Happy New Year To Me!
44 years old today. My final birthday in which I will actually be getting older. I like the number 44 so that’s what I will be staying at. This is a super fast post before I go to work in half an hour. It’s my holiday to work. Boo. At least it’s double time. Let’s all hope for a fast shift and a fun day if you aren’t working! Have a drink for me. Please! These are my presents so far. Lighthouse bird feeder from the BF. LOVE IT!! Just imagine all those bird shots I will be getting now. Amanda, I am talking to you. Boring, my ass!
From my mom. These are fall decorations for my house. And I got cash. The pumpkins are in the living room now, but they will be relocated to the bathroom as soon as I get new towels and crap. Thank you mommy!!
From my sissy Noelle. Lottery tickets and a magnet. That magnet is already on my fridge. I hope I win money! Thank you! Ok Amanda and Tom, I am waiting…
I also received many internet birthday wishes and coupons from places I shop at and places I don’t. I plan on listing them all later, because some of them are pretty funny. I hope they age adjust the coupons to places I will need as I get older. That would be awesome. Although I am NOT looking forward to my first birthday wish from the “Depends” company. I really really “gotta go” hahahahahaha. Have a great day! With any luck I can spend the last 30 minutes of my birthday back at home tonight! XO to all! Lisa.
Just One More Day…
We always want one more day. I wish I could win the lottery. I wish I was independently wealthy. I wish I had a rich uncle who left me a boatload of cash. I wish I was a housewife. Well, maybe not that last one. But we do always want just one more day off from work and life right? To go fishing and have long lunches. Today is Friday. Back to work for me. The BF is on his way home. The kids are now fully entrenched in The Walking Dead. The TV show. The girl just started watching it. The boy has been watching it. But now he’s watching it again with her. She is staying up late and having nightmares, but she won’t stop. She is stomping around the house, yelling at the TV when things are getting tense during an episode, but she won’t stop. My boy has to keep calling her back into the room so she doesn’t miss the next thing that is going to make her mad. She loves Daryll. She hates Rick. She hates Shane. But not really. She just doesn’t like them. But she loves loves loves Daryll. And Glen. And the blonde. It’s complicated. Apparently. I will say this show does inspire strong feelings. At least I know they will be fine when I leave. I think she is only at season 2. Plenty to keep them busy with. I have been up for a few hours and let me tell you, I think I got more done just this morning than I got done in the 2 days I was actually off. Why does it always work that way for me? Too much time and I do nothing. Not enough and I have it almost all done. Grass watered. Flowers revived (hopefully). Laundry nearly finished. That’s the surprising one. House is clean and I need to hop into the shower asap. At least I know that my house will stay clean because the kids probably won’t move now for the next 10 hours.
Alright. Let me wrap this up. I really got to go. I hope it rains just a little. My outdoor stuff needs that good rainwater. First day of summer. Do something fun. Here’s another pic from the fishing hole. FYI. We didn’t catch one darn fish. And, these are Stevie’s photos. All credit goes to her. Later.
Bonus Day!
Still working out the kinks in my camera phone. Not all my “files” are making it through. Maybe it’s a new advanced Samsung feature when you try to send pictures through the system it automatically corrupts the file of the crap shots so you don’t even waste your time.
That company is so smart. The first picture is a flower from my neighbors house. I have more. Of course I do. Today is an unexpected day off, so I like to call them the bonus days, in life. My plans are suddenly open and fluid. Maybe I will catch up on sleep. Maybe I will post all day. Maybe I will take a shower and remove all this excess hair from my legs. Yuck. Maybe I will sit on my ass playing Tiny Village. Now that it is my only game and play app, I can really focus on it.
*Quick side note: what do we, you, the general public, think about spending actual real world dollars on these games? I am seriously considering paying cash for crystals because I want to do stuff in this fake world faster. Leave me a note/comment when you can. Thoughts, ideas? Is this the lamest way to spend money ever? I can justify it by saying it’s an early birthday present to myself. Maybe? I got paid today and I have time to burn. These are my “for” arguments.
