Pet Peeves...

Oh come on - we all have them. Yes, even you!

And me.

I admit it.

And I bitch about them....

Only I do it when alone, so no one hears.

Funny how little things can drive you up a wall. Stupid little things...

Like not shutting doors.

Oh, I'm not talking just about outside doors - I mean cabinet, closet and pantry doors.

And I am not the one leaving them open.

Therefore, it has to be the roomie. Or a ghost. But since the house is only a year old I tend to think roomie.

I can walk into the kitchen at any time of day or night and there it is...the pantry door standing open. Anywhere from a few inches to completely open, door swung out all the way.

I then can turn around - go into the bathroom and the linen closet door will be open. Why? I haven't a clue. Plenty of toilet paper on the thingie...tissues on the back of the toilet....toothpaste in the drawer...clean towels on the rack.

Next, we approach the laundry room and yep - there it is...the door to the garage...open.

Mom used to say, "you were not born in a barn - shut the door!"

Me? I am going to start leaving notes...post it notes....

"Please shut the pantry door. The canned goods have complained they can't sleep due to the light."

"Please shut the linen closet door. I'm tired of hearing the towels and sheets bitch about not having any privacy."

"Please shut the door to the garage. The garage called and said its getting too warm in there from the furnace running all the time."

Ok, ok...enough about doors.

How about people who mix up there/their? Or our/are? Especially when its a manager making the big bucks at your last place of employment....yea, the one that laid you off due to financial problems.

Or, people who drive way under the speed limit on the interstate - in the left lane.

Ok, ok...I'll stop. But you have to admit - we all have pet peeves.

What are yours?

I have a new friend...

This is my new friend.

Actually, she is an old friend. I just did not see her for a year.

Last summer she came to visit for one night. I fed her, she was so very hungry. Turkey breast was all I had and she loved it.

I went out the next day and got some cat food, just in case... But, she didn't return.

Until Wednesday night. The roomies son came in and told me we had a visitor.

She was very skittish at first. Wanted to come near me, yet she didn't want to. I talked gently to her and would just reach out my hand.

It didn't take long and she was all over me, wanting to be loved.

I got out the cat food (yes, I still had it) and she gobbled it up. I sat out there with her that night, loving on her and trying to get her ole purrbox to working. She has such a loud meow! I finally came in - after about 2 hours and it was getting rather cool outside.

She came back the next night. I sat and loved on her again, fed her again even though she wasn't quite as hungry as before.

I have to wonder if she belongs to someone. She isn't starved skinny thank goodness.

Last night when we got back from a baseball game, there she was - hanging on the screen on the front window! So I fed her, loved her, left her water and came in after a while.

When I looked out, she was still there - curled up asleep in the big flower pot.

I think I am in love.

Exercising is not my idea of fun...

But, I believe its become what is commonly known as a necessary evil in my life.

And yes, it is evil.

And yes, I am becoming obsessive compulsive about it.

And yes, its driving me nuts.

Ok, so if you have read my blog in the past you might know that I quit smoking in July of 2007. And no, I have no smoked since (yea me!). But...

I have gained weight.

(Insert extremely long, heavy and sad sigh here...)

No, I have not gained 50,000 lbs or even 50 lbs but I am struggling to get my butt into my favorite jeans and its killing me. Doctor said he isn't worried. He said, "Sandy, you had two back surgeries last summer and you stopped smoking. You are bound to gain weight!"

But I don't wanna....not any more thankyouverymuch.

So, every morning before I bathe I get on my exercise bike and do 5-8 miles. Then I get out the exercise ball and do a bunch of crunches and the twisty crunches.

Then...later in the day (I'm unemployed remember - so I need something to keep me busy and off the streets) I put the exercise dvd in and either do cardio or some other stuff that I have no idea what its called - toning or something like that. And then after dinner (I usually wait half an hour after I eat - don't want to get cramps and ...ohwait...forget this part) I get on my exercise bike again and do 10-12 more miles, more crunches on the exercise ball, some other exercises on the floor. Sometimes I alternate though and use the treadmill at night and do one or two miles (I set it at about 3.7 which on the treadmill I have is a pretty damned good clip - the roomie says I'm not walking but trotting).

I am trying to really cut back on the food intake and am drinking a ton of water. (Ok, plug for ole wallyworld....they have this great great great sparkling flavored water - the mandarin orange is my favorite! I drink two or so liters a day.)

I think I am noticing a change in my old body, I feel like I've lost a couple pounds.

I do not own a scale.

I do not want holes in the wall from throwing it.

So no, exercising is not fun. It makes you hot and sweaty.

But unlike sex there is no climatic ending...

Damnit.

Anyway, maybe someday I'll be skinny again...at least skinnier :)

Happy Birthday Christopher!

Twenty-six years ago today I was blessed. At 1:06pm a gift was given to me unlike any gifts before or since...

My son.

Today he turns 26 years old. Hard to imagine that my boy is almost the age I was when I had him!

