A Photo A Day For The Month Of May

Other bloggers like to do different themes together and I did the NaPoBloNo (or something similar) in November for National Post on your Blog every day for the month of November. There's other little things others have done since then that I just didn't care about doing. But I can do a picture a day... I think.

Here's some possible kitty-cam mounting perspectives:

In A Pickle

Why does Jynxy look so scared in this picture?

Because he found out that doing this

wasn't nearly as fun as it looked when the girls half his size were doing it.



This was about a week ago. He's not done it since. :-)

Everything Is Back Ordered... And Messy

The only item of my kitty-cam heading this way as I write this, is my router. But that's probably a good idea right now because this

is just not going to work. I bought this desk because after I moved, this desk

was pretty much almost falling over due to being mishandled during the move. But then I did this

because I just didn't have the heart to throw it out. It's unattractive, but very stable, so I had made it my paint area. At one point I had plans to move my desks into my childless bedroom, but the thought of not having a place for one of my kids to sleep in case the need ever arises was enough to keep things where they are now. Plus the desks kind of help fill the room since I don't have a ton of furniture. So... I've been debating on if I will move all the computer stuff to the other desk and then find a place for the painting, or put up a couple of shelves, as well as re-organize the disaster I have going on right now. I'm thinking (in my lazy way that I think) that the shelves are the way to go.

I have a ton of stuff from my previous job that I had on my desk, around my desk... trinkets and cool office stuff. I had a very flashy desk where I worked. Then, when I changed job descriptions and moved to a different part of the building, I had two desks that were sufficiently obnoxious. I've been wanting to bring that box in from the garage and use what I thought the cats wouldn't eat, tear up, steal, hide... but it's still sitting out there... as are a lot of other things I've thought about bringing in that I just haven't. (I'm having a hard time nesting still and I'm not sure why and that is a post for another day)

So I've been reading up on this web-cam thing and I've done what I can until the real deal gets here and I can get some hands on learning. So be patient my voyeuristic reader... it will be here soon...

Mmmm... Caaatniiiip...

Stoopid People Make Me Crazy

*This is a post I wrote about a week ago that I forgot to publish. Seems appropriate since I have to go back to work tonight*

It's been a long couple of days. The weather has been kind of nice and the full moon and all, so the stupidity factor at work has peaked. The worst kind of stupid person is the stupid person who thinks he/she knows more about your job then you do. Lemme splain...

The teeny tiny city that I work for and have worked for, for a total of 13 years, is bordered by the city of Fort Worth, and there's a few spots that are still unincorporated Tarrant County land. The city is 2.5 square miles big. That's two and a half square miles. The city was incorporated on July 7th, 1945. The borders of this city have never changed since the day it was born. There are no stop lights. Every street is 30mph. It sits about 3 or 4 miles off of the highway. It was once a heavy farming community with the railroad cutting the city in half, the remnants of which are still very obvious. Before I started working there, I had never heard of this city before. It's a small city and very little has changed the entire time I've worked there.

Municipalities look at city borders like most people think of state borders. For example. I don't JUST live in Texas. I live in North Richland Hills, Tarrant County, Texas. I know exactly what city I live in. If I ever move from here, I will base my decision on my residency as to what city it lies in. Don't YOU know what city you live in?

So with these things in mind, here's a list of responses I have given to people, as best as I can remember them, as I tried to keep as much sarcasm out of my voice as possible.

1. "No..."
This was (is) my response to the question, "Abla Espanol?"
2. "Just because you walked across the street to make this call, doesn't eliminate the fact that your wrecked car is sitting in the city of Fort Worth."
3. "I have worked here for over half of my life... Your address has never been in our city limits, we've NEVER responded to a call at your house and we never WILL respond to a call at your house." This in response to a lady who insisted we come to her house about loud music... a house that is in the city of Fort Worth that she claims the city I work for has responded to several times.
4. "Yes, we really ARE open 24 hours." or "Yes, we really ARE open on Christmas."
5. "You are 15 years old and you don't know your address?"

Over the course of my employment there, I have screamed at people and I have hung up on people. I've been rude to people and I have been angry to people. 'Cause you see... where I work, 'the customer is always right' doesn't apply... could never apply, to my job. Now, don't go thinking that I'm this awful employee. I am overly nice to people and go out of my way to help them when they call. That's my job! But one of the perks of my job is that I don't have to be nice to someone who's not being nice to me. Unlike pretty much most jobs dealing with the public. But there are nights... stoopid people nights... where my patience runs thin after having to deal with idiot after idiot after idiot... that I sit back and wonder if the stupidity factor runs higher in our city then in others.

It's really no mystery as to why dispatchers eventually become cynical, grumpy and rude. If you've ever had to call the police for any reason, the probability of getting someone on the other end who appears rude, uncaring, and standoffish is very high and is the direct result of getting call after call after call of people who are that way to them. The few times I've called the police, I've gotten that.

For the record, I have never been unduly rude or mean to anyone who is calling for help, no matter how small the matter may seem to me. I have never denied anyone any emergency services. Most nights, I make it my goal to turn angry and rude callers around. I do my best at putting myself in my caller's shoes (which I'm quite good at, not only at work). When my work phone rings, you will hear professional and friendly up until you start calling me names. And in all my years, although I've been cussed out by the scum of the Earth, I have never cussed or called names back. But I will NOT encourage the crazy lady to keep calling over and over again by having a deep meaningful conversation with her... just won't do it.

Nuff Said

I've never had a kidney stone, or appendicitis, or gallstones... but this has to be worse than those!


And as always... click image to enlarge

Thanks go to Brenda for sending me this!

Survey SAYS!

Well... it's official. 8 of you wish to have a look-see into my home and 1 of you could care less.

I won't bore you with too many details of my research, but suffice it to say that after a week, I've already learned so much about what it is I'm trying to do and how to do it. My main goal was to find out how to get a camera to be viewable by other people online WITHOUT using an instant messenger because that's the only way I knew how before. And of number one importance, I don't want to have to pay for a service to allow me to do so.

