My Life Right Now

Anybody out there have a silver bullet? In the classic tradition of freaking yourself out….the girl is convinced there is a werewolf outside. Ever since she was little she was scared of werewolves. I have no idea where this fear even comes from. I heard the noise too and while I can’t explain what it was, my mind did not jump to werewolf.

She just announced that she will be sleeping on the couch since her over active imagination has gotten the better of her. I tried reasoning with her that she would be safer upstairs but she will hear none of it. I told her that this was a sign and we should watch some Twilight where the werewolves are all snuggly and ripply.

Guess where the girl spent today? She went over a friends and a bunch of them watched scary movies all day. This is a scary movie side effect and the part that makes the best stories. Remember that time? Yep this is one of those. I can’t say anything, I have been there, done that…

Okay, where was I before I was dragged into the werewolf drama? Oh yeah, the boring stuff.  Fridays seem to be my new crash day. I accomplished nothing last night. I took a nap and cleaned out about 1000 emails only 6346  more to go. I am just a little behind and Yahoo is no help. I am still on the fence about changing. Then I remembered that my brother gave us all emails from a family site that he built. I wonder if he could change where the mail goes? Then I could just use my first name@mylastname.com. I’ll have to check with him tomorrow.

Today I did get some of the things that needed to be done checked off of my list. I never got around to washing my bed on Wednesday so I did that this morning as well as all of the towels. I stopped at the Restore and while there are still no shutters they did have Christmas wrap for 40 cents a roll. I picked up a fancy gold one with angels for PT’s present and four rolls of Star Wars Christmas wrap. There isn’t a single member in my family who wouldn’t appreciate that. I also picked up a striped kraft type paper roll so I shouldn’t have to buy any wrapping paper this holiday season. Even when you buy it at the end of the season at 75% off the money is still going to a corporation….all of the proceeds at the Restore go towards building someone a house. Whenever I have a project  I stop here first.

Speaking of projects….I would love an opinion on these choices please.

This is the first choice and the one that I have been tossing around for a while. I wouldn’t make it this long and I would have to cover it with contact paper or pay to have it laminated.  I’m a little scared of the contact paper with a project like this since it isn’t very forgiving. It is different and really takes the family pictures out of the box.

The second one came to me when my cousin was moving and offered me drawers. They are only $2.00 at the Restore if I do this and need more. If I did this one, I would feature my grandmother who was a photographer in a time that women were not. I thought about giving the drawer legs and making a shadow box that way…I think this idea may not be thought out all of the way yet.

Lastly, I liked this idea. How many things can I make that take up wall space? I wouldn’t put love on the bottom. Maybe La Familia? Or even just Family?

The clock is ticking and I need to pick a project and run with it. I only have to make four of each  for this particular project and that isn’t so bad. It would only be three but I like to make one for myself as well.

When I came home from work I put a chicken in the crockpot. I am making potato soup tomorrow where I will use a little of the broth but not much. There are too many sniffly people at work and in public places to not have broth on hand at all time. I peeled an onion and tossed it in whole and threw in some whole stalks of celery and it smells so good on here right now. I ran out of thieves oil and I have a new order on the way and it cannot get here fast enough. What do you do to battle the cold germs out there?

I am going to get my waitress uniform out of the wash and toss the couch slip cover in and I am off to bed. I wish everyone a relaxing day tomorrow…..Zia

PS. I am mostly sure that we are keeping the cat. It still needs to get checked out but it seems to be fitting right in. I have decided to call him Rumple…it just fits.

Can you see the resemblance?

The Most Beautiful Time of the Year

I love Fall, it is my favorite time of the year. The trees are at their most beautiful with the dazzling colors of the leaves. They put on their finest dresses with the most stunning colors and dance until the last leaf has fallen. The air is crisp, the sun is still warm, and the days grow short. It is the time of bonfires, hot apple cider, carving pumpkins and roasting seeds. All of the creatures that go bump in the night come out and do their best to make you jump and scream. Yesterday you learned that if I was a color I would be that purple with all of the red in it. Today I am telling you that if I was a season, I would be Fall.

