A Busy Week

The past week was crazy busy. You would think that this coming week would be the busy one, but not for us. Here's a quick rundown.

Sunday we got around early and made a trip to West Plains to do some shopping. Some for Christmas, most of it was just grocery and household items. Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal. Work for both of us.

This month I have been on "Jury Duty Watch" and had squeaked by until Tuesday afternoon when I received a call at work that I would need to be at the courthouse at 8:30am on Wednesday. Luckily we had an extra person scheduled to work on Wednesday so she took my shift and I went to the courthouse. This was my first experience with Jury Duty and it was very interesting. After 5 long hours I was thanked for my time and told that I wouldn't be needed. This was not a big surprise to me because as the lawyer was questioning us I realized that I had worked with the plaintiff at Wal-Mart years ago. I'll just say that watching someone get that many people going where they need to be when they need to be there was like watching someone try to herd cats! I do not envy those ladies. Hopefully with the holidays the next two weeks, my relationship with Jury Duty is done.

Thursday we left our house super early to get to Springfield for Patrick's surgery. He had two hernia's that needed to be repaired. One under his belly button and one in his groin. Of course the surgeries were running behind (which is pretty normal) and he finally went to the holding area, where only his parents could go with him, an hour after his scheduled time. He was so scared, it broke my heart to see him that way. I knew he was in good hands but still you just worry so much. After about an hour and a half the nurse came and put us in one of the conference rooms to wait for the Doctor. He came in and let us know that things went fine and that Patrick would be in PACU in a little bit and Chely could go be with him then. Finally they brought him back to the pre op room and we were able to see him. He was pretty cranky, he wanted his IV out. Of course they didn't want to take it out until he drank some juice and had a Popsicle. If he got sick, they would need to give him more fluids. He drank and had his Popsicle and kept them both down, so he was able to get rid of the IV and prepare to be discharged. His leg was still a little numb and we all tried not to laugh as he was helped to the restroom but he looked so funny dragging that leg. Thank goodness everything went smoothly and now it's done.

After some last minute shopping for the kids, we went to Chely's and picked up Emily and Cameron for the trip home. First we went and had supper at Texas Road House. It was really good and I was so proud of Cameron at the restaurant, he was so well behaved. After an informative ride (Cameron never stopped talking) we got home and got the car unloaded. Then it was time to get everyone ready for bed, which was a chore since Cameron was wound up from seeing the tree and all the presents. I think it was close to 1am when I woke up in the chair and took myself to the bed.

Friday Doyle had to work and I had lots of help around the house. Cameron played hard and watched a lot of Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Emily helped me wrap gifts and was just good company. Brad came and picked them up for his weekend visit later in the day. I slept good on Friday night.

Today I've kept busy with the normal weekend chores. I have two more gifts to wrap, two gift cards to buy, and some treats to get made. Other than that I'm ready for Tuesday evening when we will have our Christmas with the kids. I have to work all next week except for Wednesday. Hopefully we will get the tree taken down and the house put back in order on Christmas day. I love seeing the kids open their gifts but when they are gone, I'm ready to pack it all up again.

Merry Christmas to all who see and read my little blog. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday and remembers that family, friends, and faith are what this time of year is all about.

A Snow Day

Brrrr, where did this cold come from? Wednesday it was in the 50's, now when I look outside all I see is snow. Snow on the ground, snow on the trees, snow on the roofs, and snow in the air. Did I mention that I really don't like snow? Luckily my boss told me to go home early yesterday and to stay home today. I was scheduled to be an "extra" person today so it all worked out. They can still operate in a timely and efficient manner and I didn't have to be on the roads. I read earlier that the highway department was urging people to stay home as they were having trouble keeping up with the storm. Doyle left the house at 4:30 this morning for his 6:00 shift, I haven't heard different so I'm assuming he made it. I love being at home but I really need to get out this weekend and get some shopping done. But as long as it keeps snowing, it's Internet shopping for me!

Plans, What Plans?

