Testing the Law of 3's

I am hoping that the whole theory behind the Law of 3's is bogus.  You know how they always say bad luck happens in three's?

So far I'm up to 2.

The first was the untimely death of the Keurig coffee machine.  This morning I had to make a cup of tea before work.  Blahhh, tea is for after supper, not the kick in the pants you need in the morning.  Plus there was the unplanned expense of a replacement machine. 

But I am happy to report that as I write this post I am sipping a hot coffee from the NEW Keurig machine. 

Then last night I jumped in the car to grab something at the convenience store.  When I parked back in the yard I couldn't get the car door open.  I pushed the power locks on and off and then pushed and pushed. 

A brief second of panic.  I'm locked INSIDE the car.  Seriously?? Yes, locked IN the car.   For a minute I thought about Lauren who recently posted about a funny newspaper headline about a hooker.  And I imagined the front page of the local Daily News - - "Hooker Locked Inside Car".  Lol

As I mulled over my situation I said a tiny little prayer that it was only the drivers side door.  (It was)  Had it been all 4 doors, that would have been a very entertaining call to OnStar.  Sheesh! 

So my only option was to crawl over into the passenger side - over the console and the shifter.    Can you picture it?  Oh yeah, I was graceful as a gazelle as a tried to straddle my way over.   I was enacting a few Cirque du Soleil moves......(Ouch)

Sure, you're laughing - but try to do that in high heel boots.   This morning I went to work early so there would be no witnesses in the parking lot as I performed my graceful moves yet again. 

I called the Dealership and they had an appointment late this morning.  And yes, I had to do it again - in front of the service crew.  And yes, they giggled.   Just grateful I wasn't wearing a skirt!!  They did (mockingly) offer to pull me out through the window.  I declined. 

The door was under warranty but I still ended up leaving another $350.   The Visa Card was smoking today. 

Lets hope this is the end of the unplanned expenses for awhile.  The Law of 3's -  Pffft!

Chivalry is alive and well

I don't usually share a lot of details here about Mom's condition but this story is too cute not to share.  Today was Adult Day Care day.  I mentioned this before - there is an old fella there who has a bit of a crush on Mom.  It is just so cute.  He is 91 years old and he is always smiling at her or trying to sit beside her.   Some of the staff laugh because if he sees someone else going towards the empty seat by her, he shuffles a little faster to get there ahead.    But alas, Mom just ignores him - totally.  But he never gives up.

This afternoon when I arrived to pick her up, he is naturally seated beside her.  Mom is naturally looking in the opposite direction. LOL     Mom can't dress herself anymore and sometimes getting her to put her coat on is a challenge.  She won't bend her arms the right ways etc.   So one of the staff and I are struggling to get her coat on and before I know it - He jumps up (well, as much as a 91 year old can jump up).  He wants to help her.     Awwwww, how flippin sweet is that.......  Chivalry is alive and well at Day Care. 

Once the coat is on and she is ready to go he is saying "Goodbye Dear. Have a nice week and I'll see you soon" .  And Mom won't even look at him and she just says "Yeah, Whatever" 

Oh my goodness, I had to turn my head away.  I thought I might pee my pants laughing.    

As it draws nearer . . . .

Several blog posts today reminded me that it is indeed December 20th

The big day is approaching very quickly.

So I thought I would show you how that makes me feel . . . .

So very relaxed and zen-like

***

Come on people - I hope none of you believe that crap

This is actually closer to the truth . . .

There are still a list of gifts to buy, wrap, deliver.

There are still things to bake.

There are still ideas for the hard-to-buy-for that I am hoping will pop magically into my head.

There are annoying, crabby, pushy people in the stores that I want to run down with my cart.

(Hmmm, Is it possible I am one of them . . . . . . )

My dream of starting vacation at 4:30pm today is not going to happen.

Plan B - Noon tomorrow (fingers crossed)

This is starting to look plausible . . . .

Ho, Ho, Friggin Ho

Too close for comfort

Well, here we are again - less than a month from Christmas.  This startling revelation hit me this weekend.  And then that sick, panic feeling started to creep in.   I better get my crabby, bah-humbug butt in gear.   So far I'm not feeling the holiday mood.

Even putting up the Christmas Shower curtain (you know - the naked santa) didn't help.    I did get a few little decorations up and I hooked another small table mat.  I'm not going to blog it until I decide what to do with it.

