No News is Good News.... Right???

So, Friday afternoon... Still had not heard from HR about the Lib. Assist. 3 position, so at 4:45 this afternoon I finally called & asked the one lady who works at the main desk if she could give me some word on it, that I've been sitting on pins & needles all week & was really hoping for some word before the weekend. She told me (nicely, too!) that the woman who's gotta give it the final stamp of approval before an offer is made to the lucky party, JUST got the prefered application back today from EOO (equal opportunity office), and that she'd been in meetings all day, so she's been unable to make a final review & give it her signiture & call the applicant. *sigh* So.... I guess I'm in for a long weekend of waiting.

But, at least that means I'm not out of the picture, yet, in regards to this job. I DO still have reason to hope!

**********

So, my Mom posted something totally cool.... Go check out this "Street Theater" act: Frozen in Time in Grand Central Station. Just imagine the coordination, the timing, and the imagination that went into this. And the complete confusion that results! I LOVE IT! This is the sort of thing I'd love to take part in, though how I'd manage to hold still for 5 minutes before going on about my business like nothing had happened.... I'd probably start giggling uncontrollably & spoil the whole thing. Anyway, go check it out & tell me what you think!

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Well, today is another technically beautiful day outside. Started out about -5 this morning, but by noon as the sun rose, the temp was also rising nicely. However, the wind also kicked up to gale-forces, and the wind-chill now puts the temp in the -30's. *sigh* On top of that, of course, the kiddo's had to stay inside for recess, and DH's car-port shed has lost it's back & left-side walls, and the back on my car-port shed is not full intact either. DH is NOT going to be happy to come home & find that. (Though, I DID call him to warn him, so he knows what to expect when he gets home.)

Another nice thing that's been increasingly noticable over the last week.... The return of the Sun AND it's warmth! It's now rising before 8 am, and setting at about 6:30 pm. And during the day, it feels WARM!!! We were all commenting at work, yesterday, how in another week it's going to come through the sky-light windows at about 3 pm and make a sunny spot there in the entry of the sort that we'd all love to just stand and enjoy. Like cats! These long winters make us ALL sunworshipers, when you think about it. We may not all go for tans..... But, in March you frequently finding folks around here stopping in a sunny window & just standing there, face up-lifted, slight smile playing on their lips, enjoying the warmth & light.

And my suncatchers were throwing rainbows around my living room this morning! *grin* LOVE THAT! I need to get more prisms purchased & more sun-catchers made.

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Here is my menu for the week:

Friday (tonight): Turkey Bitke, "Grandfather's Soup" and cucumber salad (all from a russian/ukranian cookbook, though the bitke -homemade type sausage-fingers- was supposed to be made of ground chicken, which I couldn't find at the store).

Saturday: eatting at my friend Mary's house with the other "Fairbanks Farmgirls". I'm taking an Ambrosia Salad to share.

Sunday: Pork Loin stewed with Sauerkraut, with a loaf of good artisan bread I bought from the grocery store

Monday: Sloppy Joes
Tuesday: Tamale Pie
Wednesday: Chicken stirfry & pot-stickers
Thursday: Fake Steak
Friday: Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Saturday: Roast Ham & homemade mashed potatoes (and I may try to find some asparagus, as well, but will probably wind up with collards instead)

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I think that pretty well covers it for now.

Have a Blessed Day!

Playing Scattergories.....

So, I got this from Gardener Greg, and it looked like fun.

SCATTERGORIES" ...It's harder than it looks! Copy and paste into your blog and try it!

**Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following --they have to be real places, names, things ...nothing made up! You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

What is your name....................Kati
4 Letter word........................Kite
Vehicle..............................kart
City.................................Kansas City
Boy Name............................. Kevin
Girl Name............................ Kelly
Alcoholic Drink...................... Kahluah
Occupation........................... knight
Something you wear................... kerchief
Celebrity............................ Kevin Henkes (ok, so he's a children's author)
Food................................. kaiser rolls
Something found in a bathroom............ door KNOB
Reason for being late................ kept tripping over the dogs
Cartoon Character.................... Kermit!
Something you shout.................. KEEP AWAY!
Animal............................... Kangaroo
Body part............................ knee
Word to describe you................. Kind.

**********

STILL no word on the job. *sigh* Don't they have ANY idea how stressful this waiting is?!?!?!

**********

The temp dropped last night. When I took the dogs out at about 9:15, I could see that the Aurora was out, which means it'd cleared up & cooled down. Sure enough, the temp this morning when I got up was about -12. Ok. So that's STILL not as cold as it could be, this time of year, but it was SOOO nice having such warm weather there for a week or so.

I DID have to laugh when the little neighbour boy from 2 doors down came over to wait for DD to finish getting ready for school this morning. He comes in & comments on how cold it is and how he can't stand this cold. I just laughed & said that it's ALMOST March, and it'll warm up again soon, and besides.... He's been through -40 now, -12 shouldn't be that cold to him any more! (He & his Mom & step-Dad just moved up from California back in November.) Goofy kid shuddered & said no.... -12 is STILL really, really cold and when will it EVER warm up?!?! I told him that once we get into March, it'll start warming up nicely.

Granted, -12 feels cold as compared to 40 deg. above zero. But, compared to -40 deg..... -12 isn't cold at all!

Though, just making myself an english muffin for breakfast, and I noticed that at 10:30 am, the temp is now about 10 deg. ABOVE zero. And that's on the thermometer at the back (west side) of the house! So, evidently the sun is putting off warmth as it rises, these days! YEAH!!!!

**********

So, DD's team played a scrimmage game against the IceBreakers 8U team last night. (This team contains some of the younger siblings of some of our 10U girls.) Our team lost 2-1 to their team. Wow! And DH said that DD wasn't letting them have goals out of pity. *grin* Evidently our girls got squarely shown up. Anyway, this put DD in a bad mood, evidently. Dad told me this morning that DD came off the ice all pissy and snappish.

Then she came home all pissy & snappish as well. She was refusing to take a shower & yelling at DH and I that she wasn't going to do what we said, no way, no how. Did I ever tell you that I now completely comprehend & understand the intent & purpose of that bumper sticker that claims "Mothers of Teenagers know why some animals eat their young!" It has come to the point that even though my child isn't officially a teenager yet, I have full comprehension of what that bumper sticker means.

Needless to say, after listening to her argue with myself & DH for a good 10 minutes last night over taking a shower, she got to feel the physical representation of my frustration with her attitude. A couple of swats was all it took to get through her hormonally thick skull that I meant business and wasn't going to put up with sass & bad attitude out of her any more. She promptly took her danged shower, and _I_ didn't have to put up with any more than a couple little glares & grumbles for the rest of the night.

Unfortunately, as much as he fights with her & then slams around the house breaking crap.... DH doesn't seem to get that exerting his authority & placing a firm swat to her backside BEFORE she really gets going (or, really gets HIM going) is much better than both of them getting to a point of all-out-war. And he gets mad when I try to halt things before they get that far, because then a lot of crap gets said that can't be taken back. A lot of things get broken that can't be repaired (literally & figuratively). And everybody's day/night is ruined completely. Sorry to say, but sometimes it requires some physicallity to bring it to an end. Words don't always work. (Or, at least in last night's case, it required the physicality to break through the pissy-attitude brain-fog DD was lost in, before she got my VERBAL drift that I wasn't going to put up with her attitude any more.)

Suffice it to say, DD is in a much better mood this morning & no lasting harm was done to anything but DH's grill. (After I swatted DD a couple of times, and that's all it took was a couple, DH slammed out of the house & went to start his grill to make dinner, and slammed the lid open so hard it broke. He now needs a new grill.) But, I SWEAR that I am NOT going to let that child go through her adolescense (any more than I did her younger years) thinking that she cannot & willnot be disciplined for her actions & attitude. At least now, at 10 years old, I still have time & strength (and a bit of size) to keep drilling that through that head of hers. *wry smile*

Ah.... Well..... Like I told Dad this morning, sometimes it simply requires a hug to head things off before they get bad, but there are times it requires a swat (or few) to break through the pissy-fog if it doesn't get hugged away in time. Last night was one of the latter.

