Do It Yourself Projects

Gee, I haven't blogged in quite a while. I have been working on a big project at work, and then very tired at nights, so just haven't thought of anything to write about, and I am sure you all don't want to hear all about the frustrations of the project.

Well, anyway, this weekend, my husband decided to fix the bath/shower. Mind you, we rent, so at first, he thought we should call the repair man. But, we need it done, as the caulking was loose (this is the 2nd time) so he decided to get it done. The repair man that our landlord uses isn't always the brightest star in the sky, plus, we need to time this kind of repair to go along with shower scheduling for our family.

So, anyway, he gets in there late Sunday (why start at the end of the day? .. I don't know...). Anyway, the poor guy gets to working, and the wall behind the melamine must be rotten. Every time he scrapes or pushes, more crap falls down from behind the melamine. Of course, this will make it impossible to caulk until there is no dust, crap, etc on the tub or wall, so he goes about getting it ready. He wanted to glue the melamine underneath as well, or so that was the plan. But, there is no way to do that with it rotting back there...oooh, yuk. And, there goes a small project into one that lasts waaaaaaaaaay toooooooooooo long.

Of course, I have done lots of chores all weekend, and I am not really in the mood for a Sunday night job. But, oh, well, as I am sitting outside enjoying one of the last nice afternoons/evenings of the season and reading the paper, I hear the bellering from inside..."Joan"....so off I go. As some of you can imagine, I then start being the gopher...to the garage, to the basement, to the garage, to the basement..over and over. Go get this, go get that. Now, he was being nice about it all, but I still got a little frazzled.

I mean, when a woman does a project, there is no gopher. You just do it all yourself.

A man seems to need the "help".

Is it just me, or is this the norm?

Anyway, the shower eventually got all caulked. And, we have to let it dry until tonight. Next time, the landlord will probably have to replace the wall behind there, since it was crumbling and falling down. We thought it was sheetrock or something, but then tiles started falling...I guess that someone, sometime, just put up the melamine right over the tiles? Wonder if he did it on his own or had a gopher?

The Small Things in Life

I know, I have a screw loose, I need professional help. Sammy has mentioned this to me. But, not only am I a bit loony about my puppies, I am really excited about strange things sometimes...it's the small things in life, not yachts, not cruises...but how about a vacuum????

A while back, my vacuum quit on me. It was a Bissell, and I did really like it when I got it. This is after several vacuums in our house...all brands, including a Kirby, and many Dirt Devils. After ours broke, Tina let me use her old one. It wasn't too good, but would do better than nothing.

Kmart had a big sale on their Dysons. A couple friends at work have Dysons and just rave about them. And they have a five year warranty, not one year! I seem to wear my vacuums out or something, so I was thinking this was the way to go. I have a friend who tells me I vacuum a lot. I really don't think so. But, with the sale, I was so excited and couldn't afford one :-(, so I went and put it on layway.

I finally got it out of prison last night. I put the handle on, and vacuumed just a small strip across the living room. Already, the canister had a bunch of dirt/hair/yuk in it...wow-just from that one swipe. I mean, I could have vacuumed all night, but John asked me to turn it off so we could finish watching ER. So, when I get off today, I'm going home to vacuum. I am soooo excited....and yes, I probably do need help!!!

Sammy Sighs

Hi. Well, today was the big day. Off to the groomers. Mom said we looked like orphans, so we needed to get fixed up. I thought I looked just fine. I think the scruffy look is manly and virile.

So, anyway, she dropped us off at the groomers. I thought we were going for a fun ride in the truck, I was proudly looking out the window and happy. Then, I figured it out..we were going to the torture chamber. Yea, I know Megan and everyone there are really, really nice, but I like to make Mom feel like it's bad for me anyway. They give us the works...shampoo, hair cut, cut our nails, brush our teeth and (yukk...express our anal glands.) But we come out all soft, smelling good and with shining smiles. They call us names like cutie and sweetie, so I have to flirt just a little, even though I try to still show the grudge to everyone.

Mom had Crystal pick us up so she was really excited to see us when she came home. They gave me a scarf to wear for Halloween. I think it made me like the Lone Ranger, or at least someone like that. Silly Sissy got stupid halloween bow in her hair. Mom thought it was SOOOOOOO cute. Mom has totally lost it. She used to be normal, not one of those people who like to dress up dogs and put bows in their hair. I think she needs therapy.

The Land of Oz

Woke up to the wind blowing....and blowing....this is our weather forecast:

Hazardous Weather Outlook Wind Advisory Today: Scattered showers, mainly before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. Windy, with a north northwest wind between 35 and 40 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Well, I think all we are having are the 55 mph gusts constantly.

So, I think of my one of my most favorite movies ... "The Wizard of Oz". Don't you just love that movie? I think everyone does...everyone but my sister, Jolyn. She HATES the movie. So, of course, we use it against her all the time. I mean, she's an adult now, and we still can scare her with the flying monkeys. It's so much fun.


I thought we should get her this t-shirt...I know she'd really like it and wear it a lot (and definitely not use it for a car washing rag or anything...right??!!)

No, I won't be that mean...but it's still funny, right? I guess she was always the strong one to me, and I was the wimp, so I just find humor in scaring her...ha!

