Saturday

Slept in this morning. What a treat! I even walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes while I watched the finale of Hells Kitchen that I had DVR'd. We headed out for a drive. Stopped for coffee at Hold Your Grounds on Ash & Boone. I ordered a sugar free hazelnut mocha. It was so good. Their punch card is actually an electronic card, a very inventive idea. More stands should go to that kind of system. From there we stopped at mcDonalds for a biscuit breakfast. It's right across from this slum apartment building. We watched a dope deal go down. They thought they were so slick. If they only knew how obvious they looked.

We decided to drive out to Liberty Lake. It was a nice cool crisp fall day. I was amazed to see how many companies are still out there. We drove by our old rental. Looked the same but maybe a little worse for wear. We thought we might go to Cabellas, but they have not opened yet. We took the long way home down Trent. Stopped at Albertson's.

Came home and played on the computer for awhile. Decided to go to Safeway and talk to the pharmacist. Hooray, Kellie the pharmacist found my benefits online and I was able to order all our prescriptions. I will pick them up tomorrow. She made it so easy.

Made hamburgers for dinner.

Mail Call: JC Penney's sent me a coupon for $15 for my birthday. I need new pillows so that will come in handy. My Diabetic Forecast magazine also came today. They featured one of the American Idol hopefuls on the front cover this month.

Looking forward to day 2 of my vacation.

Friday

What a freaky Friday! They installed the new system on my computer Thursday night. I came in early so I would have plenty of time to log onto my computer the "new way". Except I kept getting an error message saying my computer failed to connect to the server. So with no system, I could not take calls. For 3 hours. Finally the IT guy, Dale, shows up and we find out it is not a software problem but a hardware issue. 45 minutes later when Holly finally shows up she asked if I would work at Guy's desk. Took just a few calls, before it was time for our team meeting. Another hour wasted.
After the meeting I finally could go back to my desk and took calls until end of shift.

The start of my vacation begins! M took me Olive Garden for lunch. We still had the gift card he won when he worked at Travelers. So lunch was free! The best kind. I had the never ending pasta bowl with salad and breadsticks and M had the never ending soup with same. It was such a nice relaxing lunch. Our server, Kathy, took very good care of us, and the food was excellent. Olive Garden's website has alot of their recipes listed. I plan on making a couple of their soups this fall and winter.

It rained off and on today and it was definitely colder. Medco called M when we got back from lunch to set up a 3rd interview for Tuesday.

Tomorrow we plan on exploring our little world. Coffee at a new place first and then off to see what we can see. And take pictures! I do have to exchange M's pants (they are way too big in the legs) for a nice dress long sleeved shirt. I also need to go by the pharmacy and get some supplies. Other than that it will be fun.

Friday's Questions:

1. What is your best time of day?
Early in the morning

2. What is the one entree you cannot resist to order at an Italian restaurant?
Chicken Marsalla

3. If you were an ice cream flavor what flavor would you be?
Rocky Road

Thursday

Thirteen Things about Saoirse My Favorite All Time Television Shows 1. Seinfeld 2. Ally Mcbeal 3. Big Brother 4. Big Love 5. Sopranos 6. Northern Exposure 7. Hill Street Blues 8. West Wing 9. Hells Kitchen/Top Chef/Food Network Star 10. Oprah 11. Saving Grace 12. LA Ink 13. House Hunters Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants



One more day before vacation. I am so excited about having the whole week off. We don't really have anything planned yet, but it will be nice not to have to be there for a week.

I called Celine in benefits. I got her voicemail which was full and could not leave a message. Laura in HR gave me the group # and the web site address, but no where on the site does it tell me my effective date. I will try again tomorrow. Very frustrating.

We made meatloaf sandwiches for dinner.

TV Watching: We watched the second to the last episode of Top Chef. Goodbye Brian. He was cute, but hyper. My gal Casey is going for the win. I like Dale too. Hung I could take or leave. He's too arrogant. Next show is the finale in Aspen where they will crown the Top Chef.

Wednesday

I woke up an earlier than I normally do. I guess because last night I was so tired we went to bed so early.