**********

I think that about covers it, for now.

Have a Blessed Day!

More Busy-ness.....

Just when I think there appears to be a break.... I'm tricked & we start looking at a lot of busy-ness again.

First appearances were that DH and DD would be going to an Ice Dogs (Junior A's league) game this weekend and would leave me alone Friday & Saturday nights for some down-time. I borrowed the second disk of Firefly from work, and planned on watching all four episodes Friday night.

As for Saturday, I'd hoped to do some baking (the banana bread I didn't get made last weekend) in the morning, then I've got a get-together at a friend's house to go to in the evening.

Yesterday, I found out that there's been a game added to March's hockey schedual, for this Saturday. At 11:30 at the ice-rink near Dad's house. Against Healy. DD will be goalie. Ok. That's no big problem.

Just now, talking to Dad, he's heading in to town as I write this to talk to a real-estate agent that goes to his church about putting his house on the market. So, he's starting to stress (BIG TIME stress, not like his usual "always stressing a bit about something" level) about getting the last of the big items out of the house. INCLUDING my kitchen shrenk. (A "shrenk", though I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling, is a German-made kitchen-cabinet unit.) The one that I'm inheriting has been in the garage at Dad's house for the 20+ years he's lived in that house, but predates WW2. It's an antique. It's not in the best of shape, but it's MINE! *grin* I'll polish it up (hopefully) and replace broken/missing knobs & handles, and it'll be all mine!

Anyway, it's going to be put here in the computer room, on part of the wall that the computer desk sits against now. And I'm going to fill it with my yarn! BUT, that requires getting the computer room cleaned up & cleared out enough to bring the shrenk (pronounced "shrunk") in. And then we'll have to move the gun cabinet, the computer desk, the TV, and Jenny's kennel around in a whole 'nother configuration to make the shrenk fit and yet to maintain our "computer room". Basically, the computer desk (a big ol' "L" shaped thing) will flip around to the other side of the window, where the gun cabinet sits currently. The gun cabinet will need to be placed in the corner which the computer desk currently occupies. And the shrenk will take up the rest of this wall, including the space where we store DD's hockey bags. At least one of the bags will be stored ABOVE the shrenk. We don't know yet where we're going to put the TV or Jenny's kennel. Those are smaller items though that can be figured out AFTER we've rearranged the rest. *grin*

Needless to say, I don't know that I'm going to get to watch Firefly this weekend. *sigh* I'm STILL hoping Whim!!!!

**********

This week has been an interesting one, so far.

Sunday, I lost my voice. Not entirely completely. But enough that I was whispering because every time I'd try to talk my voice would crack & half of what I said was un-intelligable.

Monday, I lost it completely. Literally. Even my whispers were almost too soft to be heard. And that's my longest work-day, with 2 shifts at the desk. Made for some interesting times. I had a lot of patrons think I was trying to tell THEM to be quiet (after all, it IS a library!) by whispering to THEM. I'd just laugh (as much as I could laugh) and tell them that no.... This is me with laryngitis. Not me trying to tell them to tone it down. *grin*

My boss was all worried that I'd be pissing a lot of patrons off by being unable to speak. She even offered to take me off my two desk shifts. I assured her that it wouldn't be a problem. And I was right. I had one or two people start to get frustrated till they realized that I was literally without voice, then they calmly accepted that they'd have to lean in to hear what I was trying to tell them, and I was wished well as they left. But, by and large most of the patrons know me (by sight, of course) and knew that this wasn't normal, and so I had a lot of grins & joking, and since I had a smile on my face & a good attitude about it, so did they! Not one person got really peevish because I couldn't be heard. And I'm glad I didn't give up my two desk shifts to spend the entire day out in the stacks. I love shelving books, but not for 8 hours straight!

Got my voice back partially yesterday. Very raspy still, but able to be heard. My desk shift was the last hour of my day, yesterday, and in the last 10 minutes we had some unwanted excitement. One of the school kids who comes in every day is always picked up by either her Mom (who I recognise on sight, along with the little girl) or her grandma. Her brother is usually there with her as well, though he's a couple of years older than her. Anyway, the little girl (11 years old) was hanging out with a school friend yesterday, as she usually does. And at about 5 pm the little girl started sitting in the foyer, obviously waiting for Mom to arrive & pick her up. At about 5:30 the little girl said to her best friend "she's here, we've gotta go, she's here!" and I thought she was talking about Mom, and they left.

At 5:55, Mom walks in the library doors looking for the little girl. Walks around the library, looking for little girl. Starts worrying when the little girl couldn't be found at any of the study tables, on any of the chairs or benches, or in any of the study-rooms. So she had the circulation desk page the little girl. 5 minutes later, Mom's looking VERY aggitated & the little girl still hasn't come to the desk. So, I went & told the mom that I thought I'd seen the little girl & her friend leave at approx. 5:30, but I didn't want to say anything right away because I couldn't be sure the little girl hadn't come BACK into the library behind me while I was busy with other patrons. But, sure enough, there was no sign what-so-ever of this little girl. Part of the reason this woman was so freaked (beyond the usual "my child is missing and I don't know how to find her") was the fact that this little girl is Type 1 Diabetic, and she was due up for dinner & her shot between 6:30 and 7 pm.

The circ desk did another announcement over the intercom system, asking the little girl to please come to the circ desk, with still no answer. By now it was certain she'd left the library with somebody OTHER than a parent or guardian, and without her Mom's approval. Of course, at one point, the Mom started getting peeved with US for not stopping the little girl from leaving. I reminded her that I at least have NO authority to stop somebody from leaving, or to kick them out. She seemed to think that this is what our security guard is for. *shaking head* No, he's there to make sure that folks mind their manners, not to watch your kid for ya.

Anyway, at 6 I had to leave to go home. So I filled in my boss on what was going on, and gave the Mom my home number in case I needed to pass what little info I had on to the cops when they were finally notified that this little girl was missing.

At about 8:30, the girl's grandma (who was at the library with Mom, also frantic about her granddaughter's disappearance) called me to say thank you for my help, and to let me know that the little girl had been brought BACK to the library by the friend's Dad. Evidently the little girl came home with the friend & friend's Mom, but when the little girl's mom didn't come by to pick her up, Dad figured that the girl wasn't at his house entirely honestly. So he brought her back to the library just as the cops were arriving to take the statement of the girl's Mom & Grandma.

Not entirely "All's Well that End's Well"..... I suspect that this little girl is going to be grounded for a VERY long time (rightly so!) and probably even put in a real day-care until she can show proper maturity and Mom feels she can trust her not to run off again. But, the little girl is home safe.

*****

Which brings us to Wednesday. As yet (and it is now 9:45 am) I haven't heard anything on that job. Unfortunately, I'm losing faith that I've gotten the job. I know that it's still early in the day yet, and I know that expecting an answer yesterday was really hoping for the stars, but...... I feel more & more down & nervous and can't help but feel that the longer it takes to get an answer, the likelier it is that I didn't get the job. *sigh* I know it's somewhat irrational to think that way. I mean, we ARE talking about a Human Resources department's timing. And EVERYBODY knows how dreadfully slow HR's are about moving things along. My gut doesn't want to be rational though.

I'm also trying to school myself enough that if I find out I DON'T get the job, I don't spend the day as a blubbery mess of tears. I know that there will be other times to apply. And I know that I should "Bloom where I am planted" and know that where I am is where I'm supposed to be, but..... I also know that I've wanted this job for 6 years. I know that wanting something doesn't really count for much in the eyes of an employer, but I still hope that my two potential bosses see that my passion & my drive means I'd be great in this job.

Oh, and though my voice is still doing better than it was yesterday, it's still pretty raspy. One of my coworkers commented on how sexy my voice is when it's so raspy. I just laughed & said yeah, it sounds like I smoke a pack a day. That's sexy all right! *rolling eyes*

**********

Anyway.... Let's see.... Temps aren't quite as warm as they have been. This morning it was only about 5 deg. above zero when I let the dogs out at 7:50. But, that's rising to almost 20 during the day. And, for the end of February, that's nice weather! We did get a couple more inches of snow the other day, but it stopped the following afternoon. They were nice big fluffy flakes again, too!

