 1992. What do you do to fix this problem? How do you ensure the success of the class lesson the NEXT time???"
"List 2 WWW resources that can be used by a secondary student to find general information."
"A student approaches you for help in completing an assignment. Assume the assignment is on the Shakespearean Renaissance. List two questions you would ask the student to aid their search. Discuss the manner in which you would help the student complete their assignment." (This is the only question I think I did worth a damn answering.)
MOST of the questions were essay questions, asking for between 2 and 5 answers, but giving space for MAYBE 3 answers at most, with the "give us 5 reasons/examples" questions. So, I simply didn't even have the space to write out all the answers they wanted. Not to mention the absolute brain-freeze I was having, looking at the questions being asked. I didn't have a freaking clue!!!!! *sigh*So, it went considerably worse than I was hoping.
On the other hand, the secretary at work said it's a good think I didn't do excellent. She said that the school district's medical sucks (they use the same medical we do, but their union has negotiated a MUCH worse deal, sucking another 90 dollars per person insured out of the paychecks, than we have taken out of OUR paychecks for family enrollment). She also said that the union the school teachers & librarians have SUCKS for negotiating days off & pay increases. *shrug* So, after hearing that, I'm kinda glad I didn't do so well on the test.
Also, I did jot down a couple of questions that I could remember (the questions listed above) and asked my boss. She had some vague notion of what a Shelf list is, but said it's really "old school" library science stuff. She didn't have a clue what they were wanting with the Circulation records question. She said it's too vague, the way they asked, for a person to be able to adequately answer. And she said that for the "how would you remedy the lack of books published since 1992" the answer I gave (to search out new editions or similarly titled newer information & order it for the school's collection) would be the only way a person COULD solve that problem. And that's only IF the library's budget allowed for it. So, the fact that even my BOSS was stumped, made me feel considerably better about the way I answered the questions.
Anyway, so that's how things went. Thanks for all the P&PT!!!!
Have a Blessed Day!
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
*groan* On Second Thought......
It wasn't me kicking @$$ during my workout yesterday mornin'. 'Cause I guarantee you that none of the 5 computer-generated competitors I KO'd feel the way I do this morning. My back & shoulders are so freaking sore this morning that it's obvious it was ME getting my @$$ kicked, not some computer. *sigh*
Dang, I wanna forgo my workout this morning & crawl back into bed for a couple of hours of sleep. As it is, I'm going to spend 20 minutes walking rather sedately in place. That'll be enough to qualify as a work-out, without further straining my back or shoulders, *big sigh*
A "Wii" Workout, as far as I'm concerned, consists of using the Wii Sports "boxing" game to get one's exercise. But that Wii Sports game also includes tennis (which I don't care for), golf, baseball, and bowling. I'm sure there are other games just as willing to kick a person's @$$ as the boxing game did mine yesterday.
**********
I came home yesterday to a message on the answering machine from some guy at Library Media Services about the job app. I put in for the Library Assistant position at West Valley HS. I've got to call him back this morning, once I see the kiddo off to school, and find out if I'm being invited in for an interview, or if am I being turned down based on a lack of something in my application. (Though, having just gone & listened to the message again, he's schedualing testing for applicants for the job. So I'm evidently going to be setting up a testing time. *grin*)
Edited to Add: WHOOP!!!!! I'm going to be heading down tomorrow morning to the Library Media Services office to take an hour long test regarding my knowledge of library systems. I can't guarantee I'll do fantastic, but I'll do my best. And it's further along than I got for any of the other Library Assistant positions I've applied for previously!!!
So, P&PT that I do well tomorrow!!!!! *grin*
*****
Robin, I've got 2 calendars. One in my bedroom where I keep track of not only birthdays & appointments & paydays, but also my period and other, more personal, issues. That is also where I always use my Llewellyn's Witch's calendar, every year. In the kitchen I've got another one (with pictures that WON'T freak out my dad or Christian visitors to my home) with info for family use. Dr's appointments, paydays, etc. It helps me to have 2 calendars, so I can look at either & get the most pertinant info without having to go far to get it. Besides, if I forget to write it on ONE calendar, I'm pretty sure to manage to get the info on the other.
