I have spent a good portion of the day sitting at my computer typing. For some reason I had the urge to put fingers to the keys and write. I wrote about Christmas trees (the fact that my dad roamed the woods of Northern California to find just the right one to send to us), Christmas memories (mostly Sievert/Hemping family get togethers for the holidays) and started to write about my "formative years" (mainly my years in Iowa). I will get in the mood again I am sure and will expand on the formative years then.
Scooter, the heaviest of the two cats that live here, sat on my mouse awhile ago and she "killed" it. I don't know what she did to it, but it no longer works. I had to scrounge the mouse from my PC, which died a couple of weeks ago. I do believe that a virus attacked it and wiped out programs etc. so it doesn't work anymore. Not much that I can do but replace it. It is a Dell and they are notorious for not allowing the hard drive to be updated. Real bummer. I am currently stuck with using my laptop, but that is okay. I have grown quite accustomed to it and actually prefer it. I bought a printer to hook up to it so that I can print stuff. Printing is all that it can do - no fax, no copy.
It is time to quit for the day. My fingers have not worked this much since I retired and they are letting me know that they are ready to relax.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
October - confused month
October is almost over - seems like it was only yesterday that I was saying September was almost over. Time is flying by.
October has been very confusing weather wise. Really nice fall weather, colder some days and warmer others. Trees are turning color, but for some reason my spring/summer flowers are blooming. My clematis is almost ready to bloom big time and I noticed that the rose bushes up by Denny's restaurant are blooming in all of their glory as well. I have the feeling that when winter hits it is going to be with a vengeance overnight. We will wake up and winter will have arrived and will be staying.
Aaron finally finished up all of the little jobs that I wanted done outside. My windows have new caulking, my fence has been fixed, new covers have been put on my window wells and I can now put up a curtain on my back porch (i can install the type of curtain that works like a curtain in a hospital). I still have to buy the rail system and the curtains, but now I can do it and not have to worry about how. Aaron is my go-to guy for doing things like this.
Halloween will be here in a few days. I am looking forward to seeing the kids in their costumes. I hope that we have plenty of "trick or treaters" this year. Did not have a single one last year. Eddie didn't even hit our neighborhood. He has a neighborhood full of town homes that he hit every year - gets a lot of candy. I guess that is why he goes there - more swag.
October has been very confusing weather wise. Really nice fall weather, colder some days and warmer others. Trees are turning color, but for some reason my spring/summer flowers are blooming. My clematis is almost ready to bloom big time and I noticed that the rose bushes up by Denny's restaurant are blooming in all of their glory as well. I have the feeling that when winter hits it is going to be with a vengeance overnight. We will wake up and winter will have arrived and will be staying.
Aaron finally finished up all of the little jobs that I wanted done outside. My windows have new caulking, my fence has been fixed, new covers have been put on my window wells and I can now put up a curtain on my back porch (i can install the type of curtain that works like a curtain in a hospital). I still have to buy the rail system and the curtains, but now I can do it and not have to worry about how. Aaron is my go-to guy for doing things like this.
Halloween will be here in a few days. I am looking forward to seeing the kids in their costumes. I hope that we have plenty of "trick or treaters" this year. Did not have a single one last year. Eddie didn't even hit our neighborhood. He has a neighborhood full of town homes that he hit every year - gets a lot of candy. I guess that is why he goes there - more swag.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
September is Almost Over
September is almost over. The first few days of fall have been fairly normal. Rain finally came (the tropical storms in the Atlantic have been moving up the eastern seaboard) and things have cooled down a little bit. I am not going to complain about the rain, because we needed it. Things were a little on the dry side until a few days ago. In fact I am sitting here waiting for the rain to come again.
We have had two tornado warnings during the past few days - both of which were about 20 miles north and west of my location. Can be very disheartening though when messages flash across the television screen telling you to head for the central room of your home and away from all windows. This is the strongest point of the house and the least dangerous place to be in the home. Me I just continued to sit in my chair, watch my soaps and hope for the best.
The warnings did not turn into anything serious, so my decision to maintain my location was okay. Had no problems at all - cable wasn't even affected, which is usually the first thing to go because the main antennae location for cable around here is right in the middle of the flat areas of the state most often affected by these warnings.