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I think that about covers it for now. Sorry it's been so long since my last post.

Have a Blessed Day!

Feeling Somewhat Better Today!

So, I was in bed before midnight last night, and didn't get up till after 10 this morning, then got to be lazy & spend a while cuddling with DH before actually getting up & doing anything today. I'm actually feeling human again, finally. Man, I was exausted last night.

My throat is still bugging me just a bit, and I'm still coughing, but I think I was feeling so badly yesterday afternoon & evening mainly because I was so danged tired. DH is going to pick up a humidifier for our bedroom, so hopefully he & I stop waking up every morning with sore throats. We think the dryness in our house is really causing part of the trouble this year. I'd pulled DD's humidifier out of her room a couple of weeks ago, and put it in the livingroom to try to get some humidity all through the house. DH commented on how much better he was feeling those first couple of mornings when he slept on the couch due to my coming down with this cold. That humidifier really helped him. So, he's going to buy a second one for OUR bedroom so we can give DD back her own & we'll all have a humidifier in our rooms running at night. We're hoping that helps DD and I kick this thing, finally.

I'm not going anywhere today. Staying home & doing laundry & dishes & making lasagna for dinner tonight, and generally being a bit lazy. I am kinda hoping to make some banana bread, as well, but that's low on my priority list, really. I've just got a TON of ripe bananas in the freezer that need to be used. But, seeing as it's already 2 pm and I haven't even started on that yet, I may not do that this weekend at all. That can wait till next weekend, without problem.

**********

So, a week ago, Whim was lovely enough to give me THIS AWARD:

THANK YOU WHIM!!! Do you KNOW how much I adore you too??? You have been through so much & still you find the strength & love to express your feelings to all your blogger friends on such a regular basis!

I'm suppose to pass this on to 10 people. *grin* I think I only KNOW 10 people on here. So, here it goes: Barefoot Gardner, Gardner Greg, Robin, Mom, Tori, Connie, Em, Dirk, http://celticspirit-domesticgoddess.blogspot.com/, http://bardouble29.blogspot.com/ (though she rarely ever posts anymore).... I guess that IS 10 people, and there are a couple more I could pass it on to. *grin* Well, it WILL make it's way around, eventually, I'm sure. I'll leave some folks for other folks to pass this on to.

Please know how much loved all of you are. I don't get by EVERY single day (or, comment every single day) anymore, but I do get a lot of strength, insight, and energy from all of your blogs, and from the comments you leave here. I thank you for your friendship!

**********

It's cooling down just a bit again. We've had temps in the 40's almost all week this past week. It's been NICE! But, it's starting to snow a bit (just a bit, though, only flurries yet) and cooling down to where one can see one's breath again. The snow has stopped melting off the roofs today. But ooooh, for February this is STILL beautiful!

Edited to add: In the five minutes between when I typed this first paragraph, and the one down below about my car, the sno has started coming down in thicker flakes at a much faster rate. Amazing how quickly it can go from "flurries" to actual SNOW. Will make for some slick driving tomorrow, I'm guessing.

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DH and I have been monitoring the fuel usage on my new car since I filled up for the first time the other day. At the 1/4-tank-used mark, I had just 100 miles on the meter. NICE! Not that I'm going to push it all the way to empty, but DH and I think I could come very close to 400 miles per tank of fuel, with this car. Esp. if I keep driving as reasonably as I do. I mean, I COULD push the car well into the 60's but why risk a speeding ticket when I can get where I'm going between 55 mph & 60 mph, and a lot more safely at that?!?! Keeping my speed at that (unlike DH's usual 62 to 65 mph on the highway) means I burn less fuel. I mean, I COULD drive at 50 mph, but that drives everybody else on the roads a bit nuts, to be stuck behind a vehical going only 50 when the rest of them are going 60 and beyond. *grin* Not that I'm not all for slowing everybody down just a bit, but I figure 5 to 10 mph is enough, I don't need to push their buttons beyond that.

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I think that pretty well covers it for today.

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!!!

*********

Post - Interview Update!

So, I slept like crap last night (got MAYBE 4 hours of sleep!) but I feel like I did a reasonably good job in the interview. I wasn't asked ANY Genre questions, which shocked the hell out of me. I did well with the stories, one of which was even unknown to the Librarian who would be my direct boss. I had to restart on the longer of my two finger plays because I flubbed the first line, which meant the second line wasn't going to rhyme properly. So, after sitting stupified for just a moment, they laughed & said it happens to EVERYBODY, and that's why they've always got a cheat-sheet handy for prompting their memories. So, I asked if I could please peak at mine, and they were good with that, and once I had the first line I breezed through the rest of the finger-play. I think I did a very decent job for such short notice.

I did get there this morning, though, and find that one of my coworkers from Noel Wien was also interviewing this morning. I'm not annoyed that she interviewed as well, I just wish she'd told me she was going to. But, she wished me luck and didn't seem to think she'd done too good of a job on the interview herself.... We'll see.... I'll only get the position if I'm the most qualified of the applicants, and if I'm not the most qualified, then the better person will get the job. Like I said, we'll see!

So, THANK YOU for the P&PT this morning. I'm going to sit around all afternoon & watch TV. I'm too exausted to do anything else, and I feel like this cold is starting to regain fervor. I can't afford to let this go to pneumonia or something like that, so babying myself for the next couple of days is in order. Thankfully DH and DD are going to the Ice Dogs game tonight, so I can veg & watch TV all evening in peace & quiet.

THANKS AGAIN for the P&PT!!!

Interview Tomorrow!!!!

Sending out a request for prayers & positive thoughts tomorrow morning. I'll be interviewing for the North Pole Branch, Library Assistant 3 position at 10 am on Friday morning. I'm nervous as hell. I just found out THIS morning at about 10:30, and I've been told that I've got to have a whole story-time presentation ready to go & present to the folks who would be my bosses. That means 3 books to read, 2 finger-plays or songs to sing. Thanks to my cold, singing is NOT an option, so it's 2 fingerplays.

Anyway, keep me in mind tomorrow morning, please!!!! This is what I've wanted to do (the job, not the interview) since I started out as a page out here at North Pole Branch, 6 years ago.

THANK YOU!!!!

Be it EVER so humble.....

There is NO PLACE like HOME!

We're home from Anchorage. I'm SOOOOO happy to be in my own town. I'm soooooo happy to be in my own house. With my own bed, my own bathroom..... Ohhh, it is SOOOOO good to be home!

**********

We came in at no higher than third place in the tournament. Our first game really should have been 2 to 2, but we lost it 2 to 3 based on a poor call by a ref.

Our second game was against Healy & we tied them 3-3. It was an awesome game that came down to the final couple of minutes before we tied it back up.

Our third (and final) game, we won 2-0, but we only got our two goals in the last 5 minutes of the game when the goalie for the other team finally started wearing down. He is the only reason that team didn't get stomped by us. We dominated the control of that puck so completely in that game that it's really incredible we didn't get more goals and all we can chalk it up to was the skill of their goalie.

So, we didn't make it to the championship game. But, it was a fun time, the playing.

**********

The rest of the trip, not so much fun. The roads in Anchorage were slicker than snot. The people there drive like idiots. (Actually, worse than idiots but I'll keep my language clean this time since I know I've got some readers who don't appreciate foul language and I've already blown off steam with somebody else who doesn't mind my swearing so much.)

DD was a pain in the butt, down there. Refusing to do her homework & arguing about everything. She & DH got into such a fight over homework one night and her working herself into such a tantrum that she had 3 nosebleeds that one day. (And no, as sassy & rude as she was being, it's not because we popped her one, as much as we wanted to.)

The coaches had made this lame-@$$ rule that the girls were not allowed to go swimming for more than 1 hour a day, and only then with the coaches present. *shaking head* So, even though several of the girls wanted to go to H2Oasis (an indoor waterpark) on Friday, they weren't allowed because the coaches weren't going to go. We ended up waiting till Sunday, after most of the team had left Anchorage to head home, before we headed down & let DD go. DH and I weren't going in ourself, so DD had to find somebody there to hang out with, since none of her teammates were there. The biggest waterslide (the Master Blaster) requires 2 people on each inner-tube in order to go down. It took DD an hour before she made a new friend who was willing to go on the Master Blaster with her. But, they went 2 rides, so DD was somewhat happy with that.