*Extra quick side note: I have updates on my health. Too fat. Too little exercise. Apparently I need to be doing the “cardio” kind. B/P still a skosh too elevated. I have been increased on my starter meds. But I’d like to D/C them altogether. The MD said I could if I wasn’t a rolly-polly when I come back to see him next time. Lupus titer high and positive again. (Lupus panel negative though. I may have a life-long, general, vague, comes-and-goes, inflammatory disorder to deal with for my golden years. If a face rash and some bad numbers on a blood test is all I get from this over the years, I will be a very happy camper. I can exercise and stay out of the sun. No problem.) I will be heading out to the garage to pull some of my “diet” books and revamp the current food plan. But first I need to get that shower/shave thing out of the way. And believe me I have plans for more postings about this. I already have a title for my new quest in mind. “144 by 44”. See, I will be 44 this year. And my follow up appt is after my birthday. 144 lbs might not be exactly do-able in that time frame, three months, but I can try. I hesitate to throw out my actual weight number because I am not sure if it’s fat or not. It’s a good amount under 200. It’s definitely not slim. But I am a heavy person in general. Like, heavy bones. I know that sounds like an excuse, but I’m like a deceptive bag of concrete. I might look compact and weigh what the number says on the sack, but when you go to pick me up, I-Yi-Yi!! I weigh a ton. And now your back hurts! 144 would be the least amount I have ever weighed as an adult with children. Except for the brief month, many years ago, when I weighed 138 because of a literal diet, of coffee and breath mints, when I was going through some shit. I literally could not eat food without throwing up. Not my fault. But also not a story for this bonus day either. Spoils the fun.
Maybe I will get new grass today. Literally. The village I live in tore up my yard as you may remember from ONE YEAR AGO. Almost to the day. Because of broken water mains. Click to read. Catch up here. Well they are back. Sort of. They have been coming to the house every day this week doing something to the front. Flatten it out. Dig up more. Shore up the edges. Fill in with dirt. Smooth that out. I have got to believe that sod is next. Maybe today?! I hope they hurry. I hear storms are approaching. Storms with really cool names. Derecho.
The following is copied word for word from a weather news site:
A derecho, Spanish for straight, is a widespread and long-lasting storm that comes with fast-moving thunderstorms and rain, and also can bring damaging high winds, hail as big as golf balls as well as tornadoes. Weather forecasters have been warning that this rare weather phenomenon, which last year left a 700-mile trail of damage across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic, this time could hit a swath of states from Iowa to Maryland starting Wednesday.
Yay! At least I won’t be at work and then have to drive in it this time. I also need to seriously update some of the pages on this site. I noticed some old info floating around and we could use a freshening. Let me finish this quick. I’m running out of shower time before these kids get home. I will try to link the yard thing and post the new pics of the yard. And some flowers and probably birds. And lottery news. Still working on the scratch-offs, but I can tell you, so far, we are not winners. Still have to work for the money. I have 4 cards/chances left. Wouldn’t this be a great site if I could just write every day about how much money I have and how I don’t have to do anything, ever, again in real life if I don’t want to? I would just post title after title with some picture taken from my couch: Still Rich. Suckers! Oh to dream….Later.
That would be The Truck. And The Dig. And The Smooth. Hopefully the next picture will be, “The Grass”. Ugh. My kids have started calling me for rides and I am still hairy. Ugh. Bonus Time Shower Time. Although shower time should really be an All-The-Time. Ugh. Wasting Time. Later.
My Last Few Hours With An 8th Grader!
We are only a few short hours away from 8th grade graduation! After the girl got home from school/graduation rehearsal, we went back to the school, to get the extra ticket we needed, but that didn’t get included in the packet she brought home. Then we drove around in the pouring rain—torrential, tornadic, blinding downfall—that I basically asked for with my previous post—(so far all tree parts have remained on the tree) and got Chinese Food and lottery tickets. I spent all my cash on those stupid things. But look! Look how colorful they are! All that money just waiting to be won under those little silver scratch offs. Then we came home and ate and watched Sex and The City 2 until my son called for a ride home from b-ball practice. Then we dropped off the tickets for the dad and got gas. Then it rained more, the sun came out, and a rainbow appeared. Really.