I have decided that I should never, ever, plan to do anything ahead of time. Case in point, my trip to Springfield today. I had it all planned out, ran over it several times in my mind, I was ready to make it happen. Well, here's how it all changed. I left work a little early yesterday thinking I'll get home and start supper, have it done and the kitchen cleaned in time to get some laundry done last night. That allows me to get up early and head out knowing that I'm good to go for Thursday, remember I have to work on Thursday. Sounds like a good plan, right? Okay, here's how it really went. I get home and walk into the kitchen and see two boxes on the table, I think "great, they came early, I don't have to worry about them". Then I notice that one box looks a little worse for wear, and it's the smaller box with the tablet for Cameron. Brad's dog (Cash) had a little fun with it and basically destroyed the outer box and had started on the actual product box. Doyle found it in the yard when he came home. I was just sick, it wasn't a real expensive tablet, not a iPad or anything like that. Just a cheap little tablet I thought Cameron would like to play games and watch movies on. I purchased it as a "bundle" with earphones, sd card, etc... That stuff was nowhere in what was left of the box. So Doyle and I head out, in the dark, on an all out search for the rest of what I thought should be in the box. All we find is cardboard pieces, Cash really did have some fun while we worked yesterday! After giving up all hope of finding anything more I get the bright idea to check the tracking on the rest of my order. Why I didn't think of it first I'll blame on anger and the sick feeling I was having in the pit of my stomach. Well, this is one time that I'm glad Wal*Mart is so stupid. They shipped a "bundle" separately and the rest of it is still in transit. I fixed supper, cleaned up the kitchen, and then decided to finish Cash's job and unpack the tablet and see how bad it really was. Except for a small dent from a bite on the edge of the screen, it seems to be fine. I turned it on, set it up and was playing Candy Crush in a few minutes. I had already bought one that "Santa" was leaving for our house, so I'll keep the damaged one and give Cameron the other one. So, long story short, I'm staying home today to wait on the rest of my packages. And I'm almost over being mad at the dog, although I was did giggle to myself a little when Cash was whining at the front door earlier because it's really cold out there this morning. Karma's a bitch, Cash!!

TG 2K13

So this is Thanksgiving week.... And we will not be having a dinner at our house. Some many things have conspired against it this year. Here are just a few a.) I have to work on Thursday. b.) The grand kids want to have Christmas morning with Brad so they will be having Thanksgiving with their Mom. c.) Brad, Amber, and her kids are going to her Grandmother's for a meal after she gets off work. d.) After a lot of back and forth about the whole subject, Doyle and I decided it really would be a waste to fix a big dinner for just us. I will be off on Wednesday and Doyle "might" be off, if so we need to make a trip to Springfield and we could always eat somewhere nice and call it good. In our early married life, Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday, in part because it was always a big deal on my side of the family. It was my Dad's favorite holiday and all or most of the family would get together. In the years since his death and with every one's families growing and adding/subtracting people, it's just not the same. Not that I haven't enjoyed it, it's just different.

On another subject, I'm in full shopping mode. I spent most of the day Friday online shopping and waiting for the FedEx truck. I did get several gifts bought and have several more "decided on", I just need to get to the stores and purchase them. That's why we need to go to Springfield on Wednesday, to make a purchase at Bass Pro. I have to get another gift in Springfield but won't be able to if Doyle goes, guess who it's for! Since I'll already be in West Plains on Thursday, I'm going to brave Walmart when I get off work. I get off at 5:30 and the sale starts at 6:00, although I'm sure there won't be any parking spaces and I'll be trekking across several lots, and I'll have to carry everything because the carts will all be gone. Sounds like so much fun! Chely and Emily are meeting me there, hopefully they will get a cart.

Last subject for today. Every year around Thanksgiving I do a little soul searching and make mental lists of what I'm "thankful" for in my life. Of course, it always contains the usual, family, friends, jobs, health, etc..
But this year I've been thinking a lot about how "happy" I am in my life. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking I could be happier, the question is, what will make me happier? For me, I think the answer is to be more accepting of other people (in my personal life and work life) and to "just live". I tend to worry about every aspect of my life and I must admit to micro-managing a lot of things in my life. I'm going to try and let go of the things that I can't do anything about and to just live life as it come to me. Happy Thanksgiving!