We made it up to the Fifth Avenue Mall, only to find that it's primarily composed of shops like Mariposa & American Eagle, and hair salons. They did have a Build A Bear workshop, and DD got to make herself a dog, which DH let her deck out like a hockey player. Cost $40 for that darned dog! *wry smile* I got to go in to The Body Shop & get some perfume. I also got in to their Alaska Wildberry Products & bought a boat-load of chocolates. *grin* And DH got some new Goalie stickers for our cars.

**********

We are all 3 sick & tired of eatting out for now. I cannot wait to make a home-cooked meal. But it's going to have to wait till Wednesday, as I've got to work tomorrow night till 9:15. We did get to go to both Applebees & Fridays. We didn't think much of Applebees (it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either). Fridays, on the other hand, was INCREDIBLE!!!! The food was fantastic, and it was a reasonably nice place with a nice waitress. (Of course, it also cost $70 for the 3 of us to eat, but hey..... who's counting. *wink*) We spent sooooo danged much money this weekend. It's really going to come back & bite us. I'm glad we only have to go to Anchorage about once a year. Though there are a couple of things that DH found to do down there that he's thinking of making a trip down this summer. There's a go-cart track that he & DD want to check out, and there's a bumper-boats place that he's wanting to get to. But both are summer-only attactions. We'll see.

**********

Dad's still got the dogs & said he's going to bring them back to us tomorrow morning before DD's parent-teacher conference. I miss my dogs. I'm looking forward to snuggling with them a bit before I have to head to work.

**********

DD & I both sounded like long-time smokers the whole time we were down there, and DH barely got any sleep as he had to share a room with both DD & I snoring & coughing all night. She's over her fever, but we're both still coughing a lot. My throat doesn't hurt so much, but I still can't go more than a few minutes without having to stop & cough till I sound like I'm coughing up a lung.

**********

The weather temps have warmed up. The high tomorrow is supposed to be up to 35 deg. F. Which means the roads are going to be slicker than snot on a pole tomorrow going to & from work.

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EDITED TO ADD: Oh yeah, DH got him & DD "Guitar Hero 3" while we were in Anchorage. Thing cost $89!!!! HOLY CRAP!!! That's not chump change!!! He's currently trying to figure out how to play it. It's funny how angry he gets at inanimate objects, sometimes.

**********

I think that about covers it.

Have a Blessed Day!

Just a quick note...

Had to take DD to the Dr's office this morning. (Second time in 3 weeks, she's been to the Dr's office!) She woke up with a 102.1 deg. temp this morning, after the temp coming down yesterday with ibuprofrin. And, she was feeling pretty nauseous & head-achy, and coughing a good bit. *sigh* Thought for sure she'd caught the flu. The test results on that came back negative so it's evidently just a nasty little cold that's causing a fever & such. Possibly even that damned sinus infection, still. I don't know what I'm going to do if we get back from Anchorage & she's still sick.

I'm feeling slightly better today, pain wise, but not the cough. At one point DD and I were goofing around, and I started coughing so bad I couldn't catch my breath. Had to sit down for several minutes before I could breath semi-normally again. *sigh*

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A good bit of news, my cousin JJ seems to be out of the woods this time. The dr's found an artery behind his ulcer. (Evidently the ulcer opened up onto the artery??? Would be my guess anyway.) They must have cauterized the artery or something like that because Mom said that according to my Aunt, JJ's now actually looking healthier and the Dr's are hoping to send him home sometime tomorrow (V-day). So, continued prayers for his continued recovery, and THANKS for the prayers for a solution to this medical scare.

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I won't be on again till we get back from Anchorage, at least Monday evening at the soonest.

HAVE A HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!

Kids, a car, and being sick....

This first is a before game pic of DD and her friend A., taken a couple of weeks ago during the only game her team has lost to his team.











Next is an after game pic where A's mom said A. was very reticent to get any closer to DD seeing as she is A) a girl, and B) she just lost to him & he wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't beat him up.












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NOW. *grin* Pics of my new car!!!!
It's a 2005 Hyundai Sonata. We got it for between $11,000 and $12,000 (it was in the middle there somewhere, but DH signed the paperwork without me as I was supposed to be at work (but had actually already headed home to deal with this nasty cold). I like it though! The color is considerably nicer in person. It's actually rather shiny, not so matte as it appears in these pictures. And when the sun hits it, there's actually an almost lilac sheen underneath the silver/gray.




It's got 18,000 miles on the odometer, and drives beautifully. It's a 4-cylinder, which means it'll get better gas milage than my buick was (though my buick got decent milage anyway). I am now the person in my whole extended family (my parents & sisters, my inlaws & sister-in-law, and the hubby) with the newest vehical. *grin* DH's is the next-newest... A 2003 Toyota Tundra. MIL was extremely jealous yesterday when DH took the car over to show FIL, and she found out that I've got a newer car than she does. *grin* Though, at least hers was bought by her, brand new. It just happens to be several years old now. Mine was bought used, but it's new to ME! *BWG* Didn't DH do a good job?!?!?


You wouldn't believe it to look at it, but DD's biggest hockey bag actually fits in the trunk with room to spare.

Now I have to go get new stickers, though. DH just put a goalie sticker (a black&white "shadow" of a goalie) and a Jessica Galbraith fairy sticker on the rear window of my buick a couple of weeks ago. Now he's going to have to get me 2 more stickers to put on THIS car. As well as putting my fairy floormats & steering-wheel cover in my new car. And I've got to take my rear-view-mirror light-catcher charm out of my buick & put it in this.

DH said that we'll keep my buick to haul the dogs around, but I think he's an idiot if he thinks we're going to keep the buick & pay insurance on it, just for that. Dad seems to think I could even get a grand for my buick. *shrug* I don't care. Even a couple of hundred bucks would pay a month of the Sonata's payments. I'd love it if we could get 2 or 3 payments for the Sonata out of my old buick. But we'll see. Payments on my Sonata (not including full insurance coverage) are $219 a month. Not bad at all!

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Now for the "being sick" part. I left work early on Sunday because I was coughing so badly that I was losing control of necessary functions. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling like I had contracted Strep throat, my throat hurt that badly. After signing the final paperwork on my car, I went to a walk-in clinic to get looked over. The strep-test came back negative, though, and the PA said she thought it looked like a sinus infection, to go ahead & head to my pharmacy & buy OTC symptomatic treatment. So that's what I did. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be helping much. I'm taking Robitusin DM (I think it's DM) and extra-strength tylenol for the pain.

Last night I woke up at 3 am, my throat hurting worse than it has since I had my tonsils out 8 years ago. I tiptoed into the kitchen (DH is sleeping on the couch because I'm coughing so much I'd keep him awake all night) & grabbed my coffee mug & the salt shaker to try to gargle with salt water, and see how well that'd help the pain. It didn't. Finally at about 3:30 I took one of the Tylenol 3 I saved after my surgery a couple of years ago, to try to kill some of the pain. It kicked in about 4 am enough for me to get more sleep, though it didn't kill ALL the pain, by any means.

Woke up at my usual 7:45 am, this morning to get DD off to school, and was so lightheaded & weak that I just about passed out while making her sandwich for lunch. I finally got that put together (took 3 breaks to sit down, just while making the sandwich) and laid on the couch while DD finished getting ready for school & got out the door. Man, I felt like crap!

After DD headed off to school I got myself a mug of my ACV tea to see if that'd help me feel better, but it wasn't working, so I laid down for a nap & actually got another 2 hours of sleep! NICE!!!

Then at 2:30 I got a call from the school asking if I'd come pick up DD as she was down in the nurse's office with a head-ache, a stomach ache, and a fever of 102.3. *sigh* So, I did, and now she's been dosed up on Ibuprofrin (for the fever) and is watching TV, and I'm sitting here.