There are two times a year when I miss cable, October and December. I have Hocus Pocus on DVD but it’s not the same as watching it ten times a season on cable. I like the cheesy Christmas movies in December as well but that’s another post. AMC is another one that is good for scary movies in October.

I came home from work tonight and smudged the whole house. Today is one of those days that is really good for that so I whipped out my sage and got busy.

I smudged every room in the house. Usually I say the same thing through the whole process but my old house was like two square feet…I have more options with the new house. I gave each room it’s own meaning, which is something new. I was also bothered by the smell of burned sage in my hair, that is new as well.

We did have fun at work today as predicted but we still have one more day to go. I was invited over RD’s tonight so after about a half an hour of bad solo karaoke I went over my friends. She messed up the nights and thought today was Friday but that was okay….I had wine and cheese so it was fine. It was fun and I was still home by 9:30.

When I came in every light was on and I thought “did I leave these lights on?” Then I heard the shower and realized that  the girl was home. The boy is still at work and that means I cannot go to bed until we move the cars. In that regard, I do miss the old driveway.

So….about that cat? I am still going with a boy since it is mr bossy pants. The girl wants to call it Leviathan and I want to call it Morning Star. I am not even sure we are keeping it but we need something more than “hey cat.” It hates to be held, wakes me up numerous times in the night, and demands to be fed immediately. I say that we start calling it by these names and see what it ends up acknowledging. I think submarine when I hear leviathan, not sea monster. Maybe that is where they got the name for the movie? There are probable three people out there that get my Morning Star reference and I am not referring to the Saints Row gang from the video game.

It was a long day….it was an easy day at work….a fun one at home and tomorrow is finally Friday!   Happy Fall and happy almost Friday….Zia

Plans….What Plans?

Yes my plan for some connection and a trip to a water source never happened today. Most of it was distraction, the visiting my friend in the hospital was important.

I have always referred to her as my partner in crime in the past and since it’s not a secret anymore I will now refer to her as Mon Cher.  That is how I started every letter that I wrote her over the summer and what I called her when we worked together. “Morning Mon Cher” …..just rolls right off the tongue. I had some extra time tonight so I went to visit her.  I saw her face when she tasted that hospital food so whenever I get the chance to bring her something to eat I will. I had some of those Swedish type meatballs and gravy left so I smashed up some red skin potatoes and brought her dinner. I stayed about an hour and every day she seems to be getting better, she was more “with it” today. I don’t envy her the physical therapy that she has yet to face, her body is still very weak but at the same time….she is the strongest person that I know.

My first distraction today was Macy’s. I have been pretty good about not spending any money on things that I don’t need…until today. I could not resist the temptation of the new Fiesta color claret. If I was a color this would be me. I love, love, love this color. Everybody calls it a different name, I just say purple with a lot of red in it. In the photo they look burgundy but in real life they are more purple.

These are the luncheon size plates and we use these more than the regular size plates. With my coupon they were twenty dollars and some change for the pair. I really couldn’t help myself.

I found a new with tags dining room chair cover at Goodwill for $2.25. I always sit in my great grandmother’s chair when I write. It’s in beautiful condition and you could say that the color is retro……I like the slip cover, plus I don’t stick to the chair.

I found this great boot at the Restore for $1.50. Maybe I will put an arrangement in it and keep it? Maybe I will make it to sell? Either way, that price was to good to pass up. It needs a buckle and black bow stat….I cut off the cheesy red bow that was on it.

My most exciting find of the day was at the local post office. In case you forgot…I’m a big nerd. I have been asking for these since I first heard about them at the beginning of the year, the people in the post office had no idea what I was even talking about. I have been using the planets stamp all summer so this just carries the theme….

Yes, it’s the little geeky things that get me through my day. Thank goodness I have these things since Negative Nancy is still miserable. Tomorrow is a surgery day and she won’t be on the office side. We always have fun on Thursdays, even though it is crazy busy. The mood is so much lighter when she is not there.