So Proud

This past weekend was youth firearm season here in Missouri. Patrick went hunting with Brad and got his second deer. They hunted all weekend and at the very last bit of light available on Sunday evening, he shot a little doe. He was so excited and proud that he shot it with one of Brad's guns and not the little gun bought for him to hunt with. He had gotten a deer last season too, but he was just more excited with this one. I guess a years more age makes a big difference. Of course, Brad was so proud of him. They stopped by to show us and Patrick was almost walking on air. It made Doyle and I so happy to see the two of them enjoying something that they love together.

I've had such a nice weekend and I still have today off to enjoy here at home. Saturday I went to a baby shower for my brother's girlfriend. It was nice to get out of the house for a couple hours and enjoy the company of other ladies. I get in such a rut with work and home life. It seems like I do nothing else but go to work, than hole up at home when I'm not working. I do do errands but only when I absolutely have to. It's not good for me, so I've been trying to MAKE myself get out more. I got off work early on Thursday so I browsed a few stores in West Plains before I made my stop at Wal Mart for groceries. I ended up buying a nice pair of boots. I kept seeing people in leggings and boots so I finally took the plunge.

Today I need to clean some house and get myself ready for my work week. I've been trying to iron all my clothes for the week at one time instead of nightly. I never used to iron my scrubs but when I started a while back it seems to make me feel better. I know, it's silly, but I guess I was so used to ironing my clothes when I had to dress up for work that it makes me feel "more put together". Plus I think it just looks nicer.

Pumpkin Patch 2013

Yesterday was a great day! I had to work on Saturday so yesterday I got up early and got ready to head to Springfield to spend the day with the Grand kids. I arrived a little after 11, so we had lunch at Olive Garden before heading to the pumpkin patch. I've never been to a pumpkin patch (I don't even remember there being pumpkin patches when Brad was a kid), and it was a fun experience. This place was amazing, they had everything from quail, chickens, turkeys, pigs, to hayrides, corn maze, bounce house, etc.... Except for Cameron getting away from us one time (at the bathrooms, of course) and causing Chely and I to have heart attacks, it was a perfect day. And after we left the patch I managed to get in a little shopping with Emily at Michael's. Oh and we also went to Barnes and Noble where the kids all got a little treat from me. I was so tired after the excitement of the day and the drive home, I slept well last night.

Sadness

The last few days have been pretty sad for me. A special person to me lost her father. He was 64, the same age as my Dad when he passed. He had battled cancer for quite some time and had fought hard for his family but in the end, cancer won the fight. It's so hard to see people that you love go through so much pain. And I couldn't help but think back to when I lost my Dad, you just never get over it. All I can do is tell her that I'm here if she needs me and to be there for her if she does. In the end, that's all anyone can do.

Friday the 13th

I know that a lot of people are superstitious about Friday the 13th, but it's usually a good day for me. Not sure what that means, but I'm okay with it. I had to work today and it was a smooth and easy day. The Grand kids are here for the weekend and that can't be beat. I'll take a Friday like this every week.

My 52nd Year Begins

So, my birthday was this past Tuesday, or as I like to say my "unbirthday". I've decided that at age 50 you should get to start subtracting years instead of adding them. Ha, just kidding, as someone much older than me once told me, "the alternative to having birthdays is not a good one". I usually take the day (or week) off but since we've been taking forced PTO coupled with the fact that this was my Sunday-Wednesday week, I worked this year. One of my co-workers bought my lunch which was very nice of her. Doyle took me out for supper at the Mexican place in town and I made the mistake of saying to him that yes, I was having a beer because it's my birthday. The waitress remembered that statement so I had to put on their silly hat, have whipped cream smeared on my nose (up my nose actually) and have the WORST picture ever taken while they sang Happy Birthday to me. Note to self: go somewhere else to eat next year!! All in all it was a great day and I'm looking forward to the next year. As is usual for me I've made some mental notes of things I'd like to work on in myself for the coming year. Seems my list gets longer as each year comes.

Labor Day is this weekend. My sister and some of her family will be in town so I'm looking forward to visiting with them. I have the holiday off and I took the Tuesday after off so I'm planning to enjoy six days at home. I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday weekend, enjoy!