I will be kid sitting tonight. Eddie and I will be on our own because Terry is taking Liz to a seminar that will be giving her the pros and cons regarding lapband and/or gastric surgery. Me personally - I will continue to do it my way - eating less but better and increasing my exercises.
I have lost a little bit, don't know exactly how much, but my pants feel looser. Gal at doctor's office said to just by the way my clothes feel and stay away from the scale as much as possible. I like that advice - that way I don't fret over the numbers. I get weighed every three months when I go to my regular doctor's appointments and as long as those results show me weighing less each time I will be happy.
Time to go...will be back soon. To those who read this (and your are few I know) thank you for doing so. I appreciate any and all comments and hopefully I have entertained and informed in a small way.
We have had two tornado warnings during the past few days - both of which were about 20 miles north and west of my location. Can be very disheartening though when messages flash across the television screen telling you to head for the central room of your home and away from all windows. This is the strongest point of the house and the least dangerous place to be in the home. Me I just continued to sit in my chair, watch my soaps and hope for the best.
The warnings did not turn into anything serious, so my decision to maintain my location was okay. Had no problems at all - cable wasn't even affected, which is usually the first thing to go because the main antennae location for cable around here is right in the middle of the flat areas of the state most often affected by these warnings.
I will be kid sitting tonight. Eddie and I will be on our own because Terry is taking Liz to a seminar that will be giving her the pros and cons regarding lapband and/or gastric surgery. Me personally - I will continue to do it my way - eating less but better and increasing my exercises.
I have lost a little bit, don't know exactly how much, but my pants feel looser. Gal at doctor's office said to just by the way my clothes feel and stay away from the scale as much as possible. I like that advice - that way I don't fret over the numbers. I get weighed every three months when I go to my regular doctor's appointments and as long as those results show me weighing less each time I will be happy.
Time to go...will be back soon. To those who read this (and your are few I know) thank you for doing so. I appreciate any and all comments and hopefully I have entertained and informed in a small way.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Scooter vs. Gizmo
This morning as I was vainly attempting to tell my body that it was warm under the three layers of blankets covering me, I became involved in feline war number "umpteen". The cats residing in my house - the clawless Gizmo (Liz's cat) weighing in at ten pounds and and Scooter (my cat with claws) weighing in at 17 pounds decided that they were going to have a dispute right on top of me.
There was growling, hissing, snarling and swatting galore. You would think that my cat would have the distinct advantage (weighing more and having claws) but this is not the case. According to my son, Gizmo suffers from what he calls "Little Man Syndrome" and he has to assert himself big time. Now I really don't mind the cats having running disagreements throughout the house, but when they stop on top of me and go at, I draw the line. It sounded like they were "killing" each other. I hope that Scooter was at least successful in getting in a couple of good swipes with all claws extended. They should be sharp because it has been awhile since they were clipped (this means a trip to the vet because I refuse to fight with her - I am the loser in that battle).
I have not seen Scooter since this morning - she is probably on the other side asleep behind my chair, which seems to be a favorite spot of hers at the moment. Gizmo just got up from his station on my desk in between me and my laptop. Makes typing a very interesting prospect. He is much more interested in checking out the bug that is crawling on the screen of my window. The great hunter is brave as long as the quarry is smaller than him and usually of the insect variety.
Even though the day started with the battle royal, it ended on a really good note. It was sunny, with gentle breezes, low temps and humidity (all windows and doors were opened up to take advantage) and quiet for the most part. A neighbor was using some sort of machine that sounded like a giant milkshake machine to do whatever. All things were copacetic in the neighbor hood today.
There was growling, hissing, snarling and swatting galore. You would think that my cat would have the distinct advantage (weighing more and having claws) but this is not the case. According to my son, Gizmo suffers from what he calls "Little Man Syndrome" and he has to assert himself big time. Now I really don't mind the cats having running disagreements throughout the house, but when they stop on top of me and go at, I draw the line. It sounded like they were "killing" each other. I hope that Scooter was at least successful in getting in a couple of good swipes with all claws extended. They should be sharp because it has been awhile since they were clipped (this means a trip to the vet because I refuse to fight with her - I am the loser in that battle).
