It's not goodbye....just see ya later

On the 23rd, my great aunt passed away at the grand age of 88. She had been quite ill for some time now and was receiving care from Hospice for a few weeks. She probably only weighed 70lb if not less....she was nothing but skin and bones.

All those things aside, she was still just as strong willed as she had ever been. She would ask for her cigarettes and ashtray, and had her coffee pot right beside her bed. She was surrounded by her children when she passed, and I would like to think that her passing was a blessing. Her suffering has ended, and she is in a better place.

Her favorite activity (besides smoking and drinking coffee) was to play poker. So, I would imagine that that is what she is doing right now. Her funeral was yesterday.....and the overall feeling of calm and peacefulness was kind of weird, but everyone was just glad that her struggle had ended.

So, this is my way of saying....I'll see you later....we don't know when our time here is up, when it is our time to be called home, but we all know that it will happen. My intent today was not to depress everyone, so sorry if this is depressing. I should have something more upbeat later. Happy Friday.

Thank goodness that is over....

Well, I am certainly glad that Christmas is over. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I did, but I am still glad that it is over. I can finally put away all of the decorations and all of the gift wrapping goodies.

I got my dishwasher for Christmas, so I am totally excited about that. Believe it or not, I have never had a dishwasher. Well, there was one in my apartment in college, but I had a bit of a problem with it, and that is for another post.

Our gift hunt for the kids went really well. We wrote out cute little cards and hid their gifts all over the house. Each one of the kids had an adult help them, and we had made it so that each clue was staggered between upstairs and downstairs, so after it was all said and done everyone was quite tired. The kids loved every minute of it, and that was all that mattered.

Surprisingly, I didn't gain 15lbs as I had imagined would happen after being forced to eat four meals (maybe forced isn't the correct word to use as I was not force fed, but you get the point). So, all in all everyone had a nice time and all drama/chaos was avoided. So, how was your Christmas? What did Santa leave under your tree? ;0)

Merry Christmas....a little early

I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holiday of your belief. I now have one gift certificate left to buy which will be promptly purchased after our office Christmas party this afternoon. Then, I am completely finished shopping. Tomorrow I will finish my wrapping, then I may take a nap, just as a reward for not killing anyone during the holiday preparations.

I really didn't ask Santa for anything in particular this year, but I am kinda hoping for a dishwasher...that would be great. I got sort of an early Christmas present from my sis and bro in law....they have been in the process of trying to adopt, and have signed papers to adopt a baby girl from Guatemala!!!! I am soooooo excited!! I don't want to post any pics or anything yet, because it will be about 4-5 months until everything is final. So, that is the most awesome gift that I could receive...;0)

We are having our office party this afternoon...nothing special, just some lunch and a chance to bullshit with each other, but it is still nice. So, I hope that everyone is all ready for the big day, and if not, be careful shopping with the rest of the last minute shoppers....they can be nasty. So, everyone have themselves a safe, happy, and (try) fun holiday. I hope Santa brings everyone what they wished for!!!!

Merry Christmas

It's almost here ;0)

I just can't believe how fast this year has flown by. It seems like it was just a few months ago that we were planting flowers outside. When older people tell you how fast the time starts to go as you age, you never have a full appreciation for that fact until it happens to you.

I can't say that I've had any major events happen this year, so I guess that is a good thing. This time of year is very stressful for most people due to holiday festivities, and I am no exception. I also must deal with year end stress at my job. At the end of each year, I must box all accounting and customer files for the year, make any necessary inventory adjustments, make sure everything for taxes are in order, and then do the tax forms for the subcontractors and employees. Those things give me a headache just thinking about it.

Not only do I need to organize all that fun stuff, but it always seems that by the end of the year, my office looks like all the filing cabinets vomited on my desk....there is just stuff everywhere. So, there is all that to put away as well. So, these next couple of weeks are always kinda crappy for me.

Tonight I plan on going and getting the last few little things I need to complete my Christmas shopping. I probably won't finish my wrapping until Saturday, but that's OK. My boss is planning on having a small Christmas lunch tomorrow, so that will be nice to only have to work half of the day.

I felt quite sick last night, and don't feel that great this morning, so I am going to try to go home early, but I am not optimistic. I hope everyone has a good Thursday....four days to go!!!! ;0)

You want to move to where?

For the past five years or so my parents have been saying that they would like to sell their house and move. Just to give you a little bit of background, my parents built their current house about 16 years ago on land that they purchased from my grandmother. The land was adjacent to her property and was actually part of the original plot that my grandparents had bought when they were married. My mom and her brothers and sisters were raised there. They have 2+ acres that is wooded with no close neighbors. But they want to move.....3 hours away. :0(

The logic (to them) is that they can sell the house and property, and move upstate and buy a house and some prop, and have money to put in the bank. I get that, but why in the hell can't they stay local....all of the family is here.

I am a very sentimental person, so if it were me, I don't think I could sell because of what the property represents, but it isn't my decision. I grew up there as well, so maybe that is why I feel that way.

Anyway, the point is why move that far away when you could accomplish the same thing locally. If they wanted to downsize, they don't have to move far away. Oh well, what ever they want to do is their decision, and they don't come to visit me that much anyway, and only live 20min. away.