Have a Blessed Day!!
Dang, I wanna forgo my workout this morning & crawl back into bed for a couple of hours of sleep. As it is, I'm going to spend 20 minutes walking rather sedately in place. That'll be enough to qualify as a work-out, without further straining my back or shoulders, *big sigh*
A "Wii" Workout, as far as I'm concerned, consists of using the Wii Sports "boxing" game to get one's exercise. But that Wii Sports game also includes tennis (which I don't care for), golf, baseball, and bowling. I'm sure there are other games just as willing to kick a person's @$$ as the boxing game did mine yesterday.
**********
I came home yesterday to a message on the answering machine from some guy at Library Media Services about the job app. I put in for the Library Assistant position at West Valley HS. I've got to call him back this morning, once I see the kiddo off to school, and find out if I'm being invited in for an interview, or if am I being turned down based on a lack of something in my application. (Though, having just gone & listened to the message again, he's schedualing testing for applicants for the job. So I'm evidently going to be setting up a testing time. *grin*)
Edited to Add: WHOOP!!!!! I'm going to be heading down tomorrow morning to the Library Media Services office to take an hour long test regarding my knowledge of library systems. I can't guarantee I'll do fantastic, but I'll do my best. And it's further along than I got for any of the other Library Assistant positions I've applied for previously!!!
So, P&PT that I do well tomorrow!!!!! *grin*
*****
Robin, I've got 2 calendars. One in my bedroom where I keep track of not only birthdays & appointments & paydays, but also my period and other, more personal, issues. That is also where I always use my Llewellyn's Witch's calendar, every year. In the kitchen I've got another one (with pictures that WON'T freak out my dad or Christian visitors to my home) with info for family use. Dr's appointments, paydays, etc. It helps me to have 2 calendars, so I can look at either & get the most pertinant info without having to go far to get it. Besides, if I forget to write it on ONE calendar, I'm pretty sure to manage to get the info on the other.
Have a Blessed Day!!
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Whoop!!!!
So, I did it!!!! I got my exercising done for today!!!!
First things first, got the kiddo off to school. She's now going in with our neighbour from 2 doors down, who takes her son over every morning & offered to give DD rides too. Then this evening she's got hockey practice.
After getting DD out the door, I sat down & FINALLY got my calendars for this year figured out. Got all my important dates on there and got them hung on the walls. I know, I know.... I'm 8 days late with it. Oh well. It's done now.
Then, THEN, I exercised. Got my work-out gear on, popped in the Wii sports, and did some boxing. I KO'd 5 competitors, each harder than the previous. Only got knocked on MY ass once. And finished up with 4 minutes of walking in place for a cool-down. That was 22 minutes, all told. *grin* And I feel GOOD.
Now I'm just sitting here, sippin' on a banana-berry smoothie. (One whole, ripe to over-ripe banana, 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries, and enough 2% milk to top off the 12-oz blender mug. Blend till all berries are pureed, and enjoy!) This means I've now eatten 3 servings of fruit, and a single serving of dairy. Not a bad way to start the day!
I always feel exausted BEFORE I work out, just thinking about the work-out. But once I just get in there & do it.... I feel GREAT!!!! *visions of Tony Tiger dancing through my head, with that phrase* Seriously!!!!! I feel SOOOO much better once I've worked out. It kinda gives me energy for the rest of the day.
And no, it's not a New Year's Resolution to get into shape. I actually started working out back in September, but let it slide for a few weeks over Christmas and the New Year. Now everything else is settled down, though, and I have the time to work out again. I'm hoping, though, that I can drop about 20 pounds this year. I'd like to be another size smaller, again. I'm close to fitting into my 18's, now. Just a few more pounds and I'll be there. If I can drop 20 pounds this year, I may even be able to get into my 16's again. I haven't worn 16's since I had Tay. One step at a time, though. One little work-out, 4 days a week. That's my goal. That's what I'm aiming for.