The answer? Well... buy new stuff, of course! I already had a cheap webcam that works okay. I like the fact that it's grainy and not very good quality because I can take pictures of me and it hides a lot of flaws and I'm not fluent in photoshop. (Like my new picture that I put up) :-) After trying it out on the kitties, though, it just wasn't doing the job. They were moving too fast and the low light filter made it run so slow you couldn't really see the videos I was taking, PLUS there was still the problem of getting it set up for a viewable webcam. I found out they make what's called an internet server camera. Without being too technical, these cameras serve as their own computer with their own IP address which can then be opened for your viewing pleasure. Didn't even know such things existed.

So... I ordered my new toys last night. Lets take a peek:

OOOOOOOOH

AAAHHHHHH

WOOOOOOO


I was going to go with wireless, but everything was a bit more expensive and on one of my research treks, I found out things slow down a bit when dealing with wireless, so I went with cheaper and faster. My life's motto.

Once I chose which camera I wanted, I hopped in my car and drove to my local CompUSA that's about a 10 minute drive from my house. It's not there any more and the closest one is in Plano and that was just too far and too close to Dallas for me to make the drive. So I came back home and tried to find this same camera in other stores and some had the wireless available but not the wired one and others had a very small selection and very expensive ones with pretty crappy reviews. So I made my choice and ordered online. I don't feel so bad about the shipping because with the price of gas, it would have cost me anyway. The camera that I chose is selling out in even the online places and that's always a good sign... to me.

7 to 21 days before shipping and that may have to do with the high demand. Everything else will be here sooner, I imagine.

To the 8 of you that want to be nosy... I hope you appreciate the stress and expense I'm going through just for YOU! If you need my address so you can write me a check just email me.

I'm Way Ahead

I had a successful mowing experience yesterday. Didn't break the mower... the mower didn't break me. My summer mowing muscles are very vocal this morning, but it's not bad. Last year, I made jokes about how I KNOW I'm out of shape when a riding lawn mower can give me sore muscles. But it's an old mower and on small inclines I just know that squeezing my thighs against the seat as hard as I can will eliminate any chance of the mower tipping over and depositing me on my back.

My house is clean! For the first time in a long time, I woke up and every room in my house (with the exception of the back room that no one uses) is in order, dusted, swept, and vacuumed. This is a rarity for me. Too many times I get caught up in a spiral of procrastination and frustration that goes something like this:

I wake up with good intentions and start to sweep the kitchen floor and in the process, I notice something needs to be wiped down, so I'll stop to wipe whatever down and think as along as I have this dust rag in my hand, I'll go in the living room and wipe some other stuff down and while I'm in there, I notice I've left my shoes and/or socks on the floor, so I'll stop wiping stuff down to pick those up and put them in the bedroom and when I go in my bedroom I see I haven't made my bed, so I'll set the socks and shoes down and start to make my bed when I realize there's a cat on there sleeping and I don't want to disturb him/her so I stop making the bed because now I have to pee and I go in the bathroom and geez, when's the last time I swept in here so I'll go get the broom from the kitchen where I haven't finished sweeping in there yet, and start to sweep in the bathroom when I think I'll just put some of this bowl cleaner in the toilet while I'm sweeping so I put the cleaner in the toilet and decide to empty the trash and I grab the bag of trash from the bathroom and I take it out to the back porch to throw it away and since I'm taking the bathroom trash out, I'll just go collect the rest of the trash in the house... and then I'm tired and I go sit down and what I'm looking at is a house full of half done chores and in the process of cleaning, I've moved stuff out of the way and things are not in their place and it's more of a mess then when I started.

Yesterday, though... I went through my little routine of half finished chores and pushed myself until it was all done. And now it is... and I can spend this whole day doing other stuff that I put off until this stuff was done and I'm really excited about that. And on top of having my house clean, I took off work for two days so now I get to spend the next two days being on vacation in a clean house.

And did I mention I didn't break the lawn mower yesterday?

Growing Up

I was sitting in my computer chair, all reclined back, watching my kitties run and play and I realized that Libby was all grown up. A full adult feline. And it made me sad, a little. She was an adorable kitten, as all kittens are required to be. But she was also some good therapy for me as well. Since she was so young when I got her, I spent all of my energy thinking about her, not about all the bad stuff buzzing around my world at that time. Then there's sweet Cricket, who is well on her way to being full grown as well. And then my two grown boys. So I'm feeling all melancholy and I happen to look up at my kid's photos on the wall. The individual baby pictures, the growing up together pictures, and the senior pictures. And I thought... the next pictures to be added will be their married pictures with their spouses... then the grandchildren. And I can't help but think that it was just last week that my son was talking about going to music day at school where you either decide to be a singer, or to learn to play an instrument. The week before that I was watching my daughter be a pee-wee cheerleader for my son's pee-wee football team. So I'm stuck by an overwhelming sense of time going by faster then I'm able to sit back and enjoy it... and I happen to reach over and pick up a mirror and I had one of THOSE moments. You know the one... where you look at yourself and wonder when that wrinkle appeared, or how saggy the jowls have gotten and (since you decided to quit coloring your hair) OH MY GOSH LOOK AT ALL THAT GRAY HAIR! Then creeps in that subtle hint of urgency, ever picking at the back of your head, that next week... you're going to be watching your grandkids graduate high school.

BEH BEH JYNXY

SPAZZ WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER AND WHEN JYNX AND HIM STILL LOVED EACH OTHER

BEH BEH LIBERTINE

BEH BEH CRICKET, SECOND DAY AT HOME

The Million Dollar Idea

Got a comment about my kitty-cam suggesting I attach the camera to one of my fastest. Then I started thinking about that and I wondered if anyone had ever done that before. So I Goggled it. Of course. It's been done with still pics...check out Mr. Lee's page.

http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/index.htm

And then I went to YouTube and I found this. I like the music as well as the kitty-footage.