It was hard coming back to work after such a great day off the day before. It was moderately busy. Lori came by and brought me 2 jalapeno poppers. They were so good. I need to make those real soon. I think I will add that recipe to my personal cookbook I'm compiling.

When I got home I made meatloaf for dinner.

TV Watching: I finished waching the end of Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsey saves the day once again. I watched a new show called Reaper. It was pretty funny. It is about a kid that his parents sold his soul to the devil when he became 21. Now he must be a bounty hunter for the devil. His sidekick cracks me up.

Thursday looks like the last semi warm day for awhile. It will be around 75 degrees and then Friday it is only going to be in the 50's with rain. Good sweater wearing weather. Most of my vacation is going to be on the cool side. Time to pull out the crockpot cookbooks. It is starting to get dark earlier too. I love fall.

Tuesday

We dropped Lady off a little after 7 am for her surgery. From there we stopped for coffee at Victoria's. I had their special meximocha. Very hot and very yummy. Then off to Roger's to get my tooth fixed. I left my teeth and drove to Gordon's so M could finish helping him with his computer issues. While he was doing that I went and gased up Jiffy at Safeway. Only got a 10 cent discount this time.

This afternoon M went to some manditory orientation at the unemployment office. I went to Walmart. Got some dogfood. I also picked up some little pumpkins to decorate the house with. I also picked up a bag of white and pink daffodil bulbs and a variety of pink tulip bulbs. We will be planting them the week I am off from work.

Finally it was time to go and pick up lady at the vet's. She made it through the surgery like the lil trooper that she is. She came out wagging her tail saying "Let's go home Mom. I'm tired of this place." You bet, Ol' dog, let's go home. I am so relieved that she is going to be okay.

I made hamburgers and homemade potato chips for dinner.

TV Watching: I watched the end of 1 vs 100. The guy lost $96,000 to the smart kids. I also watched Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Ramsey from Hell's Kitchen. This is a show where he has a week to turn around a failing restaurant. I watched the english version on the BBC network. He is as nasty and mean on this show as he is on Hell's Kitchen. Love it!

Testing and Weight: I haven't tested because I ran out of supplies. I will need to call the benefits girl who emailed me and get the group # so I can go and refill my script. Weight was at 13.

It was so nice being off today, but, it's back to work for the next 3 days, Then it will be VACATION time!! A whole week - I bet that will zip by.

Monday

I got some things accomplished this morning. I took the Premera HIPPA letter down to HR and had Laura fax it to the benefits person. With that done we should be able to start using our benefits. Good thing because M needs to refill his prescriptions and I need to refill my diabetic supplies. I also called Peggy to make an appointment tomorrow to get my tooth fixed. I went and asked Jim if I could have tomorrow off as a vacation day. He okay'd it. I finally mailed all the post cards I had filled out and were sitting in my purse.

When I got home I found that Lady's swelling has turned worse and is now bleeding. So I called the vet (Garland Animal Clinic) and they said to bring her right down. M came home from his interview at Aspen and we took her to the doc's. Found that she has an abscessed tooth that will need to come out. So tomorrow morning we need to bring her back to have that done. They have put her on 2 different medications which she started tonight.

On our way home from the vet's we stopped at Zipps and brought home dinner. I got the fish.

TV Watching: I watched Rock of Love. It was a show made up of unseen clips from the past shows. I guess the finale will be next week. I also watched 1 vs 100. I didn't get to see the end and know if the guy beat all the smart kids. Pretty soon all the new fall shows will be starting. I am taping Kville tonight. That looks promising. Also going to record The Big Bang Theory. It might turn out to be dumb, but, lets give it a chance.

Tomorrow is going to be busy day.

Sunday

It was a nice Sunday. I didn't go anywhere all day. Just hung around home all day. Our friend and old neighbor from where we used to live, came by for a visit. It is always nice seeing Gordon. He looked good today. Gordon is 84 and still gets around great and he also still mows his own lawn. M went over to his house this afternoon to help him with his internet connection.

I caught up on the laundry. I made an apple crisp. I also watched the movie Sisters of the Traveling Pants. What a cute movie, I bet it was even a better book. I made a pork chop dinner tonight.