She won't be going back to school tomorrow, and I won't be going to work. Which means I'm missing a whole week of work thanks to this danged cold! Thank goodness I've got the leave-time available. My last paycheck said I had 180 hours of leave-time available to me. Even missing 30 hours of work, like I am, isn't going to really hurt me. I just hope this cold doesn't morph into pneumonia like it has for a lot of people.

One of my former coworkers (and a friend) from Ben Franklin Craft's said that she, her hubby, both of her daughters, and both of her grandkids caught this same sinus infection, and it morphed into pneumonia on all of them. My hubby's had 3 or 4 coworkers also wind up with pneumonia after starting out with a sinus infection..... *sigh* I REALLY don't want pneumonia. I've come close to that once, but it was a very long time ago. Not something I want to deal with again, esp. when we're supposed to be heading to Anchorage on Thursday morning. Then again, I also hope DD's fever isn't the first stage of the flu, which has started making the rounds in our town.

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Continued prayers needed for my cousin. He was apparently sent home after what appeared an improvement in his health. Then he was found collapsed on the floor in his house, in a pile of blood, and his fiancee called for an ambulance for him. Evidently the ER dr's were of the opinion that if she'd tried to get him in on her own, without the ambulance, he would have died en-route. His hemoglobin count was at 4, my mom said. (She also said that anything lower than an 8 generally results in a blood transfusion, and he was obviously considerably lower than an 8.) So, he's back in the ICU and the dr's are running more tests to try to find the cause of this bleeding.

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On a happy note, today is my middle Sis's birthday. She turned 27 today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELLI!!!! 27.... Doesn't that make you feel old?!?!? *grin*

Ok. I actually need to give Shelli a call & wish her a Happy Birthday in person, though. So, I'll end this long post now.

Have a Blessed Day!

Still No New Car....

After DD's hockey game yesterday morning (7:45, at the dipper, against her friend A., we won 4-2), we went to breakfast at Denny's, then headed around to look at some vehicals.

We first pulled into a couple of used car lots, and even while walking around looking at some of the vehicals being offered, we were not approached by any salespeople. So, the first two lots, we left without seriously considering any of the vehicals they had for sale. (At one of the places DH went in to ask about the cost of a couple of the vehicals, and the sales-lady as much as told him that HE needs to get with our bank first & find out what they'll lend us, before she'll talk to him about buying any of the cars. She wanted HIM to do the dirty work first, before she'd do anything. *shaking head* We won't be going back THERE any time soon.)

Then we stopped at the Nissan Dealership where DH got his Toyota a year ago. We were approached immediately upon getting out of the car by the same salesman that sold DH the truck. At first he tried to get us interested in this 1999 mini-van, but I just wasn't interested in it. It was too big, inside & out. I don't need seating for 6 passengers. I don't need space for 4 kids in the back. And it wasn't a comfortable "sit" for me. Just too big. Too wide, too long, and hard to reach the peddles without "hugging" the steering wheel.

Anyway, then he showed us this 2008 Nissan Versa. OOoooooh, what a nice vehical. That thing would get up to 38 mi/gal in prime conditions, average Hwy conditions would bring 34 mi/gal. Much better than my MAXIMUM of 24 hwy miles to the gallon in my buick this last summer. Anyway, the final asking cost was in the range of $21,000 (that's with all the "$400 for this, $75 for this, and $500 for that" type things that get added onto the dealer's cost, which was little over $16,000). DH and I kind of had a feeling that would be a bit out of our price range, but the salesman kept telling us to let him run the numbers & see what he could come up with. The lowest we could get the payments on that, though, is $309 per month. About $100 more per month than we can afford, if we also want to be able to afford the required full-coverage insurance. *sigh* And that was WITH the longest financing time available. Oh well.

So, we left there rather disappointed, and wound up at the used car dealership where we bought my buick 6 years ago. Looked over a couple of vehicals, and saw a couple of PT Cruisers in the lot that we thought we'd go ahead & inquire about. Long story short, the one PT Cruiser that hadn't already been sold was a reconstructed vehical, but in our price range. (The salesman assured us that the reason the vehical had to be reconstructed was because it had been in an accident & totalled, but the damage was all cosmetic & the frame wasn't damaged at all.) We talked to our bank & our insurance company and both agreed to finance & cover this particular vehical. Well, we went for a test drive, and as we climbed in we found that the milage was 10,000 miles higher than the computer's records showed. Also, after climbing out after the test drive (and it does drive nicely!) DH was doing the usual "shaking the bumpers & kicking the tires" and found that the front bumper was not sturdily fixed, but also had a big crack on the underside that had been "tie-wired" back together. *shaking head* So, we went in to bring up these two issues with the salesman, at which point we were told that Oh yeah, the dealership-owner's wife had been driving it, that's where that extra 10,000 miles came from, though they still wouldn't say why the front bumper was so shoddily repaired. Kept saying it must have come back from the repair shop that way, they'd never noticed it like that before. (Yeah, right!) Well, having done all the financing bit, and gotten approved already, they magnanimously suggested we borrow the car for the weekend, drive it, put it through it's ropes, and bring it back with our final answer on Monday morning.

So, that's just what we've done. And tomorrow morning I'm going to take the car back & tell them that seeing as the front bumper could come off rather quickly I just don't feel like taking on another car that's already starting to fall apart. Thanks but no thanks.

On the other hand, we know now how a PT Cruiser drives, and when DH goes around for more vehical shopping today, he's going to keep his eyes open for a newer PT Cruiser, in better shape.

So, that's where the vehical search stands right now.

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I've come down with a cold. *shaking head* I'm sitting here right now sucking down some of my ACV & Honey "tea" and hoping I can keep this cold from getting full-blown. But the last few weeks have been hell on the immune systems of the folks around town. Seems all the kids have had either strep, the flu, a nasty stomach bug, or a cold that's knocking them all for a loop but can't really be qualified as something more massive than a cold. And this past week more & more of us grown-ups have been catching this crud. I think it's due in part to the lack of fresh air, the lack of sunlight, and being cooped up in consistently cramped quarters as we wait out the cold snap.

So, this morning my throat is sore, I keep coughing, and I've been somewhat shakey & cold, though not feverish at all. *sigh* I REFUSE to get sick. I had a mug of my ACV tea last night when I got home, and this morning. I'll have another mug this afternoon after work, then again tonight before bed. And I'm going to figure out some way to get some garlic into our supper tonight.

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This week's menu is looking like this:

Catfish tonight

Steak & baked potatoes tomorrow

Glorified Hash Browns on Tuesday.

Wednesday, we may have the Sloppy Joes I had planned for last night.

Thursday morning, we're heading out of town. I imagine that Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will include a lot of eatting at restaraunts & pizza parties with a bunch of screaming adolescent girls.

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That's right, as of Thursday morning, we'll be heading out of town for the weekend. DD's got a hockey tournament in Anchorage this coming weekend, so we won't be back till some time on Monday the 18th.

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Robin & Whim were both lovely and gave me awards this past week.

Robin awarded me with this:

And I'd like to pass it on to Connie at Ash Lane Farm. Grandma Connie is a fantastic woman who's warmth really shines as she posts about her family & friends, her pets, and the various reconstructionist gatherings she attends & participates in, over the course of the year.

I'd also like to pass this on to Tori for her sweetness. She's always wishing somebody a Happy Birthday on her blog. I don't know how she remembers the birthdates of all her friends, AND their pets, but she does. And whether the birthday "person" is 2 legged, or 4 legged, Tori has birthday wishes for them.

And last but not least, I'd like to pass this award on to Barb at Celtic Spirit. Though she's going through some hard times of her own, she's always got an encouraging word & some wisdom to share.

Whim gave me this award:

I'd like to pass this award on to Barefoot Gardner. It seems funny sometimes how two perfect strangers on different sides of the country can seem to have such amazing similarties & likes & dislikes. I'm convinced that if Barefoot Gardner & I lived in the same town, we'd probably wind up hanging out constantly.

