Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Trying to post...

I have several posts started, but not finished. I keep trying to tell you guys stuff, but then I get side tracked and forget to come back and finish.

So. Much. Going. On.

But there are a couple of things I wanted to share with you before I totally forget about them.

1. Last night Conor took all his cloths off except for his underwear. I asked him why he was getting nekkid. He said: "Because I'm hot. Not boyfriend hot, but hot hot." I totally cracked up. That is the result of having two teenage sisters.

2. My grandma found a Sears and Roebuck (no idea if I spelled that right!) catalog from 1902 and passed it around on Sunday for everyone to look at. It was AMAZING. You could buy a couch for $8.45. However, if you wanted a bike? It was $10.85. Seems kinda expensive to me. To pay more for a bike than a couch? Oh, how fun it was to look through that. To see the prices, as well as see what all could be bought at Sears back in the day. You could buy an Optometrist kit. Diagnose yourself and all your friends! It was a "big money maker" according to the add. Which totally would justify spending $29 on it. I did a google search on it and came up with this! I didn't get to see the undergarments page when I was looking through on Sunday... but the example in that article? Being considered ... um, I don't want to type that word on my blog... so... pron. With the o and r turned around. That is HILARIOUS. And it just goes to show that there were some ridiculous lawsuits back in 1902 as well.

Hope this post made you laugh at least 3 times!

And have a Happy Thanksgiving!!! (In the event that I don't get to post here again before then... I will TRY!)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Brain Overload

I don’t think it’s gonna end anytime soon. Grin and bear it. That’s my new motto. Better than crying in a corner, ya know?

I've told you all how I got assigned to our KY branch a few months ago. And then asked to train as a tech in my spare time. And then asked to do our California branch stuff. Well, they asked me yesterday if I would be able to cover for another admin when she goes on maternity leave for about 10 weeks or so (no exact date of return) by running a few reports. I said, "Sure, no problem!" I don't want to be accused of having a bad attitude and not being a team player, plus it's only a temporary thing. I'm getting a little bit more familiar with our KY branch, so it's not as time consuming as it was, and hey... is it a compliment that the branch manager in the Michigan office thought of me to cover? She knows my work and wants me to help her out... or is it that I'm the only one left in any branch in this company besides the admin in Michigan?

I should have known better than to think it was really just a “few reports” – I have a ton of stuff I have to get to know now. I received training via phone this morning on all the admin stuff in Michigan and Toledo (she currently covers 2 branches). Which, most shouldn't be too hard, I just am not sure what kind of time I’m gonna have for it. And the reports all have deadlines, so I will have to make time and let something else slide.

So, she just sent me documentation on all the stuff she does... and it seems to me like it's a full time job. Oh, right... I didn't already have one of those, so it should be no problem.

Hey, that's how I deal with stuff! Sarcasm! At least they asked this time instead of telling me that I had to do it to be able to keep my job. That's a plus. Anyway, yeah, it's gonna be an interesting couple of months!

Grin and bear it! :)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A First!

Conor lost his first tooth today - at the day care he goes to after school. His teacher said he was very calm about it. He walked up to her and said, "Mrs. L, my tooth fell out."

She said he had blood dripping down his chin. He didn't freak out about that, either, he just said, "Oh."

I think that may be because he doesn't feel well. He didn't look like he felt well, so I said, "Are you OK, honey?"

He said his stomach was hurting.

His teacher asked, "Did you go to the bathroom?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't poop." Yep. Little boys aren't very discreet. heehee

We came home and he laid down on the couch and went to sleep. He also misses his dad. Since Jeff works nights and has had a lot of school work to do this week, he didn't get to pick him up from the day care to do stuff with him. And he leaves for school or work right before or after we get home.

Jeff had an interview last week and they said they were going to give him the job, they just had some paperwork to do and he had to OK it with his boss. So, we are very hopeful, but cautiously hopeful.

OK, short and sweet. That's all I have for today. :)

Friday, November 07, 2008

Tis the Season...

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

One of my favorite Christmas songs, but every single time I hear that line? I think of the Staples commercial with all the parents dancing in the isles because their kids are going back to school. =\

I must say, whoever thought up that ad? Genius. And the "That Was Easy" button? Another good one. I wonder who their ad agency is? They are pretty good.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Halloween Pictures!

Yeah, I'm finally loading them on here! :) The first few are when we were carving pumpkins the night before beggar's night. Conor picked out wolves to do, of course, because they are his favorite animal. But, he just picked it out. He got tired of "carving" right away. And when it came to cleaning out the pumpkin? He grabbed one scoop full of seeds and slime and declared that he "wasn't touching that stuff anymore."

Allie, playing the part of a deranged pumpkin killer. Oh, I didn't tell you she dyed her hair black? Well, yeah. She dyed her hair black. We'll maybe discuss that another time.

Ceara was on the phone the entire time, I think. It's a wonder her neck didn't get a kink in it.

Here's my... errr, Conor's pumpkin glowing in the dark:

And Allie had some technical difficulties so she went with I "heart" bat('s).

Ceara chose the skull crossbones pattern, but was unable to finish it because Allie broke both carving knives. I guess she didn't want to try with a real knife.

On beggar's night (or Trick or Treat night), Conor choose a ninja costume.