My dog Lady has not been feeling well the last few days. She banged her cheek on something and it has been swollen. She likes to use her face to move the fence board between the two houses and we are thinking it might have fell back and hit her in the face. Seems to be getting better today. She has been coughing more lately. We may need to take her to the vet. I hate that she is getting old. We have had Lady for quite a few years now. She was thrown out of a car along side Loon Lake where my in-laws have a cabin. She was pregnant and was just a puppy herself. She fell into the lake and Chris and their neighbor at the time, Jim, rescued her. Jim kept her while she had her puppies and he found homes for them. When he decided he did not want to keep her I jumped at the chance for her to come and spend her life with us. It was challenging that first year. It took alot of love to bring her out of her shell because she had been abused so bad. But you sure wouldn't know that now. She is very special and we adore her.

I chipped the enamel on my front tooth. I will need to go to Peerless and get it fixed. Hope they can get me in tomorrow. I also need to remember to give Celina a ride to work tomorrow morning.

It rained a little bit tonight. Our lawn said thank you. Tomorrow is going to be another beautiful fall day.

Saturday - M's Birthday

Today is M's birthday. He hit the big 60. Nothing major planned except for dinner tonight. We started the day off taking the dogs to the groomer. The owner of the shop, who we both do not care for, is gone for a couple of weeks because she is having surgery. It was nice that I could talk to Karen without the owner there commenting on everything we talk about. And she thinks she knows it all. Karen says she tends to runs off most of the customers. So I think Karen is enjoying her not being there also.

From there we tried the coffee stand across the street, Nevada Brew Street. I had a sugar free Mounds Mocha. We drove over to our favorite part of town, Corbin Park to see if any of trees are starting to turn. Just a few are barely showing signs of color. Give it about 2 weeks and they will be ablaze with color. From there we drove out to where Keytronics is and turned around and came back via Bigelow Gulch. It was such a lovely fall day. When we got back into town we went to Office Depot. They were having a $1.00 sale. I got alot of little stuff and I bought the game Bejeweled 2. I love this game. They did not have the ink cartridge M needed for his printer so we ventured on to Staples. He found the ones he was looking for there. By then the dogs were ready to pick up.

We went next door and had homemade beef vegetable soup at M's mom's house. Came back and watched the movie Waterboy on Stars. Spent most of the afternoon watching that and playing Bejeweled.

We went to Rancho Chico for M's birthday with the folks. It is always good there. He was a good sport when lil' Jose plunked the sombrero on his head and all the staff sang Happy Birthday in Spanish and then in English. I'm taking the picture to work to add to my desk collection of pictures. The picture below is not Rancho Chico, but I love all the wall colors and the pretty table cloths.

I am very full now and I think we are both done for the night.

Friday

Another week finished. It was very foggy this morning. The fog didn't burn off until around 11:00.

After work I went and bought M's birthday gift. I was very practical this year. I bought him a pair of relaxed jeans and 2 nice belts. From there I went to the bank and deposited M's check and then to Safeway and bought the week's groceries.

M went for an interview at Office Team this afternoon.

Test and Weight: Test was still a little higher than I like. Weight was at 12.

Mail Call: The letter came from premera so I can finish getting benefits through Guardian.

TV Watching: While M was gone at his interview I watched Top Chef. I think the next show will be the finale. My girl Casey is still in it and doing great.

Friday's 3 Questions:

1. What was your most memorable birthday gift?
*** A pair of dress up shoes with sparkly heels (I was about 6 or 7 years old)

2. Bath or Shower?
*** Shower - Very hot and with as much spray as I can get (I also like 2 or 3 kinds of shampoo at the ready)

3. Favorite Pizza topping?
*** Anchovies

I made breakfast for dinner. I think it will be an early evening. I'm ready for a fun weekend.

Thursday

I stopped at Walgreens on my way to work and bought the October issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. I love her Halloween issues. Browsing through the pages today I see where she has a special issue out about just Halloween. I will need to go to Borders and pick up a copy.