We still have the cat. I haven’t had time, or I haven’t made time to take it and get it checked out.  I am going to guess that it is a boy because he is so bossy. He was here a week and a day and is bossing me around. I ignore him of course. I think it’s usually around the second time I hit the snooze button when he comes in and beats on my box spring with his paws. He wants fed…now….my sleep be damned. Too bad for him, I really like my sleep and take full advantage of my snooze button……Zia

Tired Tuesday

It was another long day with negative Nancy growling next to me but by the end of the day she let up some. It didn’t even phase me today, I like the the change. This morning I found a purse note from yesterday and I can’t believe I forgot to mention it. My favorite part of yesterday was a very sweet, very slow little old man. He was shuffling along the hallway and I came flying around the corner, thank goodness I have good breaks. I said “oh my goodness, I almost ran right in to you, I am so sorry.” He smiled at me kind of funny and said “don’t be sorry, it would have been my pleasure.”  I love old people, you never know what  they’re going to say. I laughed over that one for most of the morning.

I came home, sat down and went through the ads that end tomorrow before I tossed them and put the new ads in their place. Sitting down was my mistake. I put my book (The Gilly Salt Sisters) in the cd player while I made my lists and the girl was making dinner. Pepperoni puffs might be a stretch for a dinner but it’s what we ate tonight. She was assembling her puffs when she asked me “Didn’t she save Claire from a burning building?” “Yes” I answered, surprised that she had been listening at all, the fire happened yesterday. “Well that’s rude and selfish of her.” You never know what your kids are paying attention to….although it’s not usually the things that you ask them to do.

I ate a puff and had to lay down. That’s two nights in a row with a nap, what’s up with that? The days are getting shorter so I upped my vitamin D to 2000 instead of 1000, maybe I should up my B-12? Maybe I am fighting something off? Who knows…. The most important part is that when I woke up Nessa was talking to me. That sounds weird but you know what I mean….I had a scene come to me with Nessa in it. There really isn’t a voice talking to me. It’s just the way I choose to say it. I will toss it around tonight and tomorrow and hopefully get it on paper tomorrow afternoon. Then I had a small energy burst and checked off a bunch of things from my list. So I guess it wasn’t a total waste of a night.

My right hand was doing the tingling thing again today. It wasn’t dragon hand but it was there. The left hand was doing it over the weekend. They rarely do it at the same time and the right hand is much stronger. I really need to find somewhere and connect tomorrow. Half day and no kids, there won’t be a better day than this……Zia

 

Monday Not So Fun Day

Monday kicked my ass today! Everything went smoothly this morning. I didn’t hit the snooze button too many times, lunch was made the night before,the girl’s ride was even timely. I walked into work and Negative Nancy was having a full blown fit. She does not like the changes and was being a total asshole about it. Not one of us were surprised.  I don’t see what the big deal is, I have half the space that I had and I wasn’t whining about it. It will take some time to get used to but I don’t mind it. It’s easier to block out the negativity where I am at now, only time will tell.

I left work after 5:30 and went to drop off soup as promised to my partner in crime. I went to the sign in sheet and above my name was my old boss…ugh! I think I even said “I don’t have the energy for this.” He was on his best behavior and I was there for less than a minute. He has a large generous heart but the rest of him is a creep. I have never had a conversation with him where he looked me in the eye. It didn’t matter because it was without incident today. I knew I couldn’t stay because the girl was in the car and I was grateful for that excuse. At least I know my dear friend has something real to eat.

I  came home made a list while the girl fell asleep on the couch. One glance at how comfy she looked and I set my alarm for 30 minutes and laid down too. It was a rough day all the way around, 45 minutes later I got up and heated up left overs. I decided to work on the kitchen counters today. They were littered with bottles and mad concoction ingredients here and there. I couldn’t take it anymore and one day this week I am going to tackle my craft area of the basement. I had the girl help me move some things around last night so the layout makes a little more sense but I need to organize. I swear if I carry over” spray paint bottles” to one more list I may scream. There is always something more important that pops up. I just need to line them all up in the garage and be done with it.

I always have a ton of things that need done and I think that tomorrow I may just stop at the store and buy all of the ingredients for the girl’s pepperoni puff thingys and let her cook dinner and then they go to their dads Wednesday and Thursday so hopefully I can get caught up. Who am I kidding? I am never caught up. Once Upon a Time starts on Sunday so I need to work that hour of television in my schedule. I used to be able to sit down and watch t.v., what happened there? I think that because nothing held my attention I fell out of the habit and now can’t seem to get back into it. Maybe? All I know is that the evil queen is back and I can’t wait…..Zia

Over Emotional?