Saturday Survey#1

Hey, I know! Lets start themes for different days of the week! No one's thought of THAT before, right?

I got a suggestion the other day about a kitty-cam for my blog. I will admit that setting up one of these, unless it's plug and play friendly, is something that will take a bit of time on my end to learn what to do, what to buy and the like. I think it would be cool to have a streaming kitty-cam available for those who are curious enough to watch the antics. But how many of you are?

So... if you notice in the upper right hand corner of this blog page, I have a little survey for you to take. It will just take a click or two, but it will let me know if I should bother with taking on a project of this magnitude. <--- that's me stressing out even though this is probably the most simplest of tasks.

When you vote, keep in mind... if I know that you are computer literate <uh uhhh cough matt cough cough> then expect me to bug you frequently. :-)

The Lawnmower Saga - Part Two

Finally got up the energy to mow yesterday. No, it doesn't take a lot of energy to ride on a riding lawnmower, but it does take some to go around the yard picking up big branches and the ever loving trash that continuously blows and sticks in my yard. So with that done, I turned my attention to the lawnmower. Back tire... flat. Grabbed my handy air pump for just such an occasion. Then I checked a front tire. Flat. I can't do anything about the the front tires. So I heaved a sigh, shut the garage door and came back inside and did NOT mow yesterday.

Yes... the lawnmower saga has DEFINITELY started.

Storms came through again yesterday evening. They prepared us for high winds, softball size hail and tornadoes. I live by a tornado siren and before the storm even got here, that thing started going off. Granted, there were very high winds coming from this storm along with very big hail. We got heavy rain. No wind AT ALL. No hail. Lots of lightening. By the time this storm got to Tarrant County, the tornado threat was all but gone. And I have to question the reasoning on using the tornado sirens. Here's why:

If you notice, I use the term "tornado siren". Because that's what it is. For 39 years, those things would blow if we had a tornado on the way. Now, all of a sudden, this area commonly known as the Metroplex, is using the tornado sirens to warn of severe storms as well. It's become more of a "it's about to let loose so if you're outside, you best get your butt inside" kind of thing. I think this changed a few years ago when there were a lot of people at May Fest in downtown Fort Worth and a hail storm came by and whacked a lot of people on the head. For purposes such as this, I totally agree on the City of Fort Worth blaring those things to get people out of some potentially life threatening weather. But I've been conditioned to believe when those sirens go off, it's never a good thing. That this won't be your usual heavy rain and lightening event. And like I said up there... the tornado warning had been long canceled by the time our sirens started blaring. Any time I hear those sirens, I go into panic mode and start having an anxiety attack and I'm running around with pillows wondering if I'm going to be safe in my hall closet. I think last night cured me of that. As I'm watching the weather on the TV, I can clearly see that the threat of large hail was comfortably south of where my house lives and again, I must stress, the tornado warning was canceled. What that tells me and my neighbors is that just 'cause those sirens go off, doesn't mean it's going to be that bad. Which, in my opinion, is a bad, bad thing. Because that means that if I won't be in a hurry to take shelter next time the TORNADO sirens go off, no one else will either.

Here's some tornado footage for you, appropriately accompanied by the Empire Strikes Back theme, which is funny because I can remember playing this when I was a band nerd.

The Lawnmower Saga

Last summer, before I started blogging, I was attempting to blog on MySpace. I'm not sure why I like blogging here better, but I do, and I no longer blog on my MySpace page, although I do still visit there to catch up with friends and family. Anyway, I blogged about my adventures with my riding lawnmower and those adventures are about to start again today. It seemed that every time I got on the silly thing last year, I broke something on it. I'm hoping this year, it's a little more kind to me. My Dad was kind enough to mow last week to make sure the thing is still working, but it's rained since then and it's time to mow yet again. I will be sure to complain next time I'm here if all doesn't go well. I know you look forward to it. My complaining, that is.

When I was 17 years old, my family moved to a house from the house I grew up in. Except for the few years that I was married, I lived in that second house until I was 38, I think. I never knew, until I moved here a couple of years ago, how windy this area is. The house I was in before was set down in somewhat of a hole. The only noticeable wind was always from the north. This house I'm in now sits atop a small hill. The wind never stops blowing. Ever. Although this is an old house, the winds this place have seen are enough to put faith on that it won't be blowing down any time soon. I tried putting up my wind chimes when I moved in, but soon took them down because they never shut up! Now I know why I REALLY took them down:

Ahhhhhh....

Ah, my weekend is finally here. Not that it was a long week, but I sure like my weekends. And it's not because I don't like my job... if you even want to call it a job at all. Maybe it has to do with getting to sleep in my bed at night time. Maybe it has to do with the fact I don't have to leave my house. Maybe it's a little bit of both.

I was thinking last night at work as I kicked back in my comfy chair and closed out the internet because I was bored with it... how much I like my job. I mean, there I was, feet up, reclined, getting paid. Occasional a co-worker would walk in and we'd laugh and joke for a bit and then the co-worker would leave again and there I was... still kicked back with my feet up, getting paid. I'm not complaining. I'm SO not complaining. If it wasn't me getting paid to sit in a room for 8 hours, it would have to be someone else. So why NOT me?

There are weeks where I am busy. Sort of. If I were to total up the average time I spend actually doing work, while I'm AT work, it would be a ridiculously low number. We're talking about 2 hours a week. Seriously. There are a lot of people who say that it would drive them crazy not having anything to do. This job, though, suits me well. I'm lazy, and I'm an introvert. So sitting in one spot just daydreaming and getting paid to do so appeals to me.