I saw my boss as I was leaving. Hardly ever see her anymore. We work such different hours and she is always in meetings. She is a good boss and I like her alot.

It was raining when I left work today. It was actually chilly too. Stayed in the 50 degree range all afternoon. I nice damp almost Fall day. When I got home I made chili mac for dinner. It is one of our favorite comfort foods. It is a mixture of mac n cheese, fried up hamburger meat, onion and tomato soup. It's very filling, which is good when you are eating one meal a day.

Testing and Weight: Testing was just a tad high this morning but weight was down to 11.

TV Watching: We watched the finale of Saving Grace. I think I will buy season one when it comes out on DVD. Survivor China starts tonight. I will have to record it. No way can I stay up that late.

I am starting this new thing called Thursday 13:

Thirteen Things about Saoirse Things I love about Fall! 1. Cooler Weather 2. Pumpkins 3. Apples 4. Seeing all the trees leaves turn color 5. Wearing all my beautiful sweaters 6. New fall tv shows 7. Taking the air conditioners down and being able to open up the windows and let in the nice fresh air 8. Local Harvest Festivals 9. Spokane's Annual Fall Quilt Festival 10. My annual vacation from work 11. Crockpot meals 12. Watching the Canadian geese return 13. Mum flowers blooming in local gardens Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participantshttp://



Happy Thursday!

Wednesday - Talk Like A Pirate Day

Jim was running around work talking like a pirate all day. I finally had to tell him he is way too conservative and way too republican to ever be a pirate, but I admired his attitude. I worked 1 hour overtime today. One more hour to go this week to fulfill the promise of 3 hours. Long way from the 8 I had planned.

When I got home M had done the dishes. Such luxury! I made tacos for dinner.

Testing and Weight: Test this morning was normal and weight was back down to 13.

TV Watching: I watched the Big Brother finale and watched Dick win it all. We watched Oprah because Reba was on it. She looks so great at 52! Watched the second to the last episode of Saving Grace. I'm hoping they renew the series. It is so great. But it seems if I really like a show it either gets cancelled or non-renewed.

I didn't make it to Best Buy like I had planned. Maybe tomorrow. M has changed his mind about going out for dinner for his birthday. He would rather do I steak dinner here at home. I said whatever he wants to do is fine with me.

We did make a plan to make our backyard into a bird feeding sanctuary this winter. I'm going to put up feeders and shelters everywhere for the little birds. Need to keep my eye open for sales on all that stuff.

Since it is Talk Like a Pirate Day.... (I will always think of the people who invented this special day when they were on that show Wife Swap) my favorite pirate song is by my favorite pirate Jimmy Buffett:

Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all

Watched the men who rode you switch from sails to steam
And in your belly you hold the treasures few have ever seen
Most of 'em dream, most of 'em dream

Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

I've done a bit of smugglin', I've run my share of grass
I made enough money to buy Miami, but I pissed it away so fast
Never meant to last, never meant to last

And I have been drunk now for over two weeks
I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks
But I got stop wishin', got to go fishin'
Down to rock bottom again
Just a few friends, just a few friends



.................
Pirate Looks at Forty, by Jimmy Buffett

ps: C&R &JTD - M wants to know more about the hot spot and do you really know Dean and Theresa?

Tuesday

Today at work was so much better than yesterday. No bad calls today. I guess I filled my quota of terrible calls yesterday. I was really going to work overtime today, but, I didn't. You know, when they asked me in the interview what my weakness was I said "I hate working overtime". They said "No problem, we don't work overtime" Yeah right. I will need to work 2 more OT hours this week to fulfill my commitment. I talked to my friend Joanna and she agreed to meet with M's friend Jim. Will need to set something up.

Driving home today it was actually 54 degrees. Hello Fall. Welcome back! Soon the trees will be turning color. I am so looking forward to my vacation coming up on October 1st.

We made hot meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers from last night.

TV Watching: I watched the second to the last episode of Rock of Love. He finally kicked out Lacey. Her dad was her undoing. I'm hoping he will pick Jess. Tonight is the finale of Big Brother. I already know that Dick wins, but, I might stay up and watch it. It is amazing that Dick actually won it. I would have never guessed that from that first show that he would outlast all those other people. Hope he enjoys his trip around the world.