So...six days to go till Christmas...is anyone in panic mode yet? ;0)

Seven days and countin'

Well, for once I had a pretty productive weekend. I am usually very lazy and unmotivated on the weekends, but I actually got something done this time around. I went shopping on Saturday because I had an assload of Christmas gifts to buy, and said shopping trip went surprisingly well. I was so ready to have to shoulder block someone or run over someone with my cart, but all catastrophes were avoided.....and I spent less money than I thought I would...YAY!!!!

All that being said, I am about 95% finished with all of the shopping (I still have a few gift cards to get, but that isn't a big deal) and I am in a pretty good mood. This is a major improvement from me wanting to punch Santa in his fat jolly ass..*Ahem* sorry ;0) We are still trying to plan the kids' gift hunt for Christmas with little luck, but oh well.

I also need to decide what kinds of cookies I am going to bake.....If I bake any at all. I am going to TRY to finish my wrapping tonight, but I am not optimistic. Hey, at least I'm honest!

Ok, I'm all better now....

Well, apparently I was far from a happy camper last night when I posted. I was reading it this morning and sweet jeebus woman...relax. To put it mildly I was a bit out of sorts, so sorry about that.

I am still on new guy babysitting duty, but he isn't that bad. It could be worse, but he cannot sit still. I am fairly laid back and I am not much for a rush rush mentality. Newbie on the other hand does everything at warp speed. We get it, you are motivated. Anyway, I had forgotten how nice it was to be able to push off some of the "bitch work" on someone else.

I have lots of shopping yet to do and I have no idea when I will be able to do it, but I am sure I will manage somehow. We are putting together a scavenger hunt for the kids for Christmas to find their gifts, so I will have to get my ass in gear for that.

I also need to decide if I want to do any baking. I was hoping to bake cookies, but we shall see. I am off to try to get some work done, so happy Thursday!

My Christmas spirit has left the building.

Well, I was trying really hard to be happy about and excited for Christmas. As of right now...Christmas can suck it. I am broke and have lots of shit that I need to buy, I still haven't put my Christmas lights up on the front of my house, and I am just generally pissed off. If I only had to buy gifts for my family I would be OK, but I have to buy for Tony's family, and there are like a gazillion of them. They don't pull names or have a grab bag, and I really don't know why. I would have to start buying now just to be caught up next year. So I say to hell with it all. I am seriously considering not leaving my house on Christmas and either sleeping all day, or drinking myself stupid.

I don't think that the family would appreciate that very much, but oh well. I am quite sure that I don't have the heart to do that, but it sounds good and tough...doesn't it? Well, I am sure that no one really wants to listen to my cranky self anymore so I will go take my cranky self somewhere else until tomorrow!

My dog is grumpy in the morning too!!

When my alarm clock went off this morning, I did the same thing I do every morning....I hit the snooze button. When it was really time to get up, I turned my alarm clock off and proceeded to get out of bed. I sat up and stretched, and this is usually where I have a fat brown dog come over to get some morning snuggles. Not this morning thankyouverymuch! At this point Buddy was still laying on his bed.....growling like no body's business. He was obviously dreaming, and it was hilarious. I mean he was really giving it hell....he was totally pissed.

I got up and went to the bathroom and when I came back he was up in my spot on the bed...OK, that's normal. I gathered my clothes and sat down to get dressed and boy was someone bitchy. I was trying to hug him (the dog) ;0p and he wanted no part of it....he may have even snipped at me a bit.

I am not the biggest morning person either, so I can relate to morning crankypants, but holy hell. That must have been some dream he was having. He didn't start acting like himself until after we had made our trip outside and treats were given...then he loved me again.

I hope everyone else's mornings were much better than Buddy's morning was...sheesh! ;0) Oh, I almost forgot....today is my sister's birthday!!!!! Happy Birthday Sis!!

I know I'm strange...so what?

This evening Tony and I babysat for his niece and nephew...or should I say, we went to their house and watched TV. The kids basically entertained themselves (they are 11 and 4). So, we were in the living room and I asked G if she wanted to watch a movie. She went upstairs and came back with Mary Poppins. Tony and her little brother were not thrilled with her choice, but that is what we were going to watch.
I haven't watched Mary Poppins in like....a really long time, but I had forgot how much I really liked it. I know that really makes me sound....odd, but I do not care. When I was younger, my favorite movies were the musical movies.

So, while we were watching the movie, I got to thinking about some of the movies that I used to love to watch. I will list some if you promise not to laugh at me......promise? You didn't promise....OK, well I will do it anyway. Some of these movies are even older than "my time" but my mom used to rent them for me:

• Disney's Babes in Toyland
• Alice in Wonderland
• The Apple Dumpling Gang
• The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
• Mary Poppins
• Calamity Jane
• Robin Hood
• Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (not the cartoon version)
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Singin' in the Rain
• The Wizard of Oz

I know there are plenty more, but I have embarrassed myself enough for one post. I have nothing against the movies that are made today, but man there is just something about the old classics. Any of these movies could put me in a good mood just by watching them, and I think that is pretty awesome. So, does anyone have any favorite childhood movies that they remember? I am trying to make a list of the oldies but goodies that way I can update my DVD collection.