**********
Somebody else ISN'T feeling so good this morning. *grin* Yep. His tooth is bugging him today. Said he bit into a banana & it hurt. *wink* I warned him last night that it may ache this morning, but he didn't believe me. And he didn't take any Tylenol with him to work. I just hope that somebody at work has some Tylenol DH can bum offa them.
**********
*snicker* Puck is so funny. He's taken to "chasing" things in his sleep. You'll see him sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep, paws twitching & "barking" under his breath. It's really too funny. Right now he's not chasing something. He's curled up in a ball, but he'll "huff" and "bark" and you can tell he's dreaming about something that he's trying to catch, because he's twitchy. It's too funny.
**********
Gotta get a move on and run some errands before work
Have a Blessed Day!
First things first, got the kiddo off to school. She's now going in with our neighbour from 2 doors down, who takes her son over every morning & offered to give DD rides too. Then this evening she's got hockey practice.
After getting DD out the door, I sat down & FINALLY got my calendars for this year figured out. Got all my important dates on there and got them hung on the walls. I know, I know.... I'm 8 days late with it. Oh well. It's done now.
Then, THEN, I exercised. Got my work-out gear on, popped in the Wii sports, and did some boxing. I KO'd 5 competitors, each harder than the previous. Only got knocked on MY ass once. And finished up with 4 minutes of walking in place for a cool-down. That was 22 minutes, all told. *grin* And I feel GOOD.
Now I'm just sitting here, sippin' on a banana-berry smoothie. (One whole, ripe to over-ripe banana, 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries, and enough 2% milk to top off the 12-oz blender mug. Blend till all berries are pureed, and enjoy!) This means I've now eatten 3 servings of fruit, and a single serving of dairy. Not a bad way to start the day!
I always feel exausted BEFORE I work out, just thinking about the work-out. But once I just get in there & do it.... I feel GREAT!!!! *visions of Tony Tiger dancing through my head, with that phrase* Seriously!!!!! I feel SOOOO much better once I've worked out. It kinda gives me energy for the rest of the day.
And no, it's not a New Year's Resolution to get into shape. I actually started working out back in September, but let it slide for a few weeks over Christmas and the New Year. Now everything else is settled down, though, and I have the time to work out again. I'm hoping, though, that I can drop about 20 pounds this year. I'd like to be another size smaller, again. I'm close to fitting into my 18's, now. Just a few more pounds and I'll be there. If I can drop 20 pounds this year, I may even be able to get into my 16's again. I haven't worn 16's since I had Tay. One step at a time, though. One little work-out, 4 days a week. That's my goal. That's what I'm aiming for.
**********
Somebody else ISN'T feeling so good this morning. *grin* Yep. His tooth is bugging him today. Said he bit into a banana & it hurt. *wink* I warned him last night that it may ache this morning, but he didn't believe me. And he didn't take any Tylenol with him to work. I just hope that somebody at work has some Tylenol DH can bum offa them.
**********
*snicker* Puck is so funny. He's taken to "chasing" things in his sleep. You'll see him sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep, paws twitching & "barking" under his breath. It's really too funny. Right now he's not chasing something. He's curled up in a ball, but he'll "huff" and "bark" and you can tell he's dreaming about something that he's trying to catch, because he's twitchy. It's too funny.
**********
Gotta get a move on and run some errands before work
Have a Blessed Day!
Monday, January 07, 2008
Root Canal went well!