I did make a list.  Not a naughty/nice list like Santa does - but a OMG . . . . this is what's left to do list.  Now if I could just tackle it quickly.   Actually the list made me feel better. 

Because I read about all your Thanksgiving menus, I am hungry for a big dinner with all the fixins.  A chicken is in the oven and the vegetables are waiting to be peeled. 

I hope to draw out another little gift mat tonight and maybe make the Christmas card list.  I am also going to continue my subtle campaign to switch to an artificial tree this year.  Dear old Auntie is holding out for a real one.  (But she isn't the one who does all the work)  I may have to get devious to get my way.

I realize this is a bit of a rambling, dis-jointed post.  It sums up the day as it seems I have hopped from one thing to another.  I hope this is not a pattern for the month.  

It wasn't my fault

Really, it wasn't my fault.   Don't judge me....

So, here is what happened and I will let you decide.

I had an appointment this morning in Moncton (shopping heaven) so I took the entire day off work.  After I was finished at the dentist office I stopped at the mall.

Danier Leathers had all their windows plastered with SALE signs. 

So I figured it wouldn't hurt to just go in and look around.........Right?  And my old black

leather jacket is getting ratty (no, seriously)  The sleeves and around the elbows are getting all worn and chalky looking so replacing it is not unreasonable.......Right?

Well, the Sale signs were not misleading.  All last years styles on sale - major markdowns.  I found a simple black lambskin jacket that was originally $450.  It was reduced to  $140 and it had a yellow sticker so there was another 20%.   Total price - $ 111

This is not the actual jacket but very similar

So......it wasn't my fault.  I had no choice but to buy it.......Right?

It would have been foolish to leave a deal like that behind.......Right?

And Momma didn't raise a fool.

And then a short while later I walked past a shoe store. (big mistake)

In the window were the most fabulous high black leather"hooker boots"

(Yes Lauren CFM's)

You know they are going to look perfect with the new jacket.......Right?

As a side note - both purchases are still hidden in the trunk of my car until I can sneak them in and mix them in with existing inventory.   LOL  And yes, I will pretend I had them last year and people must have forgotten they saw them before.  Don't rat me out, OK?

I celebrated my purchases over a chocolate pumpkin spice latte.  Mmmmm

Today was a good day

Time to put away the white purse

I was lost for a post today so I am repeating my post from last years Labor Day. 

White after Labor Day??

OK, I admit I am a little traditional and old fashioned.  Well, my dear Auntie says I'm only old fashioned when the situation suits me....but lets not go there!   LOL

But, when I was growing up there were hard and fast rules about white. 

1.  Never wear white before the long weekend in May

2. NEVER wear white after Labor Day

Now I realize that, like many things, these rules have changed with the times but I can't seem to change. 

This morning at work one of the young girls (mid 20's) came into my office with a huge grin.  She said "Look what I wore just for you"  Yup, she had on white pants, white shoes and a white purse!!!

She was laughing so hard, she said she had been planning this for weeks and was hoping I hadn't taken the day off!

Then, to make it worse, she said she couldn't wait to go show her Mother after work because she would be horrified too.   

HER MOTHER.........

OMG, I thought I was young but apparently I'm like their mothers!!!  That part was hard to take!  LOL

So what is your stand on White after Labor Day??? 

Did you change your purse today??

 

(I can't wait to see what she wears tomorrow......)

Mad Cow?

Today I had a brief case of Mad Cow Disease.  I don't often blog about work related things but I thought I would share this today.

We have a regular meeting called Committee of the Whole - or as we call it COW for short.   The staff member who usually puts together the information package is on vacation.  So last night around 10:30pm I had a message from my boss with a heads up that I needed to prepare the documents this morning for distribution by the end of the day.

Its always been an inside joke at the office that you need to take cover on the day the COW package is being prepared.  It is stressful and not a fun job.  And whoever is doing it is NOT in a good mood that day.

So this morning I decided to get it over with first thing.  I went to the shared folder to retrieve the documents and begin to edit them.   Guess what??  The folder was empty.   And the symptoms of my Mad Cow began to surface. 

The next couple of hours involve a lot of calling, emailing, nagging, begging, muttering bad words and eventually getting everything ready.    I had it approved by the boss before 2pm.  

But the funniest part of the day was around 3pm when one of the staff stuck her head in my office and said  "I know you are busy, but when you are over your Mad Cow thing, I have a story"     I had to bust out laughing.  She was holding it in all day but sometimes you just gotta get a story off your chest, even if you have to encounter a Mad Cow. 