I have the picture proof. But it will have to wait. I have exactly 16 minutes on the stove timer to get my ass up and dressed and out of this house with the girl and family. Did I mention we have a graduation to go to? Suspense and excitement ahead. The girl is giving a speech and everything! So proud. So happy. So old. Two in high school. Almost. Later.
Jump in the line!
Rock your body in time!
Oh no! I believe it!
Jump right in…start the body line… shake, shake, shake, Senora! Work it all the time!
I’m kind of making up words and moving them around. I am home from the first official day of school. Short and sweet. Serve it up and push me out the door. This. This. This. Test Monday. Skills Tuesday. See you tomorrow. Don’t be late. Two hours in, and the hand holding portion of the program is over.
I am exaggerating for dramatic and humorous effect. The teachers are all quite friendly and helpful, actually, but, they are not slowly walking us along the education path. They warned us of the fast pace, rapid start, rapid finish; fall behind and you might not be able to catch up. There just isn’t time. Time is fluid. Sometimes we forget when it thickens up. It’s really more like water, and it flows the same whether you are standing in it, sitting in it, swimming in it, being dragged along unmercifully by it, or drowning in it. Unless you cry for help, no one is going to hear you. And even if they do, no guarantee they can always save you. They might be able to get you out of it, but you won’t really be o.k.
But that is a little too much for the first day. I’ll save that little rumination for about, October, when I am failing the math test! Just kidding. Positive thoughts. (Not going where you think) I’m only taking it one week, one day, one class, one hour, at a time. Small doses. Even using a teaspoon eventually fills up the bowl. And my bowl is empty!!
So why the heck am I typing on this time wasting website?? Because I like it. And I need it. I need to put all the crazy thoughts somewhere so I can make room for the technical stuff I need to do a job and do it well. I don’t think this writing thing is going to pan out in the way that I had hoped and I only won $3 bucks on the Mega Millions and $2 on a scratch off, and that’s the most we have won on lottery in like, two years.
So this is my future. I will be busy with school, in 16 week chunks, for the next two years. But I’ll still try to post to keep updated and sane. (You should subscribe to me! Top right column…and you won’t miss any of the fun. And you can comment and give me encouragement and make me feel warm and fuzzy!)
In about 20 minutes, when my daughter gets home, we will be going to the store to get me a detailed schedule planner, for the minute day-to-day things I need to do (tests/skills/exercise–yes, I still do it, just don’t talk about it as much—next race is Labor Day!) anyhoo…we need groceries and breakfast food and cash for my son’s gym uniform and sports physical….it seems kind of scattery right? (Run on sentence anyone???) But I have already done laundry and cleaned the house and did the dishes, prepped for dinner and bedtime…I am never more productive than when I have less time for the tasks planned.
Here is a picture of a nurse coffee mug I was given 2 years ago when I started this mess. (Thank you Nancy!!) I tentatively bring it out now in anticipation of success. I am normally superstitious about cart-before-the-horse and all that, but what the hell. I have to pass. Failure is not an option for me.
I also threw in the picture with all the books I was told I would need for the first semester. Semester. 16 weeks. Hey! You keep them, FOREVER! And if you are like me, you’d want to know this too:
Height of books: 17 inches
Weight of books: 42.4 lbs.
You never have to bring them all anywhere, (so they say) but I still think it’s interesting to know the stats.
You can't see it exactly, but it's about 16" tall. AND I forgot a book! I took its picture all by itself. So that brings the total to 17".
The missing book from the pile. I included it in the weight though. I should have taken a picture of the scale! I'm not going to now because I don't feel like moving all those books again. Too heavy. Too many.
My Lottery Dreams are not looking good
Obviously I am going to have to earn money the old fashioned way. Poo. My tickets are losers (although the Mega Millions rolled over again—170 million—that’s better!) And my dream for even $35,000 is looking shaky. First off, I don’t have 35 tickets to input. And second off, I didn’t know scratch-offs counted too! I actually threw away some of those. I still didn’t have 35, but I would have been closer! Oh well, I guess I better buy the rest of my books and get ready for school. It doesn’t look like there is going to be any way around it!