Just a small update before bed. The root canal went well. It "only" took 2 hours at the dentist's office. But, it also took them 2 valium & a strong dose of laughing gas to make the hubby loopy enough that he'd let them give him novicain shots. *grin*
Anyway, he's still very impressed with this dentist, and while he's not exactly excited about the follow up (for a crown over the treated tooth), it's more because of the cost of the procedure, than the procedure itself. However, before they do a crown, they also want to have him in for an exam and a cleaning. The cleaning, they've already told him, IS going to require novicain shots, else it would be too painful for him. So, that's another appointment that's going to require me taking him to & from. Oh well. As long as he gets it taken care of. That's what I want most at this point is him to have such a bad mouth that he hates smiling. *grin*
Dh is actually not in much pain tonight, either. Though evidently he dozed off at about 4 pm, and didn't wake up till I called at 5 after 7 pm to check in on him. *grin* And he ordered pizza for dinner, rather than making something. But, no pain. He said the tooth feels just fine. I hope it feels so well tomorrow, as well. *wink*
Thanks for the P&PT!!!!
Anyway, he's still very impressed with this dentist, and while he's not exactly excited about the follow up (for a crown over the treated tooth), it's more because of the cost of the procedure, than the procedure itself. However, before they do a crown, they also want to have him in for an exam and a cleaning. The cleaning, they've already told him, IS going to require novicain shots, else it would be too painful for him. So, that's another appointment that's going to require me taking him to & from. Oh well. As long as he gets it taken care of. That's what I want most at this point is him to have such a bad mouth that he hates smiling. *grin*
Dh is actually not in much pain tonight, either. Though evidently he dozed off at about 4 pm, and didn't wake up till I called at 5 after 7 pm to check in on him. *grin* And he ordered pizza for dinner, rather than making something. But, no pain. He said the tooth feels just fine. I hope it feels so well tomorrow, as well. *wink*
Thanks for the P&PT!!!!
Second Place
So, according to the hubby, the championship game went very well. We lost, 5 to 2. But everybody played a good game, kept it clean & friendly, and had fun. Our girls got medals for second place, and of course the Healy team got trophies for first.
The Healy coach approached DD after the game and told her she played an excellent game, and that he's really impressed by how thoroughly she covers her corners while in the net. He also said, though, that he's told his team to take it down the center when approaching her, because she's really rusty on covering her 5-hole (between the legs) and that they're most likely to get a shot on her if they place it there. That's how they got 4 of their 5 goals, I guess. So, she's taking it as definite constructive criticism and understands that she needs to brush up on the skills that would allow her to block the 5-hole better. Now, let's see if she actually WORKS with that information. *grin*
So, slight disappointment on the part of our team, but all in all they had fun & they're happy with second place. (Esp. considering they lost to ALL the other teams in last year's christmas tournament, coming in last place.)
**********
A very yummy Salmon recipe to share with y'all. This is the fish recipe I made Saturday night when Dad came over for dinner. No title for it, just very good!
6 to 8 Salmon filets, skin on one side
1 bottle Lawry's "30 Minute marinades" Tequila Lime with lemon juice
lemon pepper
1 whole lemon, cut for juicing
brown sugar
Marinade the filets in the marinade for at least 30 minutes, preferably several hours to overnight.
Place a large piece of foil on grill and place fish on foil, skin side down. Grill should be heated at low to medium heat.
Sprinkle fish lightly with lemon pepper. After 5 to 8 minutes, squeeze lemon over fish filets.
After 10 to 15 minutes, fish should start to peel away from skin. Seperate & flip filets over to otherside, "face" down onto the skin.
Grill another 8 to 10 minutes. During last 5 minutes, sprinkle fillets with Brown Sugar.
Enjoy!
**********
So, any good thoughts or prayers you may with to send Dh's way, I'm sure would be appreciated. Today's the day he goes in for his root canal. And he's not looking forward to it at all. He was in a pissy mood yesterday, kept grumbling about how his tooth doesn't hurt any more. *sigh* I told him that if the dentist says he no longer needs the RC, then great, but otherwise he needs to get it done so that hopefully the tooth doesn't start hurting AGAIN, when he least expects it. Anyway, Dh's appointment is at 1 pm.