I have not seen Scooter since this morning - she is probably on the other side asleep behind my chair, which seems to be a favorite spot of hers at the moment. Gizmo just got up from his station on my desk in between me and my laptop. Makes typing a very interesting prospect. He is much more interested in checking out the bug that is crawling on the screen of my window. The great hunter is brave as long as the quarry is smaller than him and usually of the insect variety.
Even though the day started with the battle royal, it ended on a really good note. It was sunny, with gentle breezes, low temps and humidity (all windows and doors were opened up to take advantage) and quiet for the most part. A neighbor was using some sort of machine that sounded like a giant milkshake machine to do whatever. All things were copacetic in the neighbor hood today.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monotony of Everyday Life
My niece felt that she had to vent on the monotony of everyday life of a mom. The never ending chores or piles of clothes. Not to mention the ever present search for the matching socks - I swear the prime purpose of washing machines is to eat socks. Even I have problems with this one and there is only one of me.
I have never been a fan of housework and made it known for many years by having a button pin on my kitchen curtain which said "To Hell with Housework" so that anyone who came to my house knew exactly how I felt about it and did not expect too much when they came to visit. Don't get me wrong, my house was clean; just never spic and span "eat off the floor" clean. You would not want to look under my couch, easy chairs or beds because I had colonies of "dust bunnies" existing there.
I think that one of the big reasons that I enjoyed my job so much for all those years was that when a project was completed, it was done and I never had to look at it again. There is nothing about housework that is ever completed - you are always looking at dust on the furniture and piles of clothes or dirty dishes that need to be washed. Then there are the dirty windows, walls etc. that need to be spring cleaned and dust bunnies that need to be rounded up and done away with. Like I said the phrase on my button was my mantra, much to my husband's disdain.
Another reason that I liked working was because Paul could not expect me to keep the house "white glove" clean - which would have been the case if I were a stay-at-home wife and mom. That would have been the demise of my marriage for sure. So I was much better off being a working mom.
My son learned at early age how to wash his own clothes, clean his own room and even cook. He was pretty good at it too. (I was bound and determined that he was never going to expect some gal to do all these things for him like his father expected me to do.) When Terry let his room get a little messy and his father would complain I would tell Paul to close the door so he didn't have to look at it. It would get cleaned in due time and when it was his room looked super good. Bless my son - he was my right hand man. He still is.......
As you can see, housecleaning was a bone of contention at times between Paul and I. I was of the opinion that spending time with family and friends outweighed having a spotless home that did not look like it had a family living in it. I liked the lived in look - guess who won. There were no white gloves in my house.....he soon learned that it wasn't worth the hassle to try and change me. He learned to live with the dustbunnies.
I have never been a fan of housework and made it known for many years by having a button pin on my kitchen curtain which said "To Hell with Housework" so that anyone who came to my house knew exactly how I felt about it and did not expect too much when they came to visit. Don't get me wrong, my house was clean; just never spic and span "eat off the floor" clean. You would not want to look under my couch, easy chairs or beds because I had colonies of "dust bunnies" existing there.
I think that one of the big reasons that I enjoyed my job so much for all those years was that when a project was completed, it was done and I never had to look at it again. There is nothing about housework that is ever completed - you are always looking at dust on the furniture and piles of clothes or dirty dishes that need to be washed. Then there are the dirty windows, walls etc. that need to be spring cleaned and dust bunnies that need to be rounded up and done away with. Like I said the phrase on my button was my mantra, much to my husband's disdain.
Another reason that I liked working was because Paul could not expect me to keep the house "white glove" clean - which would have been the case if I were a stay-at-home wife and mom. That would have been the demise of my marriage for sure. So I was much better off being a working mom.
My son learned at early age how to wash his own clothes, clean his own room and even cook. He was pretty good at it too. (I was bound and determined that he was never going to expect some gal to do all these things for him like his father expected me to do.) When Terry let his room get a little messy and his father would complain I would tell Paul to close the door so he didn't have to look at it. It would get cleaned in due time and when it was his room looked super good. Bless my son - he was my right hand man. He still is.......
As you can see, housecleaning was a bone of contention at times between Paul and I. I was of the opinion that spending time with family and friends outweighed having a spotless home that did not look like it had a family living in it. I liked the lived in look - guess who won. There were no white gloves in my house.....he soon learned that it wasn't worth the hassle to try and change me. He learned to live with the dustbunnies.
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