Summer

I'm not sure where this summer has gone. It seems like just a week ago I was picking the Grand kids up from their last day of school and tomorrow I'll be helping get them ready to start school next week. That means meeting Chely in Springfield and school shopping with three kids on the last Saturday before most schools start. Wow, are we gluttons for punishment? I asked Chely to have a list of the clothes that they need plus their school supply lists. Frankly, I'm just hoping to survive the day without going postal on someone. (Hopefully you NSA people reading this know I'm just kidding about that last statement.)

On another note. We have been having A LOT of rain. So much that I44 which runs from Springfield to St. Louis has been closed on a couple different days. Luckily, that's not my travel route. On the upside it's been great for our garden this year. I have a ton of green beans to deal with at some point today. I freeze them so it's just getting them washed and the ends snapped.

I have some other news but I feel like it deserves it's own post so I will save it for another day. Besides I'm still kind of getting used to it myself so I might need to digest it some more before I share. It's nothing bad, actually it's good news. And no, I'm not going to be Nana again (that I know of anyway) and it has nothing directly to do with Doyle or Brad although it does affect them. More to come on that.

Vacation July 2013

I'm not sure where the past week and a half has gone but my vacation is down to today and tomorrow. Sunday it's back to the grind for me. At least by going back on a Sunday that means I'll have a nice long weekend following the four days that I have to work. We didn't really "go" anywhere this year, just puttered around the house. We did take a couple golf outings around the area. Doyle golfed, I drove the cart. It was really nice to just be outside and enjoy the time together. We also did a couple "not so pleasant" things. Doyle had to have a crown on a tooth and we both had vision tests. And yes, both of us need new glasses/contacts. After having surgery about nine years ago and not having to have anything but reading glasses (and that's just been the last year or so), I'll be back to popping in contacts every morning. I'm really dreading it, I got so spoiled, people with good vision should never take that for granted! Time to get off of here and get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather we are having. My car is screaming out to be cleaned, inside and out.

Monday at Home

Today is the last of my five days off, it's back to the grind tomorrow. I have two weeks until I get another little break. My "to do" list for that week is growing. I'm on my second page. Hopefully I will continue to be motivated when that time comes. I have to keep repeating: I must stay away from twitter and Pinterest!!! I will also be giving up caffeine that week so hopefully staying busy will make the withdrawal a little easier to endure. I've done it before and I know I can do it this time. That's it for now readers, hope everyone is having a wonderful June so far.

6 of 10

Today was probably my last bit of sanity for a few days. Tomorrow I head to Springfield and after a bit of shopping I'm picking up the kids from their last day of school. Later I'll also pick up the little guy from daycare. Doyle and I are looking forward to not having to "share" the kids for a couple of days, although I'm sure their Daddy will be around.

As for my "big" plans of getting a lot done around the house on my days off---not so much! It's been so nice to just "be home" that I admit I've been kind of lazy. I did get some cleaning and organizational things done, so I will be content with what I've gotten done, for now. Everything will get done, just not in one week.

4 of 10 and 5 of 10

Monday and Tuesday. Monday was spent just puttering around the house, cleaning a little and doing some laundry. Tuesday needs to be a more productive day here at the house. I have a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish this week and the week is flying by. I just have today and tomorrow because Thursday I'm heading to Springfield early to do a little shopping before I pick up the Grand kids. Friday will be a bust as the kids will be here and I won't want to be doing chores. So, I've got to get off this computer and dive into that list!

3 of 10 aka Mother's Day 2013

What a wonderful Sunday we had. My sweet husband started the day off right by taking me and my Mom out for breakfast. After breakfast we stopped by Brad's to drop some items off that the kids had left here. Cameron wanted to come home with us so bad, I felt bad for even stopping. So I wasn't surprised when Brad asked if they could come out in the afternoon. The kids had a blast again just being outside and doing "kid" things. Brad got the little motorcycle out and gave rides to the kids, and the little pickup is always a hit with Amber's boys. Those boys sat in that truck for almost the whole time they were here. When Brad said it was time to get back home so they would be there when Chely got there, Cameron parked himself in the recliner and told me he was staying. I said but your Mom will be sad that you're not there when she gets there to pick you up, he told me she would know where he was. There's no getting around that kids' ideas! So I carried him out to the truck and put him in and reminded him that I would be picking him up on Thursday and he was coming to my house then. Hard to believe that school is out this week, seems like it just started. Doyle and I ended our day by spotting not only the Moon and Jupiter but also Venus as it was right over the horizon at dusk, such a wonderful and humbling sight.