I am beginning to think that maybe there is something wrong with me? I have been blaming a lot on peri menopause because I have never experienced it and I need something to rationalize my behavior? Any advice from some women who have been there would be helpful.

Yesterday I went into work at 9:30 and surprise, nobody was there to let me in. So I had to sit there and wait for the owner. He felt a little guilty and helped me set up some…or he fell and hit his head, one or the other? The party was a small baby shower and it was the best group of people that I have ever waited on. I have been waiting tables on and off since I was sixteen so that says a lot. They were loud, loving, creative, and full of laughter. One of the soon to be grandmothers made all of the decorations and most of the shower prizes. I only saw the lotion bars from the prizes. This adorable bunny was the centerpiece on all of the tables.

They really were a lot of fun and the bonus was that they tipped me over my cut of the “service charge”.   I think that I miss my aunt and cousins and may be in the need of  some family girls time. I think we are done with weddings for a long time so who knows when we will all be in the same state, the same town at the same time.

I was done with the party and the clean up by 2:30 so I double checked the schedule and son of a beehive that kid put me on the floor at 3:45. I was not a happy camper! I went to wine taste at Giant Eagle and came right back. She was sampling the bourbon barreled wines and I was not a fan. This was the first time in a long time that I didn’t like any of the choices. The first one I called toothpaste wine. I can’t remember what it was called but it 1000 in the title and a buffalo on the label. You know how juice tastes after you just brushed your teeth? That’s what the first one tasted like and the last was the new Apothic Inferno which tasted more like alcohol than wine.

I went back to work after whining about it for a bit, set everything up, waited on one table and left. It wasn’t worth it but they needed someone on the floor. I feel like my whole Saturday was wasted.

I came home and made dinner and then we ran to Bath and Body works. They had their Wallflowers on sale and we were almost out. They did not have the Dragonfruit which did not bother my nose at all. Now I am trying a vanilla marshmallow flavor which isn’t that horrible. We’ll see if it ends up giving me a headache.

On the way home Karma Chameleon came on the radio so I was singing the parts that I knew as the girl rolled her eyes. She complained about it being “like four minutes long” and when I asked her who sang it, she didn’t know. When I told her Boy George she said “oh the guy that looks like Sansa Stark?” Holy crap he does! I never noticed.

We came home and I started doing the dishes because she has been pushing this whole Civil War thing all week. I swear if I heard that Bucky is a victim not a villain one more time…. So I worked all week and my second job on Saturday and I am in there doing the dishes….all I wanted her to do was fill out one college application. She has like five that are going to wave the application fee, Case Western….Notre Dame are last two that she has received. There is always an excuse.  I lost it. For five maybe six minutes I lost it in a lecture mixed with an abundance of colorful metaphors.  It’s bullshit! In someways she is exactly me and in others I have no idea who she is. Where would I be today if I had those choices? I was accepted to three colleges and I paid for every application fee myself. Nobody encouraged me, nobody helped me research the programs that I was interested in. It will cost her nothing but her time and this last one didn’t even require an essay. She won’t get a job, she is still wishy washy on getting a license…where did I go wrong? Am I forcing the issue because I wish that I had those options when I was her age? Or am I right?

I was pissed and she wasn’t very happy with me but we still sat and watched the movie. I knew that I would like it if I just sat down and watched it but in my head I feel like I lost two hours.

I got up this m0rning and went to PT’s for breakfast.  It was a little rough getting up since I didn’t have a sleep in day this weekend and because of that movie and laundry I didn’t go to bed until 1 am. Breakfast was yummy as always and it was nice to catch up. I left there and went to straight to the extended care hospital to visit my friend. She didn’t feel very well today, the constant nausea is getting to her. I was surprised that she is back on solid foods. She took one taste of the soup they brought and pushed it away. I accepted that mission and still have to put away the wedding soup that is cooling on the stove. She will have tasty soup tomorrow.

I had to stop on the way home to buy a new Crock Pot because the insert in mine broke the night before. Now that I had a mission there was no defrost time to be had so I picked up another chicken while I was in Walmart. I hate that store but desperate times….