I have always found ways to entertain myself at work over the years. I've read novels in a nights time, I've done crossword puzzles, I've flirted with boys, I created 'Wes Heads' (I'll elaborate if need be), I've slept. There was a time period of about two years where it was just me and this other officer, that worked the exact same hours as me, who were the only ones on duty. We played paper football, paper golf, coin basketball... we had spitball contests through the hole in the dispatch window, M&M contests through the vent in the wall by the ceiling in the old PD, wet tampon contests (involved the forehead. don't ask). During that time, I developed an unbelievable bond with this man. He is the only friend of mine that I've ever considered a "brother from another mother". It's not uncommon for officers to develop a bond with their dispatchers. But this went... goes, beyond that. I don't work with him any more, sadly. He left a year or so after I did, but he's probably not coming back like I did. But I still get to see him from time to time. He's still a reserve officer there. He's the guy I know I could call in times of trouble and he would either help me, or find someone to help me... and that's even if we don't talk for many months. I am truly a richer person because of him. I love you Trepp. You know I do.

In my 15 years or so of working there, I've made countless friendships. Most have gone their way and I don't hear from them any more... some I still talk to today. But even though I may not talk to those that I once called a friend, pieces of them have stayed with me. I may not think of them for years, but then one day the thought of them crosses my mind and I relish being able to recall the memories of when they were a part of my life's path.

So... I really love my weekends...

LIBBY WATCHING THE BIRDS

CRICKET... BECAUSE SHE SAW LIBBY DO IT

JYNXY IS SO CAMERA SHY


GOT HIM!!!

Cat Yodeling Is The Best!

Personality Test

I took a test. I'm a INFP. Here I am in graph form with some additional tidbits that describe me very well.



About the INFP

"To understand Healers, we must understand their idealism as almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. The Healer is the Prince or Princess of fairytale, the King's Champion or Defender of the Faith..."
- The Portrait of a Healer Idealist (Keirsey)

"INFPs are highly intuitive about people. They rely heavily on their intuitions to guide them, and use their discoveries to constantly search for value in life. They are on a continuous mission to find the truth and meaning underlying things. Every encounter and every piece of knowledge gained gets sifted through the INFP's value system, and is evaluated to see if it has any potential to help the INFP define or refine their own path in life."
- Portrait of an INFP (The Personality Page)

"creative, smart, idealist, loner, attracted to sad things, disorganized, avoidant, can be overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings..."
- INFP Jung Type Descriptions (similarminds.com)

"An INFP's feelings form the foundations of the individual. They are sacred and binding, in the sense that their emergence requires no further justification. An INFP's feelings are often guarded, kept safe from attack and ridicule. Only a few, close confidants are permitted entrance into this domain."
- INFP Profile (INFP Mailing List)
"Highly creative, artistic and spiritual, they can produce wonderful works of art, music and literature. INFPs are natural artists. They will find great satisfaction if they encourage and develop their artistic abilities. That doesn't mean that an INFP has to be a famous writer or painter in order to be content. Simply the act of "creating" will be a fulfilling source of renewal and refreshment to the INFP. An INFP should allow himself or herself some artistic outlet, because it will add enrichment and positive energy to their life."
- INFP Personal Growth (The Personality Page)

"INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder. One might say they see life through rose-colored glasses. It's as though they live at the edge of a looking-glassworld where mundane objects come to life, where flora and fauna take on near-human qualities."
- INFP Profile (TypeLogic)

"Their job must be fun, although not racous, and it must be meaningful to them. They need a strong purpose in their work. They want to be recognized and valued, without undue attention given to them. They may become embarrassed when make the center of attention. As a result, they may undersell their strengths in order to avoid being singled out and made to feel conspicuous. They would rather have their worth be noticed gradually over time."
- INFP - The Dreamer (Lifexplore

Outing

I made it to Denton on Thursday. Had a wonderful dinner with my daughter and a family friend and her little sister. I use to call the family friend my son's girlfriend, but I don't think they are any more even though they still hang out almost every day. If she's not with my son, she's with my daughter, or my kid's stepsister. Usually they are all together, though. It's confusing. But she's a sweetheart and we all had a really good time.

My daughter's apartment was very cute. They were still trying to move the rest of their stuff in (this was a recent move by my daughter and one of her roommates. Roommate #3 has decided that boys and smoking pot are more important then her 14 year friendship with my daughter so her and roommate #2 found a mutual friend in another unit in the same complex)and although small, the apartment is really nice.

I didn't get lost.

I have to work 12 hours today. I think I have to work 12 tomorrow as well, but I'm not sure yet. No biggie... overtime always means more money so I can't complain really. Plus, when the 12 hour days hit on Sunday through Tuesday, I really don't mind at all. (who I work with makes ALL the difference)

It was a beautiful day yesterday... today is going to be just as beautiful. Makes sleeping during the day kind of hard, but I'll get to enjoy the mornings and the evenings, at least.

Here's a funny for all the women readers out there. Imagine being a woman in 1943. Click the picture to enlarge so you can read the silliness.



Fair thee well, dear reader.

I'm Loving This Game

Click here to play this really fun game.

Progress

It's been a little over a month since I have changed my "lifestyle" of living. Thought I would share with you what I've changed, how it's affected me, and anything else I might not be too embarrassed to share.

About a month ago I blogged about a bad report from my doctor. For the fist time I'm able to notice a drastic difference in the way I feel, the way my clothes are fitting, and my mentality after a month. I have every intention of revealing my highest weight. But I think I'm going to at least wait until my first weigh-in before I do that. It's a shocking number, even to me. I say it is my highest weight because I will never be that heavy again. I refuse. But I'm not going to dwell on what the scale tells me any more. I'm going to go by how I feel and how my clothes will eventually start to be too big. I'm really looking forward to that. I think a once a month weigh-in is good enough.

The one item of clothing that I've noticed a big difference in, and this borders on being too embarrassing to talk about, are my undergarments. As far as the bottom half goes... my existing collection of panties have started to just fit better... more comfortable... like they are suppose to. That's a hard one to explain. The upper half... well... lets just say, if you don't know me, the two things people comment the most on about me are my eyes and my chest. I've actually heard a sentence that went something like, "Wow, you have really pretty eyes... yada yada... wow, you have really big boobs!" And in reality, until I get to know someone, the two parts to the above sentence are usually reversed. :-) Anyway... not much has changed so far upstairs. What has changed, I'm blaming on gravity at the moment.