I'd also like to pass it on to Mom. She's Mom. What more do I need to say?!?! *grin*

And last, to PeppyLady. I'm horrible about visiting her blog, but she so frequently stops here with lovely comments for me. So, PeppyLady, here you are!!!! You ARE appreciated, though I don't get to reciprocate visits as often as I should.

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The only other thing to post about, really quickly, is the weather. It's warming up in the middle of the day, a bit. I think yesterday it actually warmed up to about -10 deg. F. by early afternoon. That gave us a little time outside while looking at vehicals, when we could enjoy the sun. But, it was still -40 deg. at our house at 9 am.

On the other hand, DH dipped our fuel tank this morning and found that in the past week, we've only burnt 20 gallons of fuel. FIL, on the other hand, burnt 40 gallons in the past week. And my dad had an $800 fill-up of his tank yesterday. It's only been a month since the fuel company last delivered fuel to Dad. (On top of that, the debris stirred up by the fuel-tank-fill-up got sucked into the fuel lines at Dad's house, so he had to shell out an another $200 for an after-hours repair visit to flush the fuel-lines & get the furnace running again.)

The weather forcasters are now predicting that we could continue to have this cold weather for another couple of days at least. We'll see. *sigh*

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I think that covers it. I'm probably not going to be on more than once or twice till we get back from Anchorage, so......

Have a Blessed Week!!!!!

WHOOP!!!! Got ANOTHER Chance!!!!

So, I got home from the grocery store today to find a message on the answering machine from R. at the borough Human Resources dept. She asked that I call her back when I got home, which I did.

She was calling to inform me that the North Pole Branch Lib. Lib. Assist. 3 position was opening back up, yet again, and that the experience requirements had been reworded from:

2 years of library experience, one of which MUST be at MORE than the page level. An Associate's degree in Lib. Sciences may substitute for experience.

TO

2 years of library experience, one year at MORE than page leve, PREFERED! An Associate's degree in Lib. Sciences may substitute for experience.

I told her that I'd darned well be applying for the position again, and thanked her for calling to inform me. *grin* She said good luck!!!!!

So, I get another chance!!!!! I'm sooooooo freaking happy right now. Of course, now I need to work my tail off to get a couple of "show & tells" ready to take to an interview. I need to have a sample business letter, and a sample program-flier (similar to what would be used to advertise the month's children's programming at the library). I also need to find a couple stories, a couple of finger-plays, and a craft project for the story-time-testing part of the interview.

But, FREAK!!! This is the job I've been wanting for almost 6 years now, so I'm not complaining about all the work to do to prep for an interview. I'm just thrilled I've got another chance!!!!

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Thanks for all the P&PT for my cousin, and for the car. I'll have to update y'all on Sunday what goes on tomorrow in our car-shopping.

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Again this morning, -45 when I got up & started getting DD ready for school. It DID warm up to about -2o, though, for a while today. It's cooling down quickly, though, as the sun is setting. But just for a bit, being able to be out in the sunshine with clear blue skies..... Oh nice!!!! Even if it WAS just for a couple of minutes. It's still nice!!!! I even have the blinds & curtains open for just a bit to enjoy what little sunshine is left as the sun sets.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Prayers & Positive Thoughts Needed....

So, first off... P&PT that when we go vehical shopping on Saturday, we're able to find a well-running, reasonably priced car in good shape for me. It's time. As much as I hate to go buying a "new" car as we head into the down-swing of Peak Oil, as we head into a Recession/Depression.... My car just isn't going to make it much longer, and I really DO need to have transportation available. Public transport isn't an option around here, so a new car is really the ONLY option left me, as I continue to work in town & need to grocery shop on a semi-regular basis.

One of the car companies has a specific "lightly used" car that we're going to go look at, if they haven't sold it yet. It's a 2005 Pontiac Grand Am. 4 door, 3.2 (liter?) 6 cylinder engine (the exact same as the buick I'm driving now), power everything, gold colored. It'd be a pretty dang close to perfect car for me. EXCEPT, the fuel usage isn't going to be too much better than what I'm getting on my current car (24 in the summer, down from 26 two summers ago) and 18 in the winter. (That is, if I don't let it warm up more than 10 minutes, though that milage has gone down considerably in the last week, along with the average outside temps.)

Anyway.... If you're the praying type, pray that I find something that'll keep me getting back and forth for as long as we can afford it, and will be a safe ride while I must. As I've said before, my current car has just worn out. She's 17 years old this year, and even while some parts are still in good working order (excellent emmissions on this old car!), other parts may break down at any moment, and are indicating that that moment is coming quickly.

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Also, prayers & positive thoughts for my cousin JJ. He's in the ICU in his home town in Washington with a E-coli infection/illness. As of when I talked to Mom last night, he's had one transfusion because he's "Bleeding from both ends". It sounds like he's probably got an ulcer or two exacerbating the problem. He's been doing a lot of traveling between Washington & California for work, lately, and the best guess is that he ate something contaminated while in CA.

To add to this story, though..... My baby sis is currently living with JJ & his girlfriend. My sis split with her hubby last month. Evidently the (now) ex was staying out all hours and rarely home, if he was working, he wasn't sharing any of his money for providing food, she couldn't use the only vehical for getting to work because he was always using it..... Anyway, at the breaking point, he'd evidently taken off to his Aunt's house with the vehical, all his clothes & his personal-hygene stuff & didn't say anything about his whereabouts to my sister until the next morning. Then he claimed that he'd gone over to wash his clothes, but he hadn't bothered to bring them (or his personal hygene stuff) back with him, indicating to my sister that he was probably planning on moving out on her. On top of that, he left her & my niece without any $$ for groceries, a bare fridge, no transportation to even GET to a grocery store.....

So, my Mom called her oldest sis who's got two sons (JJ being the younger) and my Aunt Vonnie sent the older to pick up my sis & niece & bring them back to live with the younger son & his girlfriend while my sis gets up on her own two feet & figures out life WITHOUT a boyfriend or hubby paying her way.

My younger Aunt took my sis over to the welfare place the other day & got K. & my niece signed up for all the public assistance programs while K. searches for a job & an apartment of her own.

In the meantime, though, JJ is now in the hospital & really, really needing P&PT. He's not old (mid thirties, I think), he's in reasonably healthy shape (except for this & the ulcer, apparently)..... From what little Mom had to pass on to me, it sounds like the Dr's are optomistic that JJ should be home in a few days. Just praying that this is the case.

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It is STILL -45 deg. here. This is 4 days running, now. The furnace shuts off only temporarily. In fact, it just clicked on again. It'd only just shut off after the last cycle about 20 minutes ago. The weather forcasters are now saying that it looks like we could continue to see these cold temps till the beginning of next week. Origionally they were saying that we'd see a break in the cold by weekend. It's not that this is unheard of, but dang..... You couldn't tell we've got global warming, right now! Most of the last 10 years have seen unprecidented warmth, including rain in the middle of winter. (In fact, we DID have one day where it rained, in January.) And, this is just further proof that it's not necessarily "global warming" but "Climate Shift" and extreme weather fluctuations.

If this wasn't proof enough (rain last month, extreme freezing temperatures this month) that massive string of massive Tornados in the states the other day SHOULD be proof that Climate shift is a reality. It IS happening. And those who refuse to see it are fools of the worst magnitude.

Also, the fact that the furnace is running non-stop makes me think that DH and I really, really need to consider how we could fit a woodstove in our house. We really really need to decide (duh!) if the TV is so important that we must keep it and not have a woodstove installed in it's place. The corner where our TV is set-up (the ONLY enormous wall in our house that doesn't have a furnace vent smack-dab in the center of it) is also the only place in the house where it'd be truly feasible to put a woodstove.

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Unfortunately, with needing to get me a "new" car at this point, that means we won't be able to use our tax refund for other things for the house (new doors & door frames for both front & back doors, being our primary concern). If the tax refund is substantial, it makes the most sense to go ahead & use it as a down payment on a car. Which brings me back to my reluctance to actually NEED a new car when I know that the realities of vehicals being usable much longer are shakey at best.