I picked up the girl and we ran to the library and Pet Smart. Tidy cats litter doesn’t really have a smell to it and I think that was part of the littler box problem. I need a better littler box as well but I am still not 100% sure that we are keeping this cat so I am holding off on that. They may find a chip when I take him/her to get checked out. I am hoping to have time this week.

I finally sat down to go through the Sunday ads. The girl was watching season 1 of Super Girl. I saw the end of the first episode last year but I don’t remember the beginning. I got all teary eyed when she accepted her powers and showed them to the world. The girl made some comment about hormones and being out of whack….maybe? I don’t know why I got all emotional, I wasn’t even aware that was a big deal. I have always been one to cry, even at commercials.  Today I just feel tired.

I think I may need a sanity day. A day where I have no where to be, nothing to do and that includes taking care of the animals. I need some alone time with myself in silence….I really need the silence part. I put in for vacation the week before Thanksgiving. I am not going anywhere and I have to use it so why not November. That gives me one week with no excuses for NANOWRIMO. I look forward to that week but I need a sanity day sooner than that. I need to find a new body of water that I can visit in silence….for now maybe I will head to the old mill on Wednesday? It won’t be silent but it has water.

My rant tonight was over the litter box. I never said that “I” wanted a cat and yet here I am feeding something else and cleaning out a litter box. It was a small rant compared to last night but I was still upset. Tomorrow is the first day of the office switch a roo and I am not up to dealing with negative Nancy. Then I saw this on Facebook, it made me smile, I think I will try and focus on this image in the morning……Zia

 

Friday Night Live

I met PT and some of her friends down at the vault restaurant tonight. I have been around her long enough to have met most of her friends at least once. I  have mentioned L before and I haven’t seen C in a while and there was a new girl tonight and sadly I forget her name.  It was dessert theater and I had a really nice time. For the second night in a row I laughed and laughed. I didn’t laugh as much tonight as I did last night but I was entertained. It was a very cute play and the cake at intermission was holy cow amazing.

It was a night for falling though. There was a little old man down in the dining room that took a face plant off of a chair, thank goodness he was okay. Then one of the kitchen witches slipped on something, probably whip cream from the food fight in an earlier scene. She went down hard and I have to give it to her, she improvised and continued on, never breaking character.  I bet that’s going to leave a mark…ouch.

Earlier in the day my office manager at work decided to move some things around at the end of the day. Instead of  having one check in girl (grumpy girl) and one check out girl (me), we will both be doing the checking in and out. I have no idea where I am going to fit all of my stuff but it will put me next to Force of Nature Girl with an extra barrier of stuff between me and the grumpy girl. Monday is not going to be pretty….grumpy girl will do her best to make us all miserable. I will happily move from the grumpy side of the room to the fun side but she does not handle change very well.

I came across this image on Facebook and while I absolutely love the image, I thought the words made a great writing prompt. I haven’t had a single second to think about it and since tomorrow is the day that I really do need to be at work at 9:30 in the morning, I need to get my butt in bed. Happy Friday……Zia

 

La Luna

La luna…the moon brings the woman to the man, or at least that is what the old man says in Moonstruck.  He was one of my favorite characters, but really …..how do you pick just one?

Full moon tomorrow, lunar eclipse, and there was no sign of the peri menopausal demon this month. When all of those things align I invite my little buddy over to watch Moonstruck. I really needed that laugh. I swear we cannot watch this movie with someone who has never seen it before. If we aren’t shouting out the lines before they are said or saying them in unison, we are laughing before it is even funny. I didn’t do a single thing tonight except laugh and watch a movie and maybe that is just what I needed.

Oh I did have to run out and buy a Christmas present. The girl found PT the perfect Christmas present and I wish I could show you but PT may be reading so you will have to wait until Christmas. The girl did an excellent job on this one.

Those are the highlights of my day today, it’s late and I am off to sleep in the moonlight….Zia

Moving Forward

Little by little I am figuring out how to move forward. This is a topsy turvy world we live in and every part of today was out of the norm. We worked almost an hour over on our half day Wednesday and that almost never happens. I got the call from the title company and almost bust out laughing in the office. My situation has redefined “nickel and diming”. I keep telling myself that this is more than I would have had if I let the bank take the house….which I was ready to do before the neighbor left the note on my door. So when you take what was left and split in three ways it becomes $1,392.88. It’s more than I had when I left the house this morning and to be honest I was figuring around two thousand a piece anyway so I wasn’t that far off. The deductions are such a joke and it’s over so it doesn’t matter anymore.