Sizes of clothing will come with the weight revealing. I'm just not comfortable yet, in doing so.

Things I've changed:

I'm eating. A lot. I've gone from eating once a day to all day long. At least some days it feels that way. I've changed what I'm eating from high fat to very low fat. Lots of fruits and veggies. Not a whole lot of bread intake I've noticed. This is not really by choice, but it's just ended up that way. I use fat free dressing on any salad I eat and I eat a lot of them. No more sugar drinks. More water, although I still need to greatly increase this. I've always been really, really bad at drinking enough water. I changed my Coffeemate to fat free Coffeemate. No fast food. Nothing fried. Just a bunch of little changes that have added up to a big difference so far. And it's been really, really easy. When you care, amazingly, that makes the biggest difference of all. I'm still not getting out and exercising like I should. But I AM doing more. And when I'm doing more, I don't get exhausted 5 minutes into it like before. Plus with all the Spring showers, I've been down with rain pain for the past few weeks. The swelling in my legs is still there, but I will guiltily admit to sitting at the computer and sitting down and painting to much. The only thing right now that really seems to help is if I lay down for three days.

I'm going to try and update my progress on a monthly basis here. Looking forward to the report, myself.

Today

Got a late start on the day today. Stayed up late last night to see how bad the storms were going to be during the night whilst I slept. Thought about just staying up and waiting for them, but then decided I would probably fall asleep on the couch if I tried to stay up so I just went to bed. Got woke up this morning around 3:30ish to high winds and lots of lightening and thunder so I got up and turned on channel 5 (I'm partial to David Finfrock and his team) and channel 5 was dead. That kind of scared me so I flipped back and forth between 4 and 8 and we were in the midst of the storm here by then. Before I went to bed, I actually thought about going to my parent's house to ride out the storm, but the thought of my kitties here by themselves during a storm was too much for me to bare, so I stayed. I'm really of the opinion that if a tornado has my name on it, doesn't much matter where I'm at for it to find me. I've seen to much coverage on the destruction of tornadoes and how they will demolish everything in sight except for one house. I think the only protection from tornadoes is a storm shelter and why more people around here don't have those is a mystery to me. Wherever I end up completely settled down, I will be investing in one. Anyway, by 4:30 this morning it was pretty much over and I went back to bed. Didn't wake up again till 9:45 this morning. I threw on some sneakers, put a headband in my hair, and a bra, (the bra didn't go in my hair) and drove to my parent's house to feed their monsters. When I left my house, I noticed something in my front yard that I didn't notice until I was almost around the corner, but when I got home I saw exactly what was in my yard.

All over NRH there is quite a bit of damage from the winds. I saw lots of big tree limbs broken and down. This is my biggest fear aside from my house just blowing down. I have some very old trees around my house. My grandmother, who is 104 for any who don't know, has talked of my grandfather who had somehow changed the pecan tree in my yard. There are two common types of pecan trees that I am aware of. There are the ones that make big fat pecans, like the one in my parent's yard. These pecans become very large, but tend to have a hard shell. Then there is a soft shell variety that make smaller pecans, but the shells are very thin. I think my grandfather had made this tree make big pecans, but with soft shells. At least, that's what I got out of what my grandmother was telling me. It's since gone back to a small soft shell, but the tree itself is still here. I have some very old oak trees as well. One of which I can see as I sit here. This tree once held a tire swing that me and my brothers would play on when we were here visiting which should tell you something of the age of the tree since it was already full grown when I was a child. Anyway... the branches of these trees hover quite nicely over the roof of this house. So any time the wind is up, which is a lot, I worry about a branch coming crashing down on my head since my bedroom sits under these trees. None did... yet again.

So anyway... here's what was in my yard this morning, absent any large tree branches:



***
Today, since my car is fixed and inspected, I am taking a road trip to Denton to see my daughter and have dinner with her and see her apartment that I haven't gotten to see yet because I've been car challenged and after dinner we will probably shop a little. I am very excited about this. Should be good fun unless I get lost.

***
It's a beautiful 62 degrees, sunny, and I don't have ANY rain pain to speak of. My mom's cortisone shot worked VERY well and she says she feels like running a marathon. Actually, she didn't say that, but she is learning how to walk upright again and without pain. She is very happy with the results. I can totally relate to waking up without pain. Today is a good example.

Winston!

Winston the cat is a semi famous cat on YouTube. I've watched several of his videos and they are really funny. I think this one tops the charts, though. Enjoy!

Mandatory Meeting

I mentioned a couple of days ago about a mandatory meeting for work I was going to attend on the 11th. They called yesterday and said they had moved it to today. I just got home from it. Here's what took place:

The city manager gets up to speak and talks about how we are all worried about the economy and the price of gas and how all cities are suffering along with their employees. Then she goes on to tell us how much they appreciate the employees so we're throwing you a pizza party. Then she tells us not to leave after we are done eating (I didn't eat because pizza is no longer in my diet). So everyone ate pizza and visited with each other and said hey to those we don't see very often and the city manager gets back up and tells the city council to come forward and they do. Then several of them express their gratitude as well for all the employees and then they hand out an envelope to everyone and tell us to wait to open them until everyone has their's and then we all open our envelopes and we all got a $1500.00 bonus check. Granted, they took out taxes and TMRS and all that, but still. Not at all what I was expecting. They mentioned something about a reserve fund, but it was kind of hard to pay attention as I was looking at that check. I think I teared up a little bit.

I knew the day I went back to my little city that it was the right choice for me. Things like this just make it more obvious as to why.

Fast Week

Well, here we are on Tuesday already. Tuesdays are my Fridays. It seemed as if this week has flown by for me. I have found that having a car that starts right up and doesn't overheat has taken a great amount of stress from my plate. Stress that I really didn't realize was there until it was gone. Which seems to be a pattern with me. Its like I blank out all the negative things in my life until I have time to deal with them, then when the problems are solved, I get this huge feeling of freedom and I'll bounce around for a few days until I get use to not subconsciously worrying about stuff.