DK called tonight. He is all hot to move to New Orleans. He is so much like me. He has gypsy feet and wanderlust in his soul. Of course I would be bored in Chico and looking for escape too. Too dang hot there for me.

Tomorrow after work I need to stop at Best Buy and get M's birthday gift. Also need to stop somewhere and buy him a belt. The one he has been wearing is past being worn out. The new reversible one we had bought him was stolen in the burglary. I'm planning on making him a pineapple upside down cake for his special day. We are still planning on going to Rancho Chico for dinner. Still trying to decide if we are going Friday or Saturday night.

That is about all for today.

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh so mellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain so yellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a young and a callow fellow
Try to remember and if you remember
Then follow--follow, oh-oh
- Try to Remember, Lyrics by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt

Monday

This was the Monday from hell. It started out okay but progressively got worse as the day went by. It seemed like every call was long and involved, or the callers would be so scattered that you had to explain something over and over. I only worked 1 hour overtime. That was all I could take. Maybe I will try for 2 hours tomorrow. Charisma quit today, like we all knew she would. We all knew she took the job so she could have benefits to have the baby with. It's sad because she kept someone who might have really wanted the job from getting it.

M has a second interview at Keytronics tomorrow. When I got home he already had the meatloaf that I made last night in the oven. We had that and baked potatoes for dinner.

Testing & Weight: Testing in the normal range. Weight was at 12 most of the weekend but when I weighed this morning it was 15.

Mail Call: Bills and bills. Never seems to be an end to those.

TV Watching: We watched Oprah because Dr. Oz was on today. We need more fiber and more fruits and vegetables in our daily diet.

I'm pretty tired to tonight so it looks like it will be an early evening.

Sunday

A touch of fall in the air today. Love it. I made apple spice pancakes with bacon for breakfast this morning. We lounged around most of the morning. I went to Kmart, but, didn't find what they had adveritised on sale. Then I went to Michael's and bought the shadowbox for the bathroom project. It was 40% off. I then went to Walmart and bought some household stuff we needed. I also bought the computer game Jewel Quest.

Really didn't do much all day. I watched an episode of Saving Grace. Only 2 more episodes left till the end of its season.

We had a nice steak dinner. After I cleaned the kitchen I played on the computer and watched what M was watching on tv off and on. Paid bills. And now I'm ready for the brutal week ahead of me.

Saturday

Woke up early as usual. I got quite a bit accomplished. Kitchen all cleaned, 3 loads of laundry and shower taken. We decided to go out to breakfast. We went to a small cafe in the Hillyard called Ma Barker's. It's a small family owned cafe. We had never been there before. It was somewhat dissapointing. It was clean enough but back in the kitchen the cook was pounding on something that made me unintentionally irratated. But they did have the Jeff Foxworthy radio show on which was fun to listen to. We both ordered the chicken fried steak breakfast. It was okay, but, we both agreed we have had better other places. The waitress was nice. After breakfast we browsed through the antique store next door to the restaurant.

We left the Hillyard and headed south this time. We drove out Hwy 95 to Rockford. It was such a beautiful day. The leaves have not started to turn yet. We passed an elk farm. I took pictures that I hope will turn out. We then drove a back road around Lake Coeur d'Alene. Took the long way home through Post Falls. Stopped at The Trading Stores and bought steaks from the meat counter. Since we were in Idaho I bought a Powerball ticket. I'm always hopeful.

When we got home we treated ourselves to chips and pico de gallo and iced tea. We watched an episode of LA Ink and Feasting on Asphalt. By then I was so tired I decided to take a nap. Such luxury! I slept till M woke me up at 7:00. I must have been really tired.

The folks invited us over for BBQ crab legs and salad. Just a perfect night under the waxing moon to eat outside and share stories and laughs.

I guess after taking that nice nap I can stay up late tonight. We are listening to my new Michael Buble cd. Such good music.