Here are a couple places for you to hear some sounds from Oz: (I hope Jolyn gets to read the blog and listen!!!) :-)
Witch
Melting

Have a great day! I better find some glittery red slippers in case we do get blown all the way to Oz. Looking outside, it is a possiblity....

Happy Birthday Chloe!

Chloe is 4 years old! She is our little ballerina, our princess, our little girl.

WE LOVE YOU Sweetie!

Click for more pictures of Chloe!

We went to North Platte to celebrate with the little princess on Saturday. She's growing up TOO fast! We had a wonderful day with all of our girls, and everyone else!

Random Thoughts

I have random thoughts...do you? Sometimes when I am out walking, I think of strange things...like an old chant that I repeat over and over in my head that I used to teach the kids....(like when you march in the Army...)

Left, Left, Left, Right, Left~

Left, Left, Left, Right, Left~
I left my wife and 49 kids on the verge of starvation, without any gingerbread.
Left, Left, Left, Right, Left.

Try it...If you accentuate the words in Italics, and start on your left foot (and you should be on your left foot on each italicized word as well), you can do it. Why? I don't know. Where did I learn this? I don't know...It's just one of those things.

Other times I recite prayers in my head. Not just any prayer for the day or something that is bothering me, but the old memorized prayers...the Hail Mary, the Our Father, the Glory Be, and sometimes the Act of Contrition. Why? I don't know...another one of those things.

I try to not think of stressful things, about work, about anything, just walk and enjoy it ...then these random thoughts come into my head.

Sometimes I follow those with "wandering" or "wondering" thoughts...like what is a mulberry? What does it taste like? I think my mom picked them when she was a young girl.

I try to just walk, just enjoy the scenery, shut off my mind...but then it starts to wander...and wonder.

Weekend Warrior

Do you use your weekend to rest, recuperate and revive yourself for the next week? If you do, Kudos...I would do that, but I always think of things that need done....so, I clean, I cook, I do laundry...just like the rest of you.



This weekend, my extra chore was cleaning the grill. We grill year-round, so it gets a good workout. Then, I invited friends over for supper and Tina came too...made 7 layer salad, baked beans, veggies, cake, and ...yep, grilled burgers, hot dogs and a dish of mushrooms. There goes the clean grill....right? Especially after you put cheese on top of the burgers. (I am the only one who wants mine without the cheese.


But, friends and family over is more fun than a clean grill any day....just get out the brush and clean the grates...the deep cleaning is done for a few months anyway...

Sammy Sighs

Ok, it is time for me to update on my poor pitiful life. Here is the dog-wear I am now forced to wear because it is getting chilly at nights, and even some days, like today. As you can see, my shame causes me to give Mom the grudge and not let her see my face when she takes a picture. She said this is a nice, manly, jacket .. army type. Whatever! I just think it is stupid.

Silly Sissy wears this stupid pink sweater with a black bow on it and rhinestones. How dumb is that? She doesn't even care that she is wearing such a dorky sweater. That is what just kills me.

Here she is talking to the neighbor dog, Sheba. I bet Sheba is thinking that Sissy looks stupid.





All of this embarassment just causes me to pout. Wouldn't you? Here I am ignoring mom and napping with Shelby... Shelby takes over Dad's
chair any time that she can.

Here are my favorite hiding places....


In a pile of pillows.................


or--------------
in the closet.


See my sad eyes?

Well, at least mom cleaned out her closet after seeing this picture...see how she just threw the shoes in there? Sheesh! Now it is all organized and clean..at least for a day or so.

A Hard Day

Writing can be therapeutic. You can write your thoughts down and not a person interrupts or tells you that you should or shouldn't be saying this or that...at least, until they read it.

Today Sammy was going to update, but I need the therapy myself.

Arriving at work today we got the news that one of our students, in 11th grade, had committed suicide. The whole day has been in a dark fog since. To add to that, it actually is foggy outside, adding to the overall feeling. We have a school full of counselors, and they have been busy.

Words cannot describe the atmosphere.

This is our homecoming week. We have had a good week, lots of students participating, a fun week. Today is the homecoming game, and parade. In these kind of circumstances they like to try to have "normal".

It affects everyone differently, but brings up feelings to many of us who have lost loved ones or friends to suicide. The questions all come rushing back of why, why, why. We had another student suicide here at the school since I've worked here. And, I (among many) lost a good friend to suicide a while back as well. It still hurts deeply. There is no closure, ever. There is no "goodbye".

I am sorry this post is so unhappy, but thanks for listening.

October

Wow, it is already October? That is just unbelievable! In our family, we have had some bad Septembers. I am glad to say that hopefully that "spell" is gone now. And, we have had some good things in September...my parents were married in September, my sisterinlaw and her husband were married then, my brother in law had his 50th birthday then, and I have two beautiful nieces with birthdays in September. There are other happy things for September as well.

I am a klutz, thru and thru. Everyone knows that. Saturday I grabbed my hot curling iron by the barrel instead of the handle. I apparently must usually sit it in a certain spot in a certain way, because it seemed so natural to grab it, and then I'm thinking...ouch, that is hot. OUCH! It felt like I melted my fingerprints off of my fingers. So I decided just to not curl my hair.

Later that day, I burned my arm in the oven.

I think I had other mishaps too, but they happen so often I hardly even notice any more. I know I have a couple bruises and don't even know now where they came from. But, that isn't too bad considering I moved a piece of fence and posts on Saturday and used a sledge hammer and a shovel...