I had a couple of days of reprieve from my rain pain. But it's back because it's Spring and I've lived with this long enough to expect it now. For the first time, though, I feel I'm actually getting a little relief from over the counter pain meds. Doesn't eliminate the pain, but it has helped to take the edge off the worst part of it. One of these days, when I'm past all of this other medical stuff going on right now, I'm going to go get evaluated to see how much damage has been done from this stuff in my left hand. I had a really bad episode at the end of summer last year that left my hand not working like it should. This is a new development in my rain pain adventure because on the norm, it hurts really bad when it's here, but when it's gone, it's just gone and nothing hurts and everything works. I can only describe this malfunction as some type of deterioration of the stuff in the joints of my pinky and ring finger where when I make a fist, those fingers don't do that so well. I drop things when I try to grab with that hand now. It only becomes painful if I move it a lot, otherwise, I have learned to avoid grabbing things with that hand. Typing is more difficult when I'm having an episode because now it seems it will always hit that area that doesn't work so well. Finding out how bad it is will be another adventure for another day.

Speaking of pain... my mom is going in for a Cortozone shot in the hip this morning. She will probably eventually have to have replacement hip surgery, but for now we are all hoping (especially her) that this shot will do her some good. She's been in a lot of pain for a long time now. It's time for her to feel good again. She's always been a very active person and this hip has just ruined that for her. I look forward to taking walks with you soon, Mom, so get better quickly!

My grandmother fell and broke her hip when she was 100. She had to have hip replacement surgery. Afterwards, I'm not sure if it was having to be in a nursing home while she healed that got her up and about so quickly, or if it was just my typical Nanny not being able to stay still for very long, but she went through the surgery fine and healed quickly and she says it hasn't pained her at all since she's healed. That was 4 years ago. I am hoping my mom will have as great of a success as my Nanny did with it.

Here's a little sampling of what I've been doing when not sitting here typing. My hobby. I'm thinking one day I might quit giving these things away and try to sell a couple to see if someone would really want to buy one, but right now when I am painting one, it's with someone in mind and I end up giving them away. I can't say for sure how many I've done. And the pictures aren't very good. I need a new digital camera bad. But this is what I like to do when I'm bored... or when I can't sleep.


Have a happy day, reader. Smiles are contagious so go spread some around today.

Sunday

Happy Sunday to all.

A few days ago, all of the employees at my work got an ominous email from our Chief. Basically, it read:

After coming from my yearly evaluation there is a mandatory meeting on April 11th for all city employees. I'm not at liberty to disclose any information regarding the meeting, so just show up and find out.

When I got this email, my first thought was that our Chief was retiring. Which would be really, really sad. Very rarely does something secret stay secret where I work. It's actually pretty funny when something is suppose to be secret because it usually never is. Up until last night I was kind of worried. Then I found out that our Chief got a significant raise. The Chief is not retiring. Then I found out that after the meeting I was going to be "very, very happy". Quoted from the mouth of someone who knows what the meeting is about. So now I'm thinking city wide raises. Again. This is a good thing. Either way, I've been told not to worry so I'm not. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled at 945 that morning. I'm not sure I'll be able to get out of the Dr. and drive 45 minutes to work to make the meeting on time. I might have to re-schedule. Speaking of which, I am suppose to schedule an MRI before the doctor visit so I'll be doing that tomorrow. I'll elaborate on that soon enough.

So not much to talk about here lately. Sorry about that. I go through phases of creativity and right now most of my time has been spent painting. I'll get tired of that soon enough and be back with ya'll when I can. Until then, happy Sunday.

see more crazy cat pics

Friday Night

It's about 9:30pm and in about 45 minutes I'll be leaving for work. I hate Friday nights. And they are made especially bad by them being the start of my work weeks.

My car is officially fixed (fixed as in starting and staying started but now it's pulling funny and might be a spark plug issue) and it's officially state inspected (for anyone who doesn't know, my last sticker read 01/07. Yeah... it had been that long). But I can celebrate by announcing even after driving around like that for so long, I am still a ticket virgin. I had made it a point to drive as little as possible during the day to avoid a nice police man from seeing my sticker and pulling me over. Since it's been out, there was only one instance where a police car did a U-turn and came up behind me and followed me almost all the way to my house. But for whatever reason, he didn't pull me over. I'm still in that fearful mode, though, about driving around.

My car was put into the shop and it got a new radiator, a new coolant gauge, a new thermostat (I think), some new hose, and a new muffler. All this so it would run right and pass inspection. The guy fixed everything and then failed it on the inspection because the emergency brake won't stay engaged. Some spring flew off of it one time when I pulled it up. So I took it down to my local Kwik Kar and I got a new sticker. It's been a productive weekend.

Now I'm off to work.

Happy Tuesday

Spring Is SO Here!

Don't get me wrong... I love Spring. I love watching the flowers bloom and the sweet smell of life in the cool morning air. And the birds and the butterflies. But along with all the beautifulness comes violent Spring showers which turn my hands and feet into throbbing excruciatingly painful uselessness, which in turn keeps yours truly from sitting here typing to the three or four of you that stop by here from time to time.

Turned on the air conditioner for the fist time this year.

Thanks go to Matt for sending me this link. When you get to the page that pops up, just sit back and wait. It takes just a bit to start. So... thanks King Cheap!

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam . Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands . HEMA also has stores in Belgium, Luxemburg, andGermany . In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital.

Take a look at HEMA's product page http://producten.hema.nl. You can't order anything and it's in Dutch but just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens.

This company has a sense of humor and a great computer programmer.

Solz

My guest departed yesterday evening. I think all the kitties, including him, feel better to be back to their normal routine. I got a call from my daughter a little bit ago letting me know that PJ (former girl cat gone boy formally known as Zelda) has an appointment with the ball fairy this Friday. Good luck confused boy cat!