So it’s Sunday morning. The kids are STILL gone. I was hoping to have them yesterday, but the plans got changed to something more exciting and they are still on vacation! Lucky ducks! They start school Thursday, so I guess they should enjoy themselves while they have the time to play.
It’s a broiling 84° already. It’s been hot every day. In the 90’s. It feels hot, it looks hot, it just makes you tired. Today it’s actually windy. Hot, dry wind. Like oven breeze. I hope it blows all the leaves off my patio, then I can scratch, “sweep” off the list! I’m going to spare everyone the actual list of things I need to do (but know that I have a good, long one!) even though it’s my sister’s favorite part of this site (haha). In fact, I am going to her house today for a Pampered Chef party. She’s making chicken! Or something. I actually do want to go because I want to buy this amazing pitcher I just discovered. It has a mixer right inside it! I know I’m the only lady over 35 in America that probably didn’t know about this already, but I don’t look at a lot of catalogs.
I was going to say that I’ll take a picture of it and post it later, but I just realized that I probably won’t have it later. I think I have to wait for it. Hmm. Oh well, if they have one on display I’ll take that picture. In the meantime, please enjoy this picture of our new coffee maker!!
We had to. The other one was leaking. And this one has a timer and auto shut-off. We paid $30. Big spenders! AND we went white this time! To match my beautiful toaster I received for Mother’s Day from my son. It’s especially nice because it has a blue display, a color that I find particularly soothing when I see it in the middle of the night, glowing brightly and casting shadows in the kitchen.
If you are keeping count, this is the third coffee maker we have had since the BF moved in. He brought a lovely, large, coffee making machine, with him. Then we had the black one you saw in pictures. And now we have this beauty. That’s four years and three makers. That’s not too bad.
Here’s the pic:
Street Money Update!
My favorite sunglasses that I have been wearing to death for the last year or so, maybe two, broke unrepairably the other day taking my mom to the cataract doctor. She’s fine, the glasses had to be buried.
Went to the mall to get a new pair from my favorite cheap place, Shades of Summer Too (the first shop is ok but the ones I like are in number “too”.) These are not stores. They’re kiosks in the middle of the mall halls. Not to be confused with Sunglass Hut. I tried to find a link online, but couldn’t. I did research for real! The places are small and you can get one pair for $15 or two for $25 (It used to be 10 and 20, but you know, the economy, blah, blah, blah.)
Anyway, the point here is that I brought the old ones, matched up the new ones, which weren’t exact, but that I like better actually, and found some loose change in the process. To finally get around to the main point.
One cent, completely fair, just laying on the floor.
Two more cents, that I saw a man drop, because it fell out of his pockets, reaching in to get bigger change, to buy candy from one of those independent-standing-turnstile-type-candy machines that you would see outside of a K-Mart, for his small child. I tried to get the money for him and give it back, but he waved me off. I left it, very universally and fairly, laying where it landed. We had to go right past it to get out of the mall so I said (to the BF and myself) that if it was still there, THEN I would pick it up. It was. And I did.
Then I found two more cents at the 7-11. One in the parking lot and one in the store. The pennies to my fortune. I was there buying lottery tickets. Mega Millions is like, or was, like, 146 million. $146,000,000. Since I haven’t actually checked the numbers today, I suppose I could be filthy, stinking, rich right now and not even know it. Wouldn’t my face be red talking about 5¢, when I have all that money. But I guess you would never know. What would I do? Just never post again? Post about all the things I am doing from everywhere? Or just leave a nice, simple, “Won the Lottery! Have a nice life!” That might work. But, I have to think to myself, isn’t waking up every day and living my life with good health, happiness, my kids and the BF and my family, well, golly, isn’t that just like winning the lottery on a daily basis?? I will stop now.
And fyi, I didn’t win from the other day either. In case I posted, and in case you care. The internet world is still stuck with me.
This is the total for the year in case you forgot why you were looking at this. Toodles.
just shy of pretty 