I found this fun questionnaire on another blog. If you play, please link back to me and leave me a comment letting me know you played, so I can come visit!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)

Rex Optima

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)

Rocky Road Macaroon

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)

Lfos

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)

Brown Shihtzu

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)

Saoirse Ft Wayne

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)

Fos-Li

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)

The Green Tom Collins

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)

King Carper

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy),

Maja Rocky Road

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ),

Jane Donald

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter),

Latrelle Lincoln

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)

Autumn Hollyhock

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)

Melon Paisley

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),

Ma Barker Aspen

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”),

The Collage Tornado Tour

Hope you had fun!

Friday

As always I am so happy it is Friday and I can start the weekend. Monday I will start working overtime everyday. We do need the money and I got clarification. It is not manditory and you can work as much or as little as you want. I am going to try about 2 hours a day. At least till it kills me. Kendra finally quit today. She might as well she never came to work. Another one gone and more calls for us to take. We had our team meeting today. We watched a video townhall meeting presented by 3 of our bigwigs who thanked us for helping the company make a 45 million dollar profit. Your welcome. Lori came down on her break and we are both happy Dick and Danielle are the final 2 on Big Brother. I told her to keep an eye out for an opening down in her department.

When I got home I made tacos. I have a goal now not to eat anything after 5:30. My new saying is the kitchen of the Spotted Moose Cafe (the name of the restaurant I always wanted to open) closes at 5:30.

Testing & Weight: Testing normal and I didn't weigh today.

Mail Call: yourmusic.com sent me my pick of the month. This month I got Michael Buble's self titled cd. I had a burned copy but I think it got stolen in the burglary. They stole so many, around 300 cd's, that I don't know which ones I have and ones that are gone. I haven't been able to find this one so I put it on the top of my list to replace it. I also received Office Scapes Direct catalog filled with silk flowers, plants and trees, a $10 off certificate from JC Penney's next time I use my card and a subscription offer from McCalls Quilting Magazine.

TV Watching: I watched Oprah today because one of my favorite designers, Vera Wang, was on the show. In the 70's I used to buy her scarves. She also spotlighted a must see movie called Across the Universe, a musical with nothing but Beatles music! The previews looked fantastic. I will definitely go and see this and buy it when released on DVD.

We also watched an episode of Top Chef. Goodbye CJ. Hated to see him go, but, my favorite, Casey, won on this episode.

Friday's 3 Questions:
1.) What was your favorite vacation?

2.) Have you ever made a sand castle?

3.) What musical would you watch over and over?

Not much planned for this weekend. The weather is going to be perfect now that it is at the end of summer and the beginning of fall peeking around the bend. Won't be long before it is apple season up here in the northwest.

Thursday

We got an email today that they would like us to "dedicate" 3 hours of overtime a week starting next week. What in the hell does "dedicate" mean. Are they afraid to say manditory? I am not looking forward to 3 more hours tacked onto an already dreadfully long week as it is. They also sent an email saying they are revising the holiday schedule that they just sent out 2 days ago. They took away in 2008 our days off for Martin Luther King's Birthday and President's Day and are replacing them with 2 floating holidays. Okay then, I will take St Patrick's Day and Halloween. Isn't corporate life wonderful?

After work I stopped at Fred Meyers for a few things. M went to his 2nd interview at Medco. After his interview he went down to the shop and helped out. He got a call from Keytronics for an interview tomorrow morning and an interview with Office Team for tomorrow afternoon. I spent the afternoon cleaning the kitchen, looking for M's DD214 form, playing jewel quest and watching tv. I did call Living Water and cancelled their service.

Testing & Weight: Testing was low when I got home. Weight is still at 14. I think it went up for the couple of days I didn't weigh.

Mail Call: Just bills.

TV Watching: I watched an episode of Simply Delicioso. It is becoming my favorite Food Network show. I also watched Oprah. The show was about OJ's book. I still say he did it! I won't buy or read the book. I'm still surprised he is still walking around.

That's all for today...I guess we should enjoy these last few days of summer. Fall is heading here soon and then it will be winter.

Wednesday

I have to remind my self that one bad call with an ego maniac idiot does not make a bad day. After that call the rest of the day went pretty smoothly.