Evil Genius for Hire?? Any takers??

OK, sometimes you gotta wonder about people.  This morning a co-worker sent me a link to an advertisement on Kijiji (a Canadian Craigs List).

This was an actual posting.  Luckily I printed it as soon as I read it, because it was too good not to save.  I tried to send a friend the link this afternoon but the ad has since been pulled.    Here is the ad - verbatim from what I printed.

"Nemesis required.  6 - month project with possibility to extend"

I've been trying to think of ways to spice up my life.  I'm 35 years old, happily married with two kids and I have a good job in insurance.  But somethings missing.  I feel like I'm old before my time.  I need to inject some excitement into my daily routine through my arm before its too late.  I need a challenge, something to get the adrenaline pumping again.  An addiction would be nice, but, in short, I need a nemesis.  I'm willing to pay $350 up front for your services as an arch enemy over the next six months.   Nothing crazy.  Steal my parking space, knock my coffee over, trip me when I'm running to catch the BART and occasionally whisper in my ear "Ahhhh, we meet again."    That kind of thing.   Just keep me on my toes.  Complacency will be the death of me.  You need to have an evil streak and be blessed with innate guile and cunning.  You should also be adept at inconspicuous pursuit.  Evil laugh preferred.  Send me a photo and a brief explanation why you would be a good nemesis.  British accent preferred.

OK folks,  just how darn bored with your life do you have to be to post an online ad inviting this stranger into your life?  

There have been some famous hero - nemesis partnerships

Superman and Lex Luther

Batman and the Joker

Spider-Man and Dr. Octopus

So now I have to wonder if he got any responses.  And then of course my dark twisty mind went to work thinking about what kinds of things his nemesis could do to spice up this poor lonely (naive) guys life.  I thought his suggestions in the ad were a little tame (or lame)

Lets see,  Get the the $350 up front and then steal the guys car, leave it in the yard of a local House of Ill-repute and report it stolen.    Ummmm, steal his credit card, buy sexy lingerie, send it to his wife at home with another womans name on the card.     Ahhhh, hack his work email account and send imappropriate emails to the boss's wife.    Well......they guy said he wanted to spice up his life..............

I did consider applying (briefly).   I practiced my evil laugh all day  Muwahhahhahaha

Any other suggested activities for a pure evil nemesis?   I know I have lots of readers here with dark twisty minds like mine.  Suggestions??

Just think - this guy could be following YOU around

What's new in the 'hood

I thought I'd fill you in on what's been happening around here in "Crazy-ville".  It is never dull.  

First I will start with the good, fun stuff.   I bought myself a new toy. 

A new iPad2.   Yeahhhhhh!  And to sweeten the deal I sold my original iPad to a friend so it didn't feel so extravagant.

There has been another major purchase in the house.   On Friday last week I took Aunties car into get safety inspected.  I did not have high hopes.  Her car was old and has had some major issues in the past few years but she refused to trade.  Well, as I suspected it didn't pass inspection and needed several thousand dollars of work.  

I could just imagine the drama that was destined to unfold.  You know I love Auntie, but seriously the woman could complicate a glass of water!!   I could picture her trying to pick a car and going back and forth.  I remember the drama when we had to buy a new stove.

Well, I couldn't take it.  I'm a "git er done" kind of girl.   Soooo, before I went home and told her the bad news, I went out on the dealership lot, found a good safe used car, made the deal with the salesman and had it delivered to our driveway.  

They were leaving it with her to try for a couple of days and then she could sign the papers.  Well.......she was hopping mad for a few hours.  Then she took it for a drive.  It is a little smaller so it is more comfortable for her and its so cute.  (And I did make a really good deal)  Now she is happy and the papers are being signed tomorrow.  

But it seemed like everytime I went out I noticed her car trunk was up.  Noooo, she says, I didn't pop the trunk.  Well, I say.......it didn't pop itself.  So then it happened again and I said "WHAT are you doing??  Stop pushing the trunk button on the remote"

Are you ready for this.......................

She says, "I'm not pushing the trunk button.....I'm pushing the CAR button"

  
O.M.G...........  Seriously people, does this explain why I am sometimes dancing on the edge???

LOL  I think she has it under control now.  She will never push that button again.   She was hopping mad because of course I couldn't stop laughing at her. 