It went really well with the Casper bag I got for him... lol
Some of my neighbors dressed up to hand out the treats. Conor wore his mask for all of two houses before handing it to me to carry.
We met up with Haley (a little girl from Conor's school) and she walked around with us.
Conor was more interested in petting the animals when he saw them at the houses we went to.
Gage also went with us, but the one picture I got of him by himself didn't turn out. He's the one dressed as a football player.
We also ran into his friend Gunner, who also had some issues with the mask he was supposed to wear.
Here's Conor and Haley. She was dressed as Hanna Montana. Her parents and grand parents that were along kept trying to get her to sing into her microphone "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!" But she refused. He even offered her a dollar to do it, but she declined. Conor jumped in and said, "I'll do it!"

Allie was our treat passer-outer. She sat at the end of the driveway with a book and a blanket.

It was fun, but now we have a TON of candy. And all I hear is, "Mom. Mom. Mom... can I have this? Or this?" (referring to a piece of candy from his loot he got) I think Jeff gets more of it than Conor does, so I'm sure the chocolate stuff will be long gone soon. Then it will just be all the non-chocolate stuff.



Hope everyone had fun on Halloween! We did! :)

Random Thoughts

Outside of my office is a spider. I saw it from my car - sitting in his web (or her) in a bush near the door. Yeah, it's a pretty good sized one. It is also the same as the spider we have at home in a bush by our driveway. Black and yellow one.

We have a ton of mosquitoes around our house right now, I've never seen anything like it. You walk through the grass and they all stir up and fly around. I figure the spider is there to take care of the mosquitoes, so I leave him alone. As much as I hate spiders, as long as he doesn't try to come into my house I can leave him alone.

So, I started thinking about bugs in general, and how many different kinds of bugs there are in the world. And do we really know what all the bugs in the world are? Who has the job of discovering and naming them? Is this really a job someone has? And how often do we get new bugs because of ... the species intermingling? Say a grasshopper and a cricket have an affair...

Yeah, I really had these thoughts today while contemplating the spider. I know I'm weird. You don't have to tell me.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Hmmmm

Or should I say mmmmmm? Do you know how weird it is to look at and read about food that I have never had a desire to try and suddenly I want to try it? Because of the writing and the pictures, and everything else?

In this blogging world I have followed links to, I have found several cooking sites. And then more cooking sites from links on those cooking sites. And so on. So much so that I can hardly remember how I got to these sites in the first place. Not just sites where they post recipes, but where they describe the flavors of these foods. It has become quite addicting to read these posts, even about food I have never tried and may never get to try, but I like reading about it.

I planning to try some of this food. Aren't your taste buds supposed to change every 7 years or something like that? Or is that just some old wives tale that isn't true? I think it's true. Maybe. But how do you really prove it? Something you used to like you suddenly don't like anymore? Like that colored sugar you get as a kid with the little candy stick to dip it in? I used to like that. I can't imagine eating it now. I'm sure there are probably better examples...

I used to like peas. But then my sister didn't like them and I decided if my sister didn't like them, then I certainly shouldn't like them. Right? Child-like thinking. Oh, wait. I was a child. That thinking has stuck with me though, and I haven't eaten peas since I was very young. But driving home the other day, I suddenly had a craving for peas. Is that weird? I haven't had any yet, but I still think I want some. I wonder if they taste the way I remember them tasting? I'll let you know if I do eat some soon.

I also need to get a 3 ring binder going for all these new recipes I'm printing out. That way I can make notes in the margins and hand it down to my kids some day for them to try.

And yeah, I know I owe some pictures at some point. I did finally figure out the problem with PhotoShop, but have not taken the time to work on the pictures I have to post. They have piled up now, and it just seems like an enormous task!

It's voting day here in the US, time to get out there and cast your vote to see who will be our next President of the United States! That sounds a little bit like a reality show line, doesn't it? Like, say... American Idol? I don't even watch reality shows...

This election will certainly be a historical moment. Whichever side wins, we will have a "first" in the White House. So don't forget to vote so you can say you were a part of it! :) Another thing I have read lately on many blogs is how important it is to vote. And really, it is.

I will be standing in the voting line after work tonight to cast my vote - I've seen the voting places, and heard all the tales from those people in the office who have already been. I'm hoping everyone is getting there early so that the line won't be too long when I get there tonight!

Yeah, this post is kinda random, but... that's the kind of day I'm having so far.

Have a great day!!! :)

Saturday, November 01, 2008

My Photoshop is broken

:( It won't let me edit the pictures to make em all nice and pretty. :( It has worked up until now, but Jeff said they have seen a lot of it at his work. People having problems with Photoshop and Vista. I have a whole bunch of pictures to post, so you may just have to see them in their dull form if I don't figure it out soon. I don't edit them too much, just make them a little brighter or crop them.

In other news, Conor and I are making cake balls today. They are all the rage right now! Two of my favorite bloggers have made them this week! Only I'm not sure what kind of decorating I'm doing on them, I'll decide that if they actually turn out right!

I'm not doing a step by step of how we are making them, you can read that on either Bakerella's site or Pioneer Woman. I'll just post pictures.

I do know that I'm making them with spice cake, though. And cream cheese icing (I'm making the icing as I don't like the canned cream cheese that I've tried.)

So, off to making them now!

What are you guys doing today?