I'm going in to work late today. I don't have to be to work till 4:15, then I work till 9:15 tonight. Tomorrow I start back to my regular schedual.
Have a Blessed Day!
The Healy coach approached DD after the game and told her she played an excellent game, and that he's really impressed by how thoroughly she covers her corners while in the net. He also said, though, that he's told his team to take it down the center when approaching her, because she's really rusty on covering her 5-hole (between the legs) and that they're most likely to get a shot on her if they place it there. That's how they got 4 of their 5 goals, I guess. So, she's taking it as definite constructive criticism and understands that she needs to brush up on the skills that would allow her to block the 5-hole better. Now, let's see if she actually WORKS with that information. *grin*
So, slight disappointment on the part of our team, but all in all they had fun & they're happy with second place. (Esp. considering they lost to ALL the other teams in last year's christmas tournament, coming in last place.)
**********
A very yummy Salmon recipe to share with y'all. This is the fish recipe I made Saturday night when Dad came over for dinner. No title for it, just very good!
6 to 8 Salmon filets, skin on one side
1 bottle Lawry's "30 Minute marinades" Tequila Lime with lemon juice
lemon pepper
1 whole lemon, cut for juicing
brown sugar
Marinade the filets in the marinade for at least 30 minutes, preferably several hours to overnight.
Place a large piece of foil on grill and place fish on foil, skin side down. Grill should be heated at low to medium heat.
Sprinkle fish lightly with lemon pepper. After 5 to 8 minutes, squeeze lemon over fish filets.
After 10 to 15 minutes, fish should start to peel away from skin. Seperate & flip filets over to otherside, "face" down onto the skin.
Grill another 8 to 10 minutes. During last 5 minutes, sprinkle fillets with Brown Sugar.
Enjoy!
**********
So, any good thoughts or prayers you may with to send Dh's way, I'm sure would be appreciated. Today's the day he goes in for his root canal. And he's not looking forward to it at all. He was in a pissy mood yesterday, kept grumbling about how his tooth doesn't hurt any more. *sigh* I told him that if the dentist says he no longer needs the RC, then great, but otherwise he needs to get it done so that hopefully the tooth doesn't start hurting AGAIN, when he least expects it. Anyway, Dh's appointment is at 1 pm.
I'm going in to work late today. I don't have to be to work till 4:15, then I work till 9:15 tonight. Tomorrow I start back to my regular schedual.
Have a Blessed Day!
Saturday, January 05, 2008
We WON!!!!
So, the second game today was also a success, though not as dramatic as the first.
This game went considerably harder than we'd assumed it would. Our girls ran out of steam after their first 3 goals (in the first 5 minutes, of the first period), and the other team tied it up in the second period & into the third period. But, by the last 5 minutes of the third period, we scored our 4th goal to break the tie & secure our place in the championship.
Tomorrow at 12:30, our girls will play the Healy Coal Kings for the champion-title for this tournament. Unfortunately, I'm going to miss it. I have to start my work week at 12:45. *sigh* So I've directed S. & Tay to come by following the game & awards & celebretory pizza party to tell me how things turned out. (Whether we win or we take second place, it's going to call for a celebration! And at this age, any party worth having better include pizza. *grin*)
So, that's the latest.
Have a Blessed Day!
This game went considerably harder than we'd assumed it would. Our girls ran out of steam after their first 3 goals (in the first 5 minutes, of the first period), and the other team tied it up in the second period & into the third period. But, by the last 5 minutes of the third period, we scored our 4th goal to break the tie & secure our place in the championship.
Tomorrow at 12:30, our girls will play the Healy Coal Kings for the champion-title for this tournament. Unfortunately, I'm going to miss it. I have to start my work week at 12:45. *sigh* So I've directed S. & Tay to come by following the game & awards & celebretory pizza party to tell me how things turned out. (Whether we win or we take second place, it's going to call for a celebration! And at this age, any party worth having better include pizza. *grin*)
So, that's the latest.