One last car related news of the week.   Yesterday morning I woke early and as I passed the bathroom window at 5:45am I looked out and my house was surrounded by 3 police cars.

google image

I'm not sure which of my neighbors was in trouble but they didn't need to all park in front of MY house in the process of a raid. (or whatever it was)    At least it was too early for a lot of traffic.  I wouldn't want everyone thinking the 3 police cruisers were here. 

Anyways, thats enough neighborhood news for tonight.   Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway in my last post if you haven't already.

Claws and paws

Nothing says summer like fresh lobster.  In fact I waiting while they were being cooked.  I got them 20 minutes out of the pot.  Doesn't get much fresher than that, does it?

I made a small potato salad, an artichoke and hearts of palm salad and a big bowl of melted butter for dipping. 

Mmmmmm, yummy.  And there is enough for leftovers tomorrow too.

The only problem is it's not garbage pick-up week so now I have to find a "creative and non-illegal" way to dispose of the shells.  Trust me - lobster shells left for 2 weeks in warm weather would not be fun.

I want to show you the visitor we had this morning.  It appears he (or she) decided that our backyard was a buffet or something.

I'm not sure but I think it is a muskrat.  There is a small creek that runs down the hill behind our house.  He was still wet so I think that is where he came from.

He was not the least bit concerned with me.  In fact, he was either posing for the camera or telling me to not disturb him. 

 He is kind of cute until I noticed a few holes dug in the back yard as I was trying to sneak around and get his picture.  After seeing the holes - and putting 2 and 2 together, he started to look less cute and more like a varmit.

He continued to ignore me and eat his breakfast of leaves.  And that is when my attention slowly drifted to the right.........and I noticed a different kind of leaves.......

My SUNFLOWER.   If  Mr. Varmit thinks he is getting a gourmet dessert by munching on my lone sunflower sprout - he has another thing coming.    If he touches it, his days are numbered.  I will show no mercy to defend my baby sprout.  

Consider yourself warned Mr. Muskrat

Wednesday Word of the Week

The word of the day is ..... Stink-eye

 stink eye



Part of Speech: n


Definition: a facial expression of distrust, disdain, or disapproval; also called skunk eye, hairy eyeball


Example: When he kept me waiting, I gave him the stink eye.


Etymology: 1962

All last night I anticipated the Stink-eye.  I knew it was coming.  This morning was the new "Monthly Management Meeting" at work.   I was dreading it (for good reason).  First I must preface by saying that I have a great Boss.  Really, I'm not kidding here. 

BUT (there's always a but) he is a bit of a work-a-holic and ridiculously organized, efficient and always totally prepared.  The rest of the management team have been having trouble keeping up with him.  This is a particularly busy year for capital projects etc and we are all maxed out.  So preparing the level of detail for the reports he was requiring had us all wound up yesterday.

I knew I was not totally prepared and I did not want to get the Stink-eye.  Have you ever got the Stink-eye from your boss??   It sucks.    I did get the old hairy eyeball but much sooner than I anticipated.  It was 5 minutes to nine and I was setting up my laptop in the meeting room.  We have a projector so our documents can be displayed on the wall for everyone to see.  I was all anxious and nervous and dag-nabbit, the projector wouldn't work.  Oh no I think - this is not good, starting off with a problem.  I dialed the tech officer's cell phone.......no answer.  Crap.   I dial her assistant.....no answer.  Nooooooo.  I go out to the receptionist and tell them to find someone and get them in here now!  I continue to try and connect and just get an error message.  Then the boss, who is sitting right in front of me, asks if I am ready to start.  I frustratedly confess that I can't get the projector to work - its broken.

Then there it was.............................

He looked at me and said.................."Ummm, you might want to plug the cable into your laptop."  OMG I got so wound up waiting for my report to get ripped to shreds I didn't connect the cable.  I was so mortified and then the nervous giggle burst out.  He was laughing by this time too.   Then I quietly called the receptionist and whispered "cancel tech support".   

Actually that little incident did calm me down a bit and whether it is good or bad - no one escaped the Stink-eye.  I was not alone.  

This week's word is.......Anticipate
an·tic·i·pate   [an-tis-uh-peyt]
verb, -pat·ed, -pat·ing.

–verb (used with object)

1. to realize beforehand; foretaste or foresee: to anticipate pleasure.