But I don't wanna....

I think that I have totally overextended myself this weekend. Instead
of typing this I should be finishing my Christmas window swags, being
that I only have one completely done. They won't take long as I have
already made all of the bows. All I need to do is hot glue the
Christmas picks on and fasten the bows and voila...beauty-ful ;0)Anyhoo,
I really don't feel like doing them, but I won't have time on Saturday
or Sunday. Saturday morning will be chock full of laundry, cleaning,
and other various housework in the morning. At lunch I will need to
take T something to eat while he's working, then drive an hour down to
my sister's house to bake cookies. I love to bake cookies, and I love
hanging out with my sis...but she lives too far away ;0( I don't want
to bail on her, but I know I won't feel like going.

Sunday won't be as hectic as Saturday hopefully, but it won't be as relaxing as usual. A typical Sunday is going to church, I come home and change into comfy clothes, break out the Sunday paper, and veg. out. Sometimes
I go over to Tony's mom's house and visit, but I like to just be lazy!
This Sunday we will be babysitting for a few hours in the evening, but
the kids are really good, and will probably be more interested in
playing with Uncle Tony than me, but I'mOK with that. I also need to
try to fit some grocery and Christmas shopping in there somewhere if
possible, so we shall see. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I've been tagged!

So I've been tagged by Laundry Broad to do this thing.....You gotta take a pic of yourself right now as you are and post it on your blog. Then tag a few others.

So, here it is:



You will notice that I do have a scarf around my neck...inside. Yes, I am a freak. I actually just made it...so that is why I am rocking it!

So, I guess I will tag Mama Jen, Beanie's Mama, and anyone else who wants to do it ;0)

I should've stayed in bed

When my alarm clock went off this morning I hit the snooze button. I hit the snooze button twice every morning and have my alarm set to accommodate my lazy ass. This morning however, I was much more tired and grumpy than usual. I really wanted to lay there any snuggle up to the dog and go back to sleep, but sleep doesn't pay the bills now does it.

So, I start to get out of bed, and find that the dog had me pinned. He weighs 117lbs people and that is more than I weigh, but anyway, I tell him to move and he rolls right off the bed. With a loud thud. That was funny, but I felt bad for him...dumb ass. I get dressed and start down the stairs...Buddy usually is hot on my heels, so I always stay to the right so he can run passed me. What does he do this morning in all his morning glee to run down the steps like a madman...he plows me over. Seriously...he knocked me the fuck down the steps.

As I lay at the bottom of my steps trying to figure out if I had really injured myself, Buddy pounces on me to give me lots of kisses, because you don't lay on the floor unless you want to play right? So, I get up...no major injuries except some bruises so that was good.

I get to work this morning and find out that newbie is starting on Monday....fantastic *grumbles*. I guess I won't be getting anything accomplished. Last but not least...I have a meeting with my boss and the accountant this afternoon so, I will basically be forced to sit through a bazillion stupid questions from my boss that the accountant will probably not answer to his liking and he'll ask me the same things over again tomorrow when I am trying to get some work done. I hope everyone is having a better day than me...and watch out for big dumb dogs coming down the steps....I will be sore tomorrow!

My computer is what?

This post will probably be a mish-mash of a few things, so bear with me ;0)

Well,
last Friday was a day from hell for me. I got to work at 8am. I
unlocked the door and went in like I do every other morning. I went
into my office and put all my shit down, took my coat off, turned the
heater on, and sat down at my desk. Now, up to this point my morning
had been perfectly fine, what was about to happen next was going to
change that for sure. I reached down to turn my computer on and when I
push the button...I hear a clicking sound and have a black screen
up...this is obviously not a good sign. I call the computer guy and
tell him what is going on and he proceeds to tell me that it sounds
like my hard drive has crashed...........WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN MY
HARD DRIVE CRASHED???? oh, sorry ahem. Fortunately for me, I had a
backup of my Quickbooks accounting software. If I didn't have that
backed up...I would've seriously considered suicide. On the flip side
of that, nothing else on my computer was backed up. Mycomputer had
numerous spreadsheets that I used as templates and I also had every
customer proposal on that computer.....gone, all of it. So, after the
hard drive was replaced I spent the rest of the day trying to reinstall
everything back onto my computer.

Being that I am not the one
who originally made the excel templates, I guess that I am going to
have to try to figure out how to make new ones. I know how to use
excel, but I'm not sure I have the patience right now to do it. Also,
my boss has decided to hire someone to do our commercial estimates.
That is fine and dandy, but guess who will have to train this
person....me. Not only will I need to do the accounts payable andreceivable
, scheduling jobs and estimates, answering the phone, waiting on any
customers that come into the store, and any other task that may come
up, but I will also have to babysit the newbie....GAH! Son of a Bitch.
I need a clone to help me, that's all there is to it. So, just to sum
it all up....work is totally sucking ass right now (so classy, I know).
Well that is all for now, I will let you go read something with
substance! ;0)