I stopped at the post office on my way home and mailed an application for M and bought some stamps. When I got home we had some of the left over Texas Hash. And yes, it was so much better than yesterday. It had time to meld all the flavors together. I took a bowl over to M's mom so she wouldn't have to make dinner.

Testing & Weight: Testing was normal in the morning but a little high this afternoon. I did eat a small bag of white cheddar cheezits. Less than 1 gram of sugar, but, I guess that pushed the ol' sugar up to 138. I didn't weigh today.

TV Watching: Watched the latest episode of Big Brother. Its coming down to the end soon. I'm still not sure who is going to be the final 2. I also watched Oprah. She had the gal from Selmer, TN, who shot her minister husband, on the show for an interview. My inlaws (M's dad and his wife Virgina, who works as a professional psychic) used to live in Selmer. We also lived there for a short time. So this case spiked my interest from the get go. After hearing more of her story I guess her husband was one of those religious wacko perverts who behind doors was a monster but presented a hypocritical squeaky clean family man minister for his congregation. Was justice served? Yes, he's in the ground. I think she should get her kids back and go on and live their lives in peace and happiness.

My memories of Selmer include the friendly people, pit barbeque, the loss of my loved Westie Tooter, all you can eat catfish fiddlers at the Dixie Cafe, the blue laws, the corrupt cops, the civil war cementary out behind our house where the "twins" were laid to rest, shooting guns on New Years Eve, M's daddy shooting his gun as a doorbell at our house in the woods and especially Virginia, who I loved most of all.

Mail Call: Today the mailman delivered one of my favorite catalogs, Collections Etc (Absolutely Nothin' over $20). I also got this month's Country Living Magazine and by mistake a copy of Bon Appetit magazine. I had entered a contest on HGTV's site and the next day I get an email thanking me for subscribing to their magazine. I sent an email saying this was a mistake and they sent an email back saying they would cancel the order and for me not to worry. I'm not worried yet, but if I get another copy I may start to worry.

M was called back for a second interview for tomorrow. I will need to iron a nice blue shirt for him to wear. Looks like I drive the truck tomorrow.

Tuesday

Another uneventful day at work. We sure have alot of people off. Either on disability or out sick, which makes it really busy. I guess they are hiring a new class, but they won't hit the floor until 2 more months.

After work I went to Safeway. Needed dog food and some other things. I made Texas Hash for dinner. Enough to last a few days. It was so good but way too filling.

Testing & Weight: Only tested this morning and it was normal. Weight remained at 14.

Mail Call: It was book bonanza day! I received 2 books from members of Paperback Swap. They sent me The Pampered Chef Main Dishes by Doris Christopher and Stamp Magic by Stewart & Sally Walton. I also received my Zooba selection of the month: Not In Kansas Anymore, A Curious Tale of How Magic Is Transforming America by Christine Wicker.

It got pretty warm today. High was 85 degrees. What happened to that taste of fall? It will be back in a few days they say.I am burned out this evening. I'm ready to call it an early evening and just read before going to sleep.

Monday

The day at work was uneventful. It was very busy and the day flew by. I did get confirmation that our benefits department received my health insurance paperwork and I need to get one form to them. The effective date is 09/01/07 so we won't have a lapse in coverage.

Came home and made BLT's for lunch. Visited with Carol and Roger. They are leaving tomorrow. Have a safe journey and we will see you next time.

Testing & Weight: Testing was low this morning and really low this afternoon. It was down to 84. Weight has eased down to 14. Hope it keeps following that trend.

Mail Call: I got my issue of Home Companion Magazine. This month had some cute ways to decorate the porch for halloween. Also got 2 bills and lots of catalogs.

TV Watching: I watched this week's episode of Rock of Love. He needs to kick Lacey to the curb. If he doesn't pick Jess, he's an idiot. I also watched the season premier of Oprah. It's going to be another great season. David Letterman was on her show. I used to love watching his show late at night. Back when he would hang out the window of his building and just talk to people and when he spotlighted Stupid Pet Tricks. I still want to buy his mom's cookbook. Lots of good ol' Indiana recipes.