2. to expect; look forward to; be sure of: to anticipate a favorable decision.

3. to perform (an action) before another has had time to act.

4. to answer (a question), obey (a command), or satisfy (a request) before it is made: He anticipated each of my orders.

5. to nullify, prevent, or forestall by taking countermeasures in advance: to anticipate a military attack.

6. to consider or mention before the proper time: to anticipate more difficult questions.

7. to be before (another) in doing, thinking, achieving, etc.: Many modern inventions were anticipated by Leonardo da Vinci.

8. Finance . (a. to expend (funds) before they are legitimately available for use.

b. to discharge (an obligation) before it is due.

–verb (used without object)

9. to think, speak, act, or feel an emotional response in advance.

I am anticipating the arrival of all things Spring.  Green grass, tulip sprouts, new blossoms on trees, putting out the patio furniture, throwing something on the bbq for supper, sitting outside without needing to wear an arctic parka......

Yesterday it was plus 11 degrees and then it rained.  So virtually all the dirty crusty old snow has disappeared.   I anticipate road trips with the camera to get that perfect spring image.

I am also anticipating that our annual operating budget will be passed soon so we can get on with business.  I am REALLY anticipating getting approvals to proceed with the hiring of our summer students in the next month.  Mainly because I am sick to death of parents calling me "daily" to give their kid a job.  Here's a hint people.......send the student in themselves so I can see that they are ambitious and want to work.  (Arrgh, sorry had to get that rant in there)  Oh, and P.S.  stop bugging me at the grocery store.  You see me there every week and barely nod but come April I'm your favorite person.  I'm not stupid !

I also anticipate the Easter weekend coming soon.  Since Easter is later this year, the darn easter candy has been in the stores since February 15th and I am sick of eating it.  (yes, I know....self control.  Well I don't have any !)

Speaking of no self control, I am anticipating a call from the accountant any minute telling me our taxes are done - so I can see how much wool I can buy.  (hehehe  Watch me jinx it and end up owing money!)
What are you anticipating this time of year?

Laughter

As I have gotten older I realize that most things in life can be better with some good old fashioned laughter.

A smile, a snicker, a giggle, or a big old belly laugh can turn things around in many cases.  If you've noticed I tend to have a bit of a warped and twisty sense of humor.

When I first started reading blogs and then writing one, I only looked for rug hooking sites.  As I have explored blogland I have discovered some really creative and funny blogs on a variety of topics from recipes to spirituality to just random fun.  When something in my day goes a little wonky, I often find myself blog hopping and I find myself now with a wide variety of types of blogs on my regular visit list.

One of those blogs I recently discovered is the Chatty Crone.  What a nice surprise to visit the other day and discover that she has given me an award.

The rules say that now I need to tell you 7 things you don't know about me.  This is difficult because I tell you all most everything now!  But here goes

1. I like all music with the exception of rap music
2. I used to play the clarinet
3. I cannot - under any circumstances - clean out the inside of a chicken
4. I am not fond of heights.
5. I once smuggled some illegal sea shells and coral from the Phillipines inside the battery compartment of my laptop.  (I almost peed my pants going through security)
6. I'm not sure, but I may have eaten dog while in the Philippines.  (My strategy was not to ask to many questions when we were being hosted by the locals)
7. I hate being late - or when someone else is late.  Arrrgh!

Now I am supposed to pass this award along to 7 other bloggers, but I have decided not to pick.  There are just too many worthy recipients.  Soooo, Happy Valentine's Day - If you think you are funny - please accept this award!

The Ugly and the Very Beautiful

I think its best to start with the ugly part and then soften you up at the end of the post.  So here is the ugly

This is the mountain of snow at the end of my driveway.  As you can see it is getting quite high.   The next photo is what is behind that mound.  If you look just above the word "bench" you will see just the top board at the back of the bench peeking out.

Isn't that pathethic?  There is so much snow back there I think it will be June before it melts enough to see grass again.   Now do you understand why I am so fed up?

Now its time for the beautiful part.  Tonight I had to go to the florist to send a plant to a sick relative.  There was an old guy in front of me.  Well, you know I am chatty so of course I started talking to him.  I guess I have a thing for old guys.  Not in a Anna Nicole Smith kind of way - I just think they are adorable.   Lol

Anyway, he was buying red roses.  And he was being very careful to ensure he had some greenery and baby breath to make sure they looked extra pretty.  I thought it was so cute the attention he was paying to selecting the best flowers.  So I started to tease him and ask him if he was "in trouble".  He had a great laugh and said he was much to old to get into trouble.