*sigh* I just wish it all wasn't so complicated. And I wish I'd gotten that damned job out here at NPB Lib. Then I wouldn't have to worry about having to have a car to get back & forth from work. I'd only need a good pair of long-johns, a pair of snowpants, and some hiking boots to get me there & back. *wry smile* Oh, and a flashlight for late-night walks home. *wink* And in that case, I'd wait till Dh was free for grocery shopping before I'd go. The only reason I'd have to use my car would be for Dr's appointments. *sigh* If wishes were horses....

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Ok. I think that's it for today. I've got a couple of errands to run before work, so I'd better end this now if I'm going to visit any of my blogger-buddies today.

Have a Blessed Day!

Look what I got!!!!

(Ok.... Why did that post so dang huge?!?!) Anyway, Barefoot Gardner awarded me with this, this morning. Thank you!!!! (Something to do with the fact that after reading my blog, her winters don't seem so bad. *wink*)

I'd like to pass this on to Whim. The every day battles this woman fights are amazing. I hope she continues to make much progress in these battles and soon begins to see that she really IS winning the war!

To Mom. All the lovely pictures you post, Mom. And how incredibly much you care for your friends there in Hawaii.

To Dirk-Star. Such a biting wit, this man has. His political & social commentary is spot-on, as a rule. And he's not afraid to say what's on his mind.

And last, but certainly not least, to Gardener Greg. Another man with some very thought provoking posts. He shows a gentler side of political & social commentary, but still manages to strike at the chords that ring so vibrantly true.

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Yet again, it is -45 deg. outside this morning. One of the neighbour boys said it got down to -55 overnight. I wouldn't be suprised. The weather forcasters said it might happen. Of course the "high temp" for the day is predicted to be a range of -15 to -35 deg. F. *sigh* And y'all are SUPRISED when I say that -15 feels warm?!?! *grin* It's all relative, as I keep telling you. And not relative only to place, but relative to time as well.

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Third morning in a row, this morning, I was awake before my alarm went off. Sunday I woke up at sometime after 6, lay there for a bit with my conscious-brain coming "online". Dozed back off then was up at 7:50 and unable to get back to sleep. I was supposed to be sleeping till 9 am that day.

Yesterday (Monday) I woke up to the sounds of DH puttering around in the bedroom, getting ready for work. I don't usually hear him, as I've taken to wearing earplugs in order to get a better night's sleep. Evidently, at some point during the night I'd taken them out. So I heard him moving about & making noise. Of course he also didn't realize that I'd taken my earplugs out, or he would have been much more quiet than he was being. And, on top of that, his truck wouldn't start so he was pissed & slamming things around once that became an issue as well. So, I was up at approx. 6:50 with DH, instead of sleeping till 7:45 as I'm supposed to on school mornings.

And this morning. I hear a faint knock on the door. First thought was that I'd overslept my alarm clock again (it happens occasionally, now that I'm wearing earplugs) and the neighbour boy was knocking to see if DD needed a ride to school. It was actually DD knocking on my bedroom door, saying that DH's best friend was on the line asking for daddy. I told him that DH had already left, from the looks of it, and he needed to try DH's cellphone. It was 7:11 when Dh's buddy called. *sigh* I crawled back into bed, after sending DD back to bed as well, but couldn't get comfortable enough to doze back off. *big sigh*

I really hope I get a better night's sleep tonight, or I'm not going to be fit for anything, by the weekend.

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Speaking of getting a better night's sleep. DD sure as hell better wake up on the right side of the bed tomorrow! She was in one hell of a mood this morning. I got home last night to find that DD & her best friend had gotten into a container of chocolate & marshmallow snack-mix I'd made this weekend & eatten half of the stuff for their afternoon snack. (This, after I'd sent a smaller portion with DD for dessert for school yesterday.) So, I told her that TODAY she wouldn't get any candy or any such thing at all. I gave her the option of raisins or a couple of prunes for dessert instead. (Gotta balance all that chocolate somehow!) She got all snippy about how sorry she was (I'll bet!) and why wouldn't I just let it go (Um?!? DUH!), and she didn't want raisins OR prunes because they're both nasty. Ok. That's fine by me, but that's a skimpy lunch as far as DD is concerned. Finally she deigned to have raisins and I sent her in to get dressed while I packed the rest of her lunch, knowing that the neighbour kid would be here any minute.

Of course, DD still couldn't find her snow-pants. Who knows what she did with them this time. She had them Friday when I took her to school. I thought she came home WITH them. But they're nowhere to be found. (And I highly doubt she looked in the school lost&found yesterday as she was supposed to.) On top of that, she was missing her gloves this morning. *sigh* It's -45 deg. outside. HOW do you misplace something like snowpants & gloves in this weather?!?!?! Of course, I was supposed to call DH & ask if somehow her gloves had wound up in his truck. And somehow he was supposed to get them to me if they WERE in his truck, in time for DD to go to school with them.

(I can't figure out how she thinks this is supposed to work.... He sticks his hand through the phone-lines & hands me the damned gloves?!?!? Never mind that he'd taken his truck to the shop for some work, first thing this morning, and didn't have access to it by the time I called him, anyway.)

Anyway, after ransacking her trashed room (she was laying belly-down on her bed, saying she was looking under the bed) myself, I went & retrieved MY best pair of gloves for her. Which she promptly tried on, then pulled off & threw on the floor yelling at me because they're too big. Ok. I took them back because I CERTAINLY don't want them lost because they're too big. I gave her my other pair of gloves, one of those "one size fits all, stretchy" pair. She hates those, and refused to wear them till I threatened to kick her butt if she didn't put them on.

THEN we had to fight about her wearing a scarf. I'd made her a lovely purple scarf on one of my knitting-looms. She never wears it because she claims it's itchy. I'd also made myself a blue & bronze (Ravenclaw colors!) scarf on my knitting loom, using the same kind of yarn as in DD's purple scarf. For some reason she developed a preference for my scarf, saying that the one I made her was too scratchy. So, I've let her use my scarf, and I've been wearing hers. Well, this morning when I insisted she put her scarf on, she got all snippy, did a half-assed job of throwing it around her neck, then when I insisted that she wrap it better then that, she took it off & threw it on the couch. Fine. She hasn't been wearing it for the past several weeks anyway, so I'll take it back & wear it myself. *shaking head* At which point, of course, she threw off her hat, kicked off her boots (oops, had put gloves, just realized my error) & stomped to her room screaming about how mean I am and how she's NEVER going to school again, and if I send her out there she'll just FREEZE to death!

*rolling eyes* Dirk, your "offer" of $50 per child is sounding better & better! She finally wound up slamming out of the house without scarf, no snowpants, jacket zipped MOST of the way up, hat on her head, & my thinner pair of gloves on her hands. And sat out in the snowbank across the road, waiting for the bus, for the 7 more minutes it took for the bus to get here.

Needless to say, the yelling arguement we got into has left me with a scratchy throat this morning & pissed at her. And, to top it off, DH isn't returning my call to see if he made it to work ok this morning, and to ask if he recalls seeing her gloves at all last night or this morning. *sigh*

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I think that about covers it for today. The dogs are begging to be let outside for a moment to do their business, so I guess I'd better publish this post.

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EDITED TO ADD: Well, guess who's taking a forced day off work!?!? My car won't start. I went to start it at 10:45 this morning so that it'd have 15 minutes to warm up before I left for work, and it grumbled & sputtered at me the first 3 times I cranked it. The last two times of that try, it refused to even sputter for me. Tried it again 15 minutes later (after letting my boss know I'd be late today) and it sputtered the first of two tries, the second time it wouldn't even sputter at me. Another 15 minutes later, a "grr, grr" and that's it for the first try, the following two didn't bring any sounds at all. And this most recent try, after letting it sit for a half hour, didn't result in so much as a click. No grumbling, no sputtering. Nothing. Nada. Zip, Zero, Zilch!

Guess who needs a new freaking car?!?! Yep, it'd be me. Just like it's ME who's not making it in to work today. *sigh* Thank the gods for sick/annual leave! I've, fortunately, got 170+ hours available, should I need them. I just hope I don't have to use more than 6 of them before we leave for Anchorage next week.