Have a Blessed Day!
Wins & Losses, and Getting One's Priorities Straight....
So, we've been constantly busy, the last few days, with hockey. DD had 2 games on Thursday, first at 7 am up at the U. Then at 4:30 in the afternoon at the Dipper. The first game, she played "out" and they won 9-1. Second game, DD was goalie, and they lost 7-1. Yesterday (Friday) they had one game, DD played "out" and the final goal was 10-2, in OUR favor. DD had 2 goals and I believe an assist as well.
Today, so far, we've had 1 game, 1 win. This morning, 7 am at the Dipper, we won 5-3. This afternoon, at 2:30, we'll be back at the Dipper for another game. DD will be "out" in this game this afternoon. We're playing a team that hasn't won a single game yet, so either way we're going to the Championship game tomorrow. We'll be playing the Healy Coal Kings, and DD will be in the goal-net tomorrow as well. That's the team we lost to previously.
That was WAY too early a wake-up-call this morning. We were up at 5. After not getting to bed till about 11:30 last night. I also made a crap-load of cookies to take in for the team this morning. I only made 2 batches, but they're my Mom's big oatmeal cookies. I got 5-dozen and 4 palm-sized oatmeal-raisin cookies from those two batches. Only half of which have been eatten thus far. I'm taking them back to this afternoon's game, because I SURE don't want to bring them all home with me tonight!!!! *grin*
**********
Dad'll be coming over for supper tonight. We're having Salmon & some pasta with roasted red pepper sauce that he's bringing over. Then DD & DH are going to the Ice Dog's game. I'll be staying home & catching up on my Stargate Atlantis episodes I've missed. That and some crocheting. *smile* Then to bed. We don't have an early morning tomorrow, but we've been getting up at no-later-than 6 am the past 3 days. So, tomorrow's a bit of a sleep-in. Though, not by enough, for me. I'll be up at 9 so that I can get stuff done before heading to work.
Unfortunately I'm going to miss DD's championship game tomorrow. Rather bummed about that.
*****
DH came home last night after putting in a bit of overtime with the news that one of his bosses told him to get his priorities straight. The guy told him to stop focusing on DD's hockey and start picking up all this extra overtime they've got available, or S. maybe should look for a different job. Said DH needs to get his priorities in order, that Dd's hockey isn't as important as pulling all the extra overtime his boss wants him to take. *shaking head* Same guy who reamed out one of his son's for not going back to Iraq for a third tour of duty, after the son got back in 1 piece from both of his tours over there. And the Boss as much as said that his son is in one piece, so he should be over there serving till he comes back injured or worse. *shaking head* And THIS is the guy who thinks he needs to be giving MY husband priority advice?????
Never mind the fact that without hockey, DD hasn't likely got a SHOT at going to college. We don't have the $$ for college, and she's not likely to ever pull such great grades that she'll get an academic scholarship. Hockey (and soccer, though to a lesser degree) are what are most likely to pay her way through college. But, on top of that, the Boss keeps telling DH that working is more important than one's family commitments. That working is more important that time spent with one's kids. We're not saying DH never pulls over-time, but there's only so much time one can put in before a person needs a break. And if he IS working his 40 hours per week, and pulling in some over-time a couple of nights a week, and he needs a Saturday off to take our kid to do something fun (or, a hockey tournament) and there's somebody who's already said they can cover the overtime, MY hubby shouldn't be getting reamed for not dropping his daughter's hockey in favor of working the hours for the boss.
Just rediculous when a person doesn't seem to get that one should work to live, NOT live to work! Like the cliche goes "Nobody ever lays on their death bed regretting not working more hours." (Not, of course, unless they're a total dead-beat anyway. But that's not quite how that cliche came about. It's obviously in reference to workaholics who abandon their families in favor of their jobs.)