I was noticing the florist was making 2 bundles, one with a dozen and another with only 6 roses.  He then pointed to the dozen and said his wife was in the hospital and he was taking them to her.  Awwww, how sweet is that!!  Then with a very straight face he pointed to the smaller bundle and said those were for his girlfriend!   OMG.....I tried not to react too much but I am pretty sure that my mouth flew open and so did the florist.

Then the charming old bugger grinned and told us his wife had a room-mate in the hospital who didn't get alot of visitors so he was giving her the smaller bundle.

AWWWWWW, isn't that the sweetest thing??  I was so touched that he would be so thoughtful.  I think the florist and I both wanted to give him a hug.  He certainly did warm this old, cold, snowy heart today. 

Wednesday Word of the Week

The weeks word is  RELENTLESS
–adjective

that does not relent; unyieldingly severe, strict, or harsh; unrelenting: a relentless enemy.


Origin:   1585–95; relent + -less

—Related forms


re·lent·less·ly, adverb
re·lent·less·ness, noun

—Synonyms
rigid, unbending, obdurate, adamant, unyielding. See inflexible.

January has been "relentless".  The snow and cold has been "relentless".  It snowed last night. 

Another storm is coming tomorrow.

My workload has been "relentless".   My boss is "relentless" with meetings, tasks, deadlines........

My in-basket on my desk has spilled over, yet my out-basket is not keeping up. 

And the diet.......lets not even go there.



My word of the day

Today it seemed that the one word that crossed my mind, passed my lips, or was sarcastically muttered under my breath was.....WHATEVER. 

Yes I know, not the most mature of words.  Perhaps it is just the "January Blahs" that has taken over me.   I am tired of winter for one thing.  I don't enjoy the cold or the snow and ice.  And I have never understood winter sports.  Skiing???  Since when is strapping two sticks to your feet and hurling yourself down the side of a mountain a sensible thing to do?    It will sound cliche, but I'm the type who thinks it is more fun to dress up in cool ski outfit, toss some loose snow on yourself and then head into the lodge and take up a chair near the roaring fire with a nice drink! 

I think maybe my tolerance level gets short (OK, shorter) this time of year.  I can't get wrapped up in O.P.M's (other people's moods) either.  I have too much going on at home and work to get  caught up in someone elses mood.  By mid morning I was scared that my "Whatevers" might escape my mouth at the wrong moment so I spent most of the day with my door closed.  I actually got alot of work done that way.  But I find it tends to make people nervous when HR has the door closed.  I could almost hear some of them thinking..."What is she up to in there?"  But today that just added to the entertainment!  (I know, mean!)

Or perhaps it was the early morning shovelling that made me feel like someone peed in my cornflakes this morning.  We did keep our electricity last night but a fair amount of snow fell.  I took these pictures last night around 9pm from my back door.

Just so I end this post on a positive note --  I tried the milk toast.  Not bad at all.  I opted for the sugar version as opposed to the pepper. (Yeah - big surprise I opted for sugar....lol)

Burning calories

I had so much fun reading your comments on my last post.  I'm so happy you were all so amused by the fact that I turned into Shamu the Whale over the holidays!  HAHA Kidding girls!

Actually, I laughed so much I decided to google how many calories you can burn by laughing. I like this particular article that says you can laugh yourself skinny!   So I must have lost at least a pound reading your comments. 

And someone suggested hooking would burn some more calories so I am off to a great start without even breaking a sweat!   So, before you ask --- No, I haven't fired up the Wii yet but there is ANOTHER storm coming this weekend so I will definately try one of those workouts.  Being back to work after 2 weeks off was enough of an effort for the past few days.

Today I had an inspiration for another rug, so now I am really motivated to finish the sheep.  If I can finish both before the fund raiser I might switch the one I donate.  I'll keep you posted.

Work, for real this time

After yesterdays lazy-themed post I decided to get up early and get cracking!  First thing I did was give us a break from the turkey leftovers and made a quick meatloaf.  It was a nice change of pace.