2 of 10

Well, my plans for Friday changed a little. Brad asked if the kids could be dropped off at our house until later on Friday evening as him and Amber had plans, my answer was yes, of course. Then Chely called and said she was running late, could I meet her about halfway and pick up the kids, my answer was yes, of course. So I'm going out the door as Doyle is coming in and when I finally got home with the kids, fixed a little supper, it was going on 8pm. The kids then talked Brad into letting them spend the night at our house.

Saturday was spent outside for the most part. The kids love to ride their bikes at our house and just run around the yard. Cameron has found the tire swing and fallen in love. We had the kids here until after supper (they love it when Papa cooks steaks on the grill and Nana makes baked potatoes), and until Cameron was done in the bath. He was a mess, black hands and face from the tire. When we took them to Brad's it was a chore getting left. Cameron was crying to come with us and the older two were dropping hints to just stay with us again. We told them all that they needed to spend a little time with their Dad since they would be going home on Sunday.

I love having the kids here, but they wear me out! I think some of the problem is they don't want to go to bed so I end up staying up until they are asleep. Which means I usually fall asleep on the couch and wake up sometime in the night and make my way to bed. They are planning on being here quite a bit this summer so we might have to be stricter on the bed time routine.

1 of 10

Today is day 1 of 10 off work for me. With the new healthcare law, lower reimbursement, etc.. some of us that have quite a bit of PTO (paid time off) saved up are being forced to take some of that time. It's really pretty simple, our PTO comes out of a different account so, we still get paid but it looks like our department is saving some money. I personally don't mind, as long as I still have enough hours in the bank to get me to short term disability (if something bad were to happen to me). Anyway, I'm getting a little unscheduled vacation. I spent this morning getting some shopping done and this afternoon I'll be getting a much needed haircut and color. I'm planning on making a trip to Springfield one day with my Mom and I hope to get the grandkids at some point. I need to sit down and make a big "to do" list and stick to it.

A Little Staycation

Whew, I made it through to my mini stay-cation of four days off. Work has been taxing me lately, not really the work itself, but getting through the day. I continue to have problems sleeping, and again not getting to sleep, but getting back to sleep if I wake up. And of course, I wake up every night with a million things going through my mind. My doctor prescribed a sleep/stress aid but I'm reluctant to take it too often. I don't want to get dependant on it where I will never be able to sleep without it. I will say that it does work pretty good, when I do allow myself to take it. That is when I've missed several nights of sleep and just can't go without another one.

My time off, what should I do and what do I want to do. Well, I should finish my spring cleaning, but I want to go to Springfield on Friday, do a little shopping, and bring the kiddo's home with me. I haven't even asked to see if they could come home with me, but like I said, that's what I want to do. This week is "National Scrapbook Week", so all my favorite craft stores are having some really good sales that I would like to browse. I don't need a thing, but it's always fun to look, and I'm sure I would find something that I just have to have.

I also need to get with my Mom sometime this weekend and help her with her new computer. She bought a new laptop and it has Windows 8 installed on it, I managed to get it registered and set up but oh my, the operating system is so different from any Windows before it. I finally ordered her a "Windows 8 for Dummies" book which arrived this week. Someone told me those were the best books for most people to learn from. Hopefully it will help us both as I'm due to upgrade my dinosaur laptop soon.

I'm not sure if I'll make it back here before the weekend. I hope whoever is reading this has a wonderful weekend and that you get to enjoy it how you want. As for me, I'm gonna take each day as it comes.

Hello, again!

Wow, I don't even remember the last time I posted to my blog. Seems like 2013 just started but yet it's almost half over. I have a few goals for this year that have been high on my priority list, which is part of the reason that this blog has been neglected. I hope all the people that visit here have been well. I've been busy, some good things, some not so good. I'll try and be more diligent in posting here.