The joy this child has brought into my life - well, it can't be measured. As a baby there was a constant smile on his face - a huge huge smile and laughter.

I learned to look at life in a totally different way - through his eyes. Watching him grow and learn! Everyday there was something new.

Oh, I'm not saying my son is perfect! Trust me when I tell you that he has put me through some trials and tribulations that I wouldn't want others to go through - but it has brought us to where we are today.

He is a good kid. He works hard. He has a plan for the future. He has goals and he is working hard to reach them. He is making a good life for himself and his future family. And I couldn't be more proud of him.

So today at 1:06pm I will say out loud - Happy Birthday my son - and I will thank God for the gift he gave me.

Happy Birthday Christopher. Your mother loves you very much.

Here we go again.....

Friday afternoon at approximately 4:30 the phone rang. I checked caller ID and it said Private Call Private Number...

That's a new one.

And, what's surprising is - I answered it.

"Hello, is Sandra home?" the call started. "Speaking" I said.

"We would like to know if you could come in next Wednesday around lunch time for an interview?"

"I can do that" I replied "But...may I ask who is calling?"

"Iamgoingtomumblethenamesoyouwontunderstand, Patent Attorney's", she stated.

I told her I could be there at noon and had to ask for an address, and I asked who I should ask for when I get there.

"Oh, Matt or Marilyn"

I had no idea in hell who had just called me. I had an address and a time to be at that address next Wednesday.

I love Google.

I put the address in and presto!! I know who it is I am going to see next Wednesday about a possible job!

Yea!

Now, I have absolutely no idea what the position is. I truly do not remember applying for a position with a law firm - but since I have done database/admin/management/IT/MIS/purchasing type jobs for the last 30 years it must be one of those or a combination thereof.

I told the roomie (I am trying desperately not to get excited after the last disappointment) and he just said "Pam works for an attorney and only gets paid minimum wage as a file clerk."

So much for moral support.

And, I am NOT Pam (she is his ex-wife, divorced in 1991).

I told him if I want to earn minimum wage I will work for Wal-Mart or something like that. Oh, and I have not applied for any file clerk jobs. I'll leave those for Pam.

Anyway - I have an interview. Maybe this is the first (well, fourth actually) of many to come. Maybe it will be the job I've always wanted. Fun, fortune, fame...wait...its a patent attorney office. ohwell

I can dream can't I?

It really is Spring!

Hot Damn! WhooooHoooo! Whoopee!

I do believe spring has finally sprung!

I have a flower in my yard!

I planted a lot of bulbs last fall, wondering at the time if anything would grow in the dirt we have. But lo and behold I have a flower! And we have a lot more coming through the dirt.

I can not wait to get outside and play in the dirt. Our neighbor across the street actually told the roomie last summer that I shamed her into hiring a landscaper! She said our yard looked so nice she had to get some color in hers too.

It's odd though. Growing up I would watch my parents working out in the yard. Dad loved it - absolutely LOVED it. Mom too. Me? ohgoddoIhavetocutthegrass? But now I love it.

Actually I think its a great way to get my frustrations out.

Poor little weeds.

So, with the showing of my gorgeous yard...ok ok...my one flower, it is my pleasure to announce that spring is really and truly here!

Yeah!!!

Arrgghhhh....

Ok, so the last few weeks have been kinda rough.

I lost my job of 8 years. A job I really loved. A job where I felt that I contributed to the good of the world, where I helped people once in a while. A job that got to my heart and soul.

But its gone and now my focus is on trying to find another job.

(Ok, so I had a meltdown in my previous post. But I wanted that job damnit!)

So today I got up and again went searching through the newspaper classifieds both online and the paper itself. I went to a few other job search engines and searched and searched - and as usual I sent out a few resumes.

Then, I went to visit Mom and my sister. While there I got Mom setup with online banking so we can keep a closer watch on her checking account and I filed for her to possibly get the now infamous stimulus payment! She gets Social Security only, so I went online to the IRS site and got the paperwork - tried to do it online through a couple of the free sites and it was more difficult than filing regular taxes. Sooooo I said screw it and did it the old fashioned way - my hand!

Yes - I used an ink pen!

Now, when I left home this morning I was wearing a white long-sleeved t-shirt with a pretty red hooded sweater and my most favorite pair of jeans. I was looking pretty spiffy if I do say so myself. And, when at Moms I took a trip to the bathroom to do what people do in bathrooms and....

arrrrghhhhhhh.......

the zipper broke!

Not one, but two of the little metal teeth fell out and it can't be fixed.

I think mom and my sister heard me arrrghh because when I came out they asked what was wrong.

My sister giggled.

Mom said I could take them and get a new zipper. Not worth it - they were bought on sale and I only paid about $15 for them.

arrrghhhhh.....

So now not only am I old, ugly and unemployed - I am minus my most favorite jeans.

damndamndamn

shit even...