It wasn't long before the "Golden Girls" got up and Auntie had a hair appointment.  I didn't get the front of her car completely shoveled out the other day before it froze, but the back was clear.  As she was leaving I told her to just back straight out and not turn the wheels.  And then I watched in the window.   Did she listen???   Noooooo.  She turned the wheels and put it in drive.   And Yes, she got herself stuck.  I watched her spin, and spin, and spin - all the while thinking ---"I TOLD YOU SO"

So, I got dressed and went out and that stupid car would not move.  After a minute she went back in the house.  I thought - good idea - stay in the sun porch til I get the car moved.  I was making some progress and had just got a little momentum and was ready to tramp on the gas pedal ......when she comes back out with a shovel and stood in front of the car!!!!   Un- freaking-believable!   I slammed on the brakes but for a split second I thought "no jury would convict me".  (kidding.....sort of)    Let me tell you - the air was blue inside the car - my lips were just-a-flapping!

That was the last straw.  I told her to get in my car and I would drive her.  It was only a couple of streets away and Mom was locked inside the house.  When I got back I was still mad and determined to move that stupid car.   The wheels were spinning and smoking and I didn't care.  Then I see a young man coming up the street.  Geez, he will think I a dumb woman driver!  Anyway, he walked in the driveway and pushed me out.   What a sweet young man.  But Auntie is still in the dog-house with me!

I took out my frustration on my closet next.  I ended up taking 2 large garbage bags to the Thrift Store Drop Off and 1 bag is destined for the curb.  In between throw in 4 loads of laundry, put half of the gifts away from under the tree, and then we had 2 different car-loads of visitors before supper.   And in the Maritime way - visitors all get served tea and crumpets.  Just like going to Deanne's shop - you get offered a cup of tea!  I did dishes 5 times today! 

So I think I made up for my lazy day yesterday.

To answer a couple of questions asked lately:
1) A neighbor checked our beach and my cottage is OK.  We are on the high side of the road and the majority of damage was on the other side of the lane.   Whew!
2) The Kindle - Well, it fell through.  Apparently the wife committed it to a family member.  (This is another reason to stay single - hahaha)  I guess that is just another excuse to get an IPAD.  lol

Work, work, work

Cleaning out my closet, putting away the Christmas gifts,

sweeping up all the fir needles that are falling

off the tree,  cooking something so we can

eat something other than turkey.

Oh,  these are NOT things I did today.  I just thought about all of them.

My day off

I took the day off work today to catch up on some holiday chores and try to make sure I meet my self imposed deadline of "no stores by December 20th".   I had ordered a couple of specialty items that had to be picked up in Moncton (about 40 minutes away) so I hit the road first thing this morning.  One of the items was at Costco.  I hate that place.  Its so busy and crowded and just a pain in the butt.  So as I was getting close to the building I started getting that Yucky feeling but hoped I could just get in and out quick.  (Yeah, right)

Anyway, I am about to turn into the parking lot.  There are 2 lanes of traffic that merge into one leading to the parking.  Now, the standard practice for this traffic situation is usually a give and go thing.  One car goes and then lets the next merge etc.  So it's my turn to merge..................and this sweet looking little old lady in a gold Toyota, looks in my face..........and then tramps on the gas pedal and CUTS ME OFF!

WELL.......My mouth flew open and I sat there for a second stunned (and then majorly ticked off) and I looked and the man in the truck behind her was losing his mind laughing!!  He waved for me to pull out - still laughing.

The sweet old lady (I mean old bat) pulled into a parking space and I pulled in 2 spaces over.  I was thinking to myself "you might have gotten in the parking lot first, but I'll be getting in the store first!"  The laughing man in the truck pulled in beside me and must have seen the devious look on my  face and whispered "we can race her".   I swear I might have knocked her over if I had to!  LOL

Then after I fought my way through a couple of stores, my phone beeped.  A friend of mine was in Moncton also so we arranged to meet for a bit at a cafe.  I had the most yummy Candy Cane Hot Chocolate and a giant ginger cookie.

That was a perfect break to re-energize me for a few more stores.  Then I arrived back home and delivered a special gift.  Five years ago I lost a dear friend tragically just before Christmas.  Ever since then I deliver a special gift to her Mom.  I guess its my way of showing her I still remember her daughter and also I  kind of think I'm giving her the gift that Carrie isn't here to deliver.   Sappy eh!  But this is the first time we didn't cry during the delivery.  I think that is progress.

I have updated the adventures of my travelling cutterhead.  Its getting funnier and funnier.  I not sure if UPS updates their tracking on the weekend but I will keep you all posted.