Anyway, just irks the hell out of me, this jerk trying to tell my hubby how to live is life and what the "proper" focus of life should be. No, it SHOULN'T be work! It should be one's family and the things one loves. Work is what one does to provide one with a way to do what one wants. If we're lucky, we love the work we do. But that shouldn't be the sole focus of one's life.
*****
I think that about covers it for this weekend.
Have a Blessed Day!
Today, so far, we've had 1 game, 1 win. This morning, 7 am at the Dipper, we won 5-3. This afternoon, at 2:30, we'll be back at the Dipper for another game. DD will be "out" in this game this afternoon. We're playing a team that hasn't won a single game yet, so either way we're going to the Championship game tomorrow. We'll be playing the Healy Coal Kings, and DD will be in the goal-net tomorrow as well. That's the team we lost to previously.
That was WAY too early a wake-up-call this morning. We were up at 5. After not getting to bed till about 11:30 last night. I also made a crap-load of cookies to take in for the team this morning. I only made 2 batches, but they're my Mom's big oatmeal cookies. I got 5-dozen and 4 palm-sized oatmeal-raisin cookies from those two batches. Only half of which have been eatten thus far. I'm taking them back to this afternoon's game, because I SURE don't want to bring them all home with me tonight!!!! *grin*
**********
Dad'll be coming over for supper tonight. We're having Salmon & some pasta with roasted red pepper sauce that he's bringing over. Then DD & DH are going to the Ice Dog's game. I'll be staying home & catching up on my Stargate Atlantis episodes I've missed. That and some crocheting. *smile* Then to bed. We don't have an early morning tomorrow, but we've been getting up at no-later-than 6 am the past 3 days. So, tomorrow's a bit of a sleep-in. Though, not by enough, for me. I'll be up at 9 so that I can get stuff done before heading to work.
Unfortunately I'm going to miss DD's championship game tomorrow. Rather bummed about that.
*****
DH came home last night after putting in a bit of overtime with the news that one of his bosses told him to get his priorities straight. The guy told him to stop focusing on DD's hockey and start picking up all this extra overtime they've got available, or S. maybe should look for a different job. Said DH needs to get his priorities in order, that Dd's hockey isn't as important as pulling all the extra overtime his boss wants him to take. *shaking head* Same guy who reamed out one of his son's for not going back to Iraq for a third tour of duty, after the son got back in 1 piece from both of his tours over there. And the Boss as much as said that his son is in one piece, so he should be over there serving till he comes back injured or worse. *shaking head* And THIS is the guy who thinks he needs to be giving MY husband priority advice?????
Never mind the fact that without hockey, DD hasn't likely got a SHOT at going to college. We don't have the $$ for college, and she's not likely to ever pull such great grades that she'll get an academic scholarship. Hockey (and soccer, though to a lesser degree) are what are most likely to pay her way through college. But, on top of that, the Boss keeps telling DH that working is more important than one's family commitments. That working is more important that time spent with one's kids. We're not saying DH never pulls over-time, but there's only so much time one can put in before a person needs a break. And if he IS working his 40 hours per week, and pulling in some over-time a couple of nights a week, and he needs a Saturday off to take our kid to do something fun (or, a hockey tournament) and there's somebody who's already said they can cover the overtime, MY hubby shouldn't be getting reamed for not dropping his daughter's hockey in favor of working the hours for the boss.
Just rediculous when a person doesn't seem to get that one should work to live, NOT live to work! Like the cliche goes "Nobody ever lays on their death bed regretting not working more hours." (Not, of course, unless they're a total dead-beat anyway. But that's not quite how that cliche came about. It's obviously in reference to workaholics who abandon their families in favor of their jobs.)
Anyway, just irks the hell out of me, this jerk trying to tell my hubby how to live is life and what the "proper" focus of life should be. No, it SHOULN'T be work! It should be one's family and the things one loves. Work is what one does to provide one with a way to do what one wants. If we're lucky, we love the work we do. But that shouldn't be the sole focus of one's life.
*****
I think that about covers it for this weekend.
Have a Blessed Day!
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