M took me for a smoothie. I used my coupon from the entertainment book at Cold Stone. I had the Lemony Berry flavor. Enjoyed the ride home because the weather is just perfect.

Sunday

It was so beautiful today, we just had to get out and enjoy some of it. Took a nice drive up around a recreational area by the river called Riverside State Park, also know as Bowl & Pitcher. It was the first time I have seen this area. It was so pretty. The campground was full. We stopped for lunch at McDonalds on Market. Had a coupon for free food. Then drove by our favorite park, Corbin Park. The trees are always so pretty. We then drove out to see if we could find the place M has an interview, never could find the company. We did see some trees that had started to turn color. A definite sign that fall is around the corner.

We got home just when Carol and Roger were arriving from the lake. They are heading back home to California from a summer spent in Alaska. Thank you again for the really nice gifts and for the fish.

Testing & Weight: Testing was normal but how did my weight sneak up to 15?

TV Watching: Watched Guy's Big Bite. It was not my favorite episode. It was an Asian themed show featuring dungeonous crab and noodle salad.

I made baked chicken legs that were coated with butter, garlic, parmesean cheese and mashed potato flakes. I thought it was good but M did not care for it. He doesn't really care for baked chicken.

Did some searching on the net and found a few sources for the miniature canoe for my shadow box project and also looked for clip art of koi fish for the wall hanging project for the bedroom downstairs. But now I'm ready to call it a night because 3:00 AM comes so darn early.



It is no longer good enough to Cry Peace,
We must Act peace, Live peace and Live In Peace.
-Shenandoah

Saturday

It felt so good to sleep in. We took the dogs to the groomer. After we left there we went and bought coffee from Milliways. I had a sugar free cinnamon mocha breve. From there we drove up to South Hill. Stopped at McDonalds and had breakfast. I went to Joann's Fabrics. I bought some green gingham fabric for my bear/shadow box project and some Halloween fabric which I want to make felt backed pins. On our way back down the hill we stopped at the $1.00 store. It is fun to see all the Halloween stuff in the stores. Karen called while we were shopping and said the pups were ready. After we picked them up we came home for a nice relaxing day.

For dinner I went and bought a Papa Murphy's pizza. We watched the NASCAR race. I was hoping Tony Stewart would win, or even Dale Jr. But that was not to be. I hate the "Chase". I think all the drivers should have a shot at winning the championship. I secretly wish that from here on out till the end of the season a driver not in the chase will win each and every race!

We ended the night looking up at stars as we soaked in warm bubbles of the hot tub.

Friday

I am really looking forward to this weekend. The weather is going to be much cooler and I am feeling much more alive. I am going to make a commitment to start excercising everyday again. And also start using my gym membership again, especially now that school has started back up and it is not overrun by kids.

After work I went to the bank and deposited the on line bank check that was returned. I love my credit union, STCU. They are the best. They made what I thought was going to be a nightmare so easy. When I got home I called Robin at the downtown branch and asked for a lower interest rate on my car loan. She did it. Not as low as I had hoped, but a little saved is better than none. When I was talking to her on the phone I noticed that their website has a classified page. I might list some things I have for sale there.

In passing: The marquee sign outside Marci's Bail Bonds:
"Get to marci's, before your cell mate gets to you"

Testing & Weight: Testing was low but weight went up to 13. Damn free lunch! Definitely need to excercise.

TV Watching: I watched an episode of LA Ink. We were both glad Kat decided not to get the fake boobs. Her show is so much better than Miami Ink which we no longer watch because he fired Kat. I was watching Oprah the other day ago and it was about how getting older is great and she spotlighted the Dove Ad campaign where they are usuing average normal women in their ads. Love that. I need to send them a letter letting them know I think they are on the right track and I intend to buy their products from now on.

Friday's 3 Questions:
1. Who was your worst boss ever?
2. What is your favorite fruit?
3. If you were a bird, what bird would you be?

When I got home we made sausage and peppers. It is so fun when we cook together. And it was so good. After dinner I played on my computer til I couldn't see anymore and went to bed early.

"Use the talents you possess for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best." Unknown