Today, Libby went into heat. (wiping sweat from brow)

Easter was uneventful for me. My only visitor was my daughter picking up her cat. I didn't go anywhere. The Easter bunny left me no candy. I ate salad for dinner.

Happy Easter Ya'll

You Will Do

I'm Tired

Although I love cats, it will be nice to have my home free of the extra one. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind having him here, it's just going to be nice when he goes home. My other cats... they mind quite a bit that he's here. I would have thought Cricket, the youngest would have enjoyed the playfulness of someone her age, but alas... she's the one that is having the most problems with our visitor. Spazz, being the patient boy that he is, has actually started to enjoy the new plaything that runs and jumps with him. (Not that Spazz really runs OR jumps, but he tries) Libby is tolerant as long as Zelda doesn't get in her way and Jynx just ignores him entirely. But poor Cricket and Zelda do NOT get along on either end. He doesn't like her, she doesn't like him.

He's a rambunctious thing. He'll run full speed growling the whole time and I'm thinking he's attacking when all he's doing is just running. He gets into more stuff then even MY cats get into and I'm afraid, his being an only child shows. Can you say spoiled rotten?

It will be nice when we are all able to get back to our routine. Even for him.

Congratulations! It's A Boy!

I'm hoping this week won't be as long as this day will probably be. I'm babysitting my daughter's cat because she is working all week since it is Spring break from school. So far there's been much hissing and growling since I've been home from work. Zelda, our guest of the week, was suppose to be a girl. I informed my daughter that Zelda is not a girl at all, but a budding boy. I have two un-spayed girls that live with two neutered boys. I don't THINK Zelda is ready for da big boy times, but I can tell you if either of my girls get pregnant, the babies are going to my daughter's house. :-) Love you, K! She was able to find a clinic in Denton where she lives where she can get her Zelda snipped for very, very cheap.

He's a beautiful cat and VERY energetic and is, quite frankly, in cat heaven over here. Lots of windows to bird watch, a big giant thing to climb on and toys in every corner. I'm hoping things will settle down quickly. He seems to be making himself at home quicker then the others are welcoming the visit.

My girls are mad at me now because I PROMISED no more kittehs. I wish they could understand me when I tell them that the handsome visitor is just a visitor.

ZELDA (WITH ROBOT EYES)

Therapy

I picked up a paintbrush today for the first time in a very long time. Felt good. Felt great. Free therapy!

Nothing to Write About Today

What Does One Do?

When I turned 40 at the end of last year, I made a decision to stop coloring my hair. I had been coloring for many years because of being blessed with genes that cause early graying. My grandmother told me she was pretty much entirely gray by the time she was 35. I've tried to do this before, but once I got to a certain point, I couldn't stand it any more and opted to color. Not this time. I'm farther then I've ever been and like most things in my life, I've accepted what fate has in store as far as my hair goes.

Which brings me to a problem. I have very long hair. I've got about 3 inches of gray hair growth and the rest is a nice combination of dark brown with lots of red highlights. I have noticed, though, that the majority of solid gray is around my face and that the hair on the back of my head is coming in with my natural dark brown with just a few strands of gray and I think once it is all grown out it's going to look pretty cool. But right now, all it looks like is that I haven't colored my hair in a while and I don't like it. I've thought about just cutting all the colored part off, but this would leave me with VERY short hair, and I'm not a VERY short hair kind of person. I've Googled hair dye removal and the results were not positive at all. So what I'm left with as far as choices go are just dealing with it until I can get it cut off, or just dealing with it without getting it cut off. I'm not a beauty shop type person, but I may be in store for a visit soon.

My daily routine for my hair is a wash and go style. I wash it... then I go. Since growing my bangs out, I use one of those head band combs to keep it out of my face. Sometimes I even braid it. I don't use a curling iron or a hair dryer. Any curl to my hair is from taking out the braid once it is dry. I fear going for any other style will leave me with no option but to start using a curling iron or a hair dryer... and I guess that wouldn't be so bad, but what if one day I just don't want to do that? I don't want to get stuck having to "fix" my hair just to go out and get the mail. And then again... I like my long hair and don't wish to have to go to the beauty shop every other month to get it cut. I'm just too cheap for that.

So forgive my unkempt appearance. Until I decide what to do this will be weighing heavy on my head. HA!

Reason #8 Why I Wouldn't Mind Having a Dog

Not that I'd ever get one, but this is funny.

Day One

I cared enough before work not to buy a large root beer from Sonic. Something I've done for a while. I did not care enough to take my dinner by forgetting to do so.

By the time I got off work, my head felt as if it would explode. I came home and cried and felt completely sorry for myself.

I cared enough to make myself stay in bed for a complete 8 hours. My sleeping habits before include sleeping for no longer then 4 hours at a time.

I woke up and my head still hurt, but after eating a healthy dinner and drinking lots of water and taking an Aleeve, I am fine.

This is going to be a long road. But I'm happy.

Change

I started this blog with the intentions of never posting anything negative. I feel I'm a pretty positive person and I incorporate positive thinking in my daily life. I'm not saying I never think negative thoughts, but I do tend to avoid negativity in my life as much as possible. I find I'm just happier this way.

A couple of years ago, while working at my other job, I had a series of doctors and doctor visits on pretty much a weekly basis. I've heard more times then I can count, "we don't know what's wrong with you", or, "we don't know why this happened". I think my breaking point was my bout with amnesia. Granted, I found out that this is more common then people think, but it usually involves a couple of days, not the month that I lost. And in the end, no one knows why it happened. Looking back today, I attribute a lot of my ailments during that time to stress. Over this time period, I developed a very strong aversion to doctors.

The mind is a powerful thing. It can subconsciously kill you without you realizing it is doing so. If you hit a point in your life where you just give up, the results are your body slowly, but surely, giving up with you.

I can easily throw the blame of MY giving up to one particular person, when in reality, I can only blame myself. Throwing blame is easy. Understanding that I am the only one to blame, is very, very hard. Ignoring problems is the easiest and if I am to be honest (which is the whole point to this blog anyway) I would have to say I gave up a looooong time before S ever left me. My biggest goal to date is to find out why. I use the words giving up, when I think I should actually use the words, not caring.