I found some deals when I stopped at Goodwill today. Two garment bags at .75 each, they were too unique to walk away from. A pair of American Eagle capris that just need a button for .75. A super cute dragonfly soup bowl for $1.49 and the softest sweatshirt with tags still on it for $2.80. I have to hide the sweatshirt from the girl or she will snatch it from me. It’s incredibly soft and an extra large so it’s perfect for snuggling on the couch with a book in the chilly weather. Did I mention how soft it was?

I also had a coupon for Office Max. I wasn’t sure how much they even charge to laminate. I had purchased a $5.00 11×17 poster off of Vista Print but it wasn’t very sturdy. It only cost $1.20 to laminate after my coupon it so it has a little stability and I have something to put on the front of my table at craft shows.

The girl was two hours late getting home from school. The baby mama’s gas gauge doesn’t work. She thought it was the battery but that generally doesn’t happen while you’re driving it. The girl said that before baby mama’s father got there she scrambled to hide her prenatal vitamins…..so the previous story was an embellishment. Her parents do not know.

I did get most of my grocery shopping done while I was waiting. If it wasn’t for half day Wednesday I wouldn’t have time to shop three different stores getting all of the deals. I won’t bore you with the details but I did really well, my best was saving $9.10 while spending $9.57. My grocery stores are all within ten minutes of each other so it’s not bad, it’s even faster when you have a list. Everything is portioned out and in the freezer and for me that is the hardest part. I have to do it as soon as I get home or I will put it off and risk the chance of it going bad. Darn….I just remembered that I forgot dandelion greens. Oh well, I did good except for that.

I came across this image on Pinterest and as inspirational quotes go….this one is pretty awesome. Kermit has always been one of my favorites….Zia

 

It’s Finally Over….

My realtor text me today, the house finally closed and the title is transferred. I really want to exhale badly but so many things went awry during this process that I just can’t let myself. I can’t believe it….it’s finally over.

In the beginning I found it bittersweet because it was my mom’s house and the only house that the kids remember. It was always their home. Me? It was never my home. I was just blessed with an affordable place to live where I could raise my kids. I will miss the bonfires and sitting outside at the picnic table drinking my coffee with the birds on the weekends…..that was pre-Cockroach. I stopped my outside activities after that fiasco. I will miss being able to play in the dirt and the freedom to do whatever I wanted to the house. I would never put that kind of energy into something temporary. I mostly miss being able to have more than one car in the driveway and  to still be able to back up and get out of the driveway. I will not miss shoveling that beast! The driveway and the bonfires those are the things that I will miss the most. Oh and being in a rural setting and yet only 2.5 minutes from the freeway. It doesn’t matter about the things that I won’t miss because it’s over and I never have to go back.

Uni-kitty is doing well. It really knows how to use a litter box! For something that is skin and bones it sure does poop a lot. I don’t know the litter box rules so I have been cleaning it in the morning and evening and the occasional in between. If I can smell it then it has to go. With my nose this may be tricky….. bordering on OCD. I plan on taking him/her to an animal charity tomorrow to get checked out. If it has a chip, we will know then.

The patients were a little more “out there” today. I saved two examples for you and they did happen almost back to back. The first was a very confused older woman whose husband wore glasses like these…

She had a balance of like thirty dollars and I wasn’t even going to mention it…no way, she can find out about it in the mail when she gets a bill. I handed her the credit card slip for her copay and she grabbed a pen and said “what am I supposed to write?” “Your signature?” Geez, was she okay? What is going on today? Not even five minutes later another patient comes to my window and I say “Hi! How are you today?” He responded with “that will be fine.” Okie dokie….I am giving up now. It must be the moon/lunar eclipse. That’s my story and I am sticking to it!  It was odd and everything felt so loud today, really, really, loud.

I was scrolling through Facebook at lunch and somebody posted this and I love everything about it……Zia