Ok. I've gotta go get myself some lunch, now that I know what my day's looking like. And then maybe I'll settle in & watch some TV (prerecorded episodes of Stargate Atlantis, especially!) and finish up that afghan I've been working on.

Oh, and damnit! I'm not getting my sister's birthday present sent out today either. (I left the house without it yesterday, and the roads were so iffy that I wasn't going to turn around & retrieve it.) It didn't go out yesterday, and it won't go out today now. I guess it'll probably be a little bit late. (BUT, IT IS COMING, Shelli!)

And, I don't get to go vote today. Not unless DH wants to take me back over to the voting place after he gets off work. Which I highly doubt he will. *sigh* Dang. I really, REALLY wanted to vote in this one!

Have a Blessed Day!

*SHIVER*

Well, it's freaking cold this morning!!! So cold, in fact, that DH hasn't been able to get to work as yet. Went out to start his truck this morning, and it's not even turning over. Sounds like the battery may be dead. *sigh* Thing is, it was plugged in ALL DAY yesterday, without him going anywhere, and ALL NIGHT last night.

It was -45 this morning when he went out to start the truck. It's now "only" -42. Again.... *shiver*

I hope my car starts! It was plugged in all night, but it's a good bit older than DH's truck, with an older battery. We'll see. I've got to leave a bit early (hopefully) in order to get my middle sis's birthday cards to the PO. so they get to her in time. I also need to get over to the bank & cash the check DH's grandma gave me for my birthday. That'll give me $40 of my own spending money in Anchorage when we head down in a week & a half. (Birthday money from Mom & Grandma.)

One of the many sucky things about weather like this??? Not only is it too cold to go out & do anything, it's so cold that even though the sun is coming up earlier & setting later, we've got the blinds closed & the curtains drawn to keep the heat in. So we're not getting to see much of the sun anyway. *sigh* I can't wait till next month when it'll finally start warming up, as well as being a lot lighter.

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Connie, yes, it is a small world. I'm often amazed at how small. That is funny that Norm was on Ellsworth doing some teaching at the approximately same time I was in pig-tails & coveralls playing in the street with my preschool friends.

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Edited to add: My car started on the first try. DH jumped his truck from my car. And we're both now at work. (Just jumping online really quick before I start work to post this small update.)

Thanks for the wishes, Whim. It WILL warm up. Eventually. But the forcasters are predicting temps like this all week.

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I think that'll suffice for today.

Have a Blessed Day!

First Sign of Spring.....

Nope. Not birds, or flowers, or melting snow, or even warmer temps. Nope. The first sign that spring is on it's way: The sun didn't set till right at about 5 pm today. So I got to drive home in the dusk, instead of full dark. *grin* It was actually about -25 deg. today, in the middle of the day. It is currently -32 deg. F. (That is, at 7:50 pm.)

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Connie, we lived on Ellsworth AFB when I was little. I think, roughly 3 years old, to almost 6 years old. So, it certainly wasn't reasonably recently. South Dakota was my Dad's last post before we moved to Alaska.

Em, I was born in Germany, so I don't recall living there. The time in Paris & Madrid happened on the same vacation when I was a junior in HS. We went to Florida (Walt Disney World), when I was in 6th grade. Fortunately I have a couple of parents who love to travel, so when I was still living at home I was given the chance to see a lot more places than just Alaska. I've been to Washington (state), North Carolina, down through South Carolina & Georgia on our way to Florida, and Texas. And internationally, I've been to France & Spain. And various places (though not nearly all the neat destinations) around Alaska. My sister Shelli has done a lot more traveling than I have, though. I'd like to travel more, but as yet haven't had the $$ to do so.

Ok. Gotta get back offline now. The kiddo should be home for the evening any moment now, and I need to be sure & hang out with her when she is. *grin* It's so rare that we're home at the same time these days.

Have a Blessed Day!

Hockey Results....

So, last night's game against the Healy Coal Kings was another good one. Not as good for them as it was for us, though. *grin* We won, 6 to 3. Of course, their two best players AND their regular goalie were all missing from the game, so that probably had a good bit to do with our winning. DD got 2 of the six goals against Healy, though. I think she was the only one of our girls to get more than 1 goal during the game. She came off the ice understandably thrilled.

This morning we were up at 6:45 to be at Ft WW by 8:15 for another game. This time against one of the FAHA Tier 4 teams. DD was goalie this time, and only let one of their goals through. Final score was 8 to 1, our win.

Other than that, just kinda cooling my heels around the house today. I've got some cleaning up around the house to do. I started de-cluttering (again) and tidying up yesterday. I need to keep on. The clutter seems to multiply astronomically fast, around here.

The hubby is at work for the day, the kiddo over at her best friend's house, so it's just me & the dogs tripping over each other. Maybe that means I'll actually get something done, if I don't spend too long on here. *grin*

And, of course, Dad's coming over for dinner tonight. I'm making meatloaf, by popular request, mashed potatoes & greenbeans. And we've got some radishes in the fridge that need to get eatten before they go bad. Dad donated a Blackberry Pie to the cause of a good meal. *grin*

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The surgery for the guy from DH's work was unsuccessful and he lost all 3 of the fingers. DH's boss thinks the guy will probably sue the company on charges of inadequately kept equipment or something, and win. *sigh* Part of me thinks that hopefully the judge will toss his butt out of the courtroom for stupidity for sticking his fingers in a thing with rotating blades in the first place. The other part of me knows, though, that this is one guy who's likely going to have a hard time finding a job again, though, with only 7 of his 10 fingers. Not a whole lot of unskilled jobs to be had that don't require good use of one's hands. Anyway..... DH has been very careful, of course.

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As far as finishing my craft projects.... I've only got 5 more granny-squares to crochet an edging on, then I get to join the squares together. THEN that afghan will be completed. But, it's not happening in time to get on to finishing that apron today. So, maybe next weekend. One thing at a time, though.... That's my mantra right now.... One thing at a time.

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EDITED TO ADD:

Barefoot Gardener tagged me with this in an Email. I decided to post it here instead:

FOUR THINGS...

This one is a bit different from the rest. Four things about me that you may or may not have known in no particular order. The directions are at the end.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1) Pizza maker
2) Bookseller
3) craft-store clerk
4) Library Page

Four movies I've watched more than once:

1) Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (every day for a year, when I was in 8th grade or so, I had that script MEMORIZED, word for word, pauses and everything.)
2) The Day After Tomorrow. (I esp. like watching this in the winter when it makes me feel WARM! *grin*)
3) The Very Thought of You (ooooooh, Joseph Fiennes is hot in this one!)
4) LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring. (First, because this is a fantastic movie series, second because Orlando Bloom is so freaking hot!)

Four places I have lived:

1) Landstuhl, Germany (birthplace)
2) Spokane, Washington (with my aunt & uncle for a little bit as we moved from Germany back to the states, though it was only a couple of months)
3) Rapid City South Dakota
4) North Pole, Alaska

Four places I have been:

1) Paris France
2) Madrid Spain
3) Florida
4) Alaska

People who e-mail me (regularly):

1) Mom
2) Amber
3) Sara
4) Layla

Four of my favorite foods:

1) King Crab legs
2) fresh bread
3) bratwursts with all the toppings
4) creme brulee

Four places I would rather be right now:

1) In bed sleeping.
2) Hawaii with Mom, or Arizona with Shelli
3) in bed sleeping.
4) a nice, warm restaraunt being served yummy food & chatting with friends.

Four friends I think will respond:

I'm not sending this on, though maybe some of my blogger friends will post their answers on their own blogs. (Leave me a note, if you do!)

Four Things I am looking forward to this year:

1) Summer
2) gardening
3) warm weather
4) fresh veggies

Four T.V. Shows that I watch:

1) ER
2) Stargate Atlantis
3) Biggest Loser
4) America's Funniest Home Videos (primarly because DH & DD love it, though I think it often leaves something to be desired)

RETURN DIRECTIONS: Now, here's what you're supposed to do... And please do not spoil the fun. Hit forward, delete my answers and type in your answers. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn some little known facts about those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you.

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I think that's about it.

Have a Blessed Day!