I've recently (Wednesday) become aware that I am about to hit a point of no return, as far as my health goes. It's come down to the point to where I either have to START caring, or deal with the consequences of not caring, which include loss of quality and quantity of what life is suppose to be. Simple as that. I need to now realize that I may be luckier than some because right now... right this second... I have the option to take control and make changes that will positively change my life, where as some have reached that point, passed it by and have no choices.

I could sit here and list all of the things I have been diagnosed with as of right now, but I won't. Everything I am experiencing now all falls back on one thing and one thing only. My lifestyle. I don't exercise, and I don't eat well and I haven't for a long time. The not caring got worse in January of 2004, but the not caring has been a way of life for me for as long as I can remember.

No matter how much friends and loved ones will tell you that you need to make changes, nothing hits home like your doctor telling you bluntly that you are going to die. No, not tomorrow. Not next week or even a year from now... Suffice it to say, I am at a critical point in my health. The disease that's killing me is my not caring. And no pills, or surgery or anything else is going to fix it unless I can make myself care. I AM extremely lucky to find out now that there IS still time to turn things around.

So my journey begins.

Let Me In

Beauty!

I wish I could describe the beauty I've been watching this afternoon. Here's some progression shots so far:




I know people who are use to snow may think I'm going overboard, but we just don't see this very often down here. I've never seen snowflakes this big! It's like snowballs falling from the sky!

Winter Weather Again

It's about 1230pm and things are already turning white. Right now, it's mostly ice but is expected to turn to snow shortly. I am thankful I do not have to work tonight. It's suppose to get hairy as far as travel goes. Here's pictures of the beginning. I'll update as the scenery changes today. Not being able to get out and about, I have nothing else to do. Lucky you.

BACK

FRONT

Welcome to Dallas. We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay.

Driving in Dallas ,Texas

First you must learn to pronounce the city name. It is DAL-LUS, or DAA-LIS depending on if you live inside or outside LBJ Freeway.

Next, if your Mapsco is more than a few weeks old, throw it out and buy a new one. If in Denton County and your Mapsco is one-day-old, then it is already obsolete. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Frisco has screwed everything up.

Dallas has its own version of traffic rules... "Hold on and pray." There is no such thing as a dangerous high-speed chase in Dallas. We all drive like that.

All directions start with, "Get on Beltline," which has no beginning and no end. (It REALLY DOESN'T!!!)

The morning rush hour is from 6 to 10. The evening rush hour is from 3 to 7. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.

If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out and possibly shot. When you are the first one on the starting line, count to five when the light turns green before going to avoid crashing with all the drivers running the red light in cross-traffic.

Construction on Central Expressway is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. We had sooo much fun with that, we have added George Bush Freeway and the High Five to the mix.

All unexplained sights are explained by the phrase, "Oh, we're in Fort Worth!"

If someone actually has his or her turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect.
Car horns are actually "Road Rage" indicators - and remember, it's legal to be armed in Texas.

All old ladies with blue hair in a Mercedes have the right of way. Period. And remember, it's legal to be armed in Texas ..

Inwood Road, Plano Road, NW Highway, East Grand, Garland Road, Marsh Lane, Josey Lane, 15th Street, Preston Road all mysteriously change names as you cross intersections (these are only a FEW examples). The perfect example is what is MOSTLY known as Plano Road. On the south end, it is known as Lake Highlands Drive, cross Northwest Highway and it becomes Plano Road, go about 8 miles and it is briefly Greenville Ave, Ave K, and Highway 5. It ends in Sherman ...

The North Dallas Tollway is our daily version of NASCAR. The minimum acceptable speed on the Dallas North Toll Road is 85 mph. Anything less is considered downright sissy. It also ends in Sherman.

If asking directions in Irving or SE Dallas, you must have knowledge of Spanish. If in central Richardson or on Harry Hines, Mandarin Chinese will be your best bet. If you stop to ask directions on Gaston or Live Oak, you better be armed... and remember, it's legal to be armed in Texas

The wrought iron on windows near Oak Cliff and Fair Park is not ornamental!!

A trip across town east to west will take a minimum of four hours, although many north/south freeways have unposted minimum speeds of 75.

It is possible to be driving WEST in the NORTH-bound lane of EAST NORTHWEST Highway. Don't let this confuse you.

LBJ is called "The Death Trap" for two reasons: "death" and "trap."

If it's 100 degrees, Thanksgiving must be next weekend. If it's 10 degrees and sleeting/snowing, the Fort Worth Stock Show is going on. If it has rained 6 inches in the last hour, the Byron Nelson Golf Classic is in the second round (if it's spring) - and it is the Texas State Fair if it's fall.

If you go to the Fair, pay the $8.00 to park INSIDE Fair Park . Parking elsewhere could cost up to $2500 for damages, towing fees, parking tickets, and possibly a gunshot wound. If some guy with a flag tries to get you to park in his yard, run over him.

Any amusement parks, stadiums, arenas, racetracks, airports, etc., are conveniently located as far away from EVERYTHING as possible so as to allow for ample parking on grassy areas.

Final Warning: Don't Mess with Texas Drivers ... remember, it's legal to be armed in Texas

***I actually live in the Fort Worth area and I could easily interchange the street names here but I thought I'd leave this as is. If you are from Fort Worth, you can just as easily use North South East West and NE NW SE SW LOOP 820 (yes, this is just one highway), I20 which is often confused with 820, I35E, I35W (which runs north and south) the mix master AND 183 are our "death traps", and the countless names for each of these roads depending on where you are on them. Shout out to Brenda for sending me this!

Snow!

Two days ago I was wearing shorts and enjoying the warm weather. Tonight, it's snowing. A LOT. It's dark outside, but I'm going to take my camera to work to try and get some decent memories.

Stay warm!

Picture Time!

Taken on this beautiful sunny Saturday...