From Fantastic to Craptastic in 4.2 Seconds

Saturday started out as one of the best, most exhausting days I have had in a long time. I played in a volleyball tournament at the Simon J. Graber Building. We started playing in the Round Robin portion at 9:00 am. There were 3 other teams, so we played 3 games that morning. The matches were best 2 out of 3 games, and we were pretty worn out by the time they were finished up. We ate a bite for lunch (Thanks to the mothers on the team -- Beth and Jodi -- for bringing us snacks), then started a Double Elimination Tourney at 11:30. The matches in the tourney was played best 3 out of 5 games. I have to say, we were pretty much done for, but we toughed it out. It wouldn't have been so bad, but we only had a few minutes between games to rest. Turns out, our little team of old fogies was pretty good and we wound up winning the whole shebang. I'm not sure just how much bragging rights we have after beating girls who wear skirts to play in (not all of them were Amish, but there were a couple of them), but I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST playing ball again. I really have missed it! I hope that they call me again when they need someone to play with. I don't think I was too awful, but I was a little out of practice and I can't jump near as high as I used to. All in all, though, it was a great time! Thank you Momma for going with me; I love our days together! Not just a Momma, you are one of my best friends!

The craptastic part of my day started at about 3:30 when we were leaving Donut Hill. Grandma Ruth called me and told me that our basement was completely flooded!!! We have been having problems with our hot water heater, and decided that the bottom element was bad. Friday night, we replaced it, but that didn't solve the problem. Grandma and Grandpa stopped by later that night to look at it again, and we decided to change the top element out too. Somehow, we left a water hose turned on when we were messing with it (it was stuck down the drain so that we didn't get the floor wet, which is ironic), and it was left running for almost 24 hours. I never heard anything that night, and didn't check the next morning because I left the house early to go play in the volleyball tourney. Honestly, we are lucky if we go down in the basement once a week. The only thing down there that we mess with is Tim's hunting stuff and the cat's food and litter box; it's just not a room that we use very often. There is a spare bedroom down there too, but we don't usually have people stay overnight. Needless to say, it was a total disaster when I got home. My rubber boots certainly got a work out. We managed to get just about everything to higher ground, but the carpet and the wooden floor in the bedroom are pretty much saturated. Grandma and Grandpa got a sump pump and we finally started pumping the water out of the basement. The drain is completely filled up with sand, which is why the basement flooded to begin with, so it was absolutely useless. Chuck's litter box was floating around when Grandma first found the water (I bet he really, really had to potty), and his water-logged cat food was EVERYWHERE! Super long story short, we finally got the water all pumped out and now we are in a drying stage. I have Dad's propane heater and every fan I own down there trying to get the carpet and the concrete floor dried out. I'm hoping beyond hoping that we don't get any mold, otherwise we will have to rip up the floor. Tim is way too sensitive to the mold, and he would be unbelievably sick. So, come on propane heater! Do your duty!

Here are some pictures of the Flooded Basement Incident:

This is once we had been pumping the water out for a while and had gotten most of the floating cat food cleaned up (the cat litter box scoop worked well)

Gross! Soo much water!



She brought her duck to play in the water with us

Grandpa's rubber boots in the water

 Ducky in his natural environment -- He floats lopsided

 Ducky -- Comic Relief courtesy of Dixie

 The culprit of our hot water heater problems -- Notice the black, burned spot

"What's all the fuss about??"

"WHOA!"

"Hmm, it's sorta wet..."

 "Okay -- Here I go!"

"This isn't so bad"

Yeah, our cat's not normal, but he loves life, that's for sure -- Look at how weird his feet are under the water!

Sunday has been a lot better when compared to yesterday! I had some serious problems getting out of bed this morning. I'm positive that every muscle in my body is rebelling against movement of any kind. My calves are cramping, my thighs feel like they are ripping in two, my butt is sore, my abs hurt (especially when I cough -- OUCH), my right shoulder is totally worthless, and my hands even hurt. I took a hot bath with Epsom Salts last night at Mom's and that helped a lot. I have taken it pretty easy today, but I think that work tomorrow could be unpleasant.

I slept in this morning and laid around for a while. House re-runs were on, and I watched for a couple hours. My biggest project for the afternoon was to get rid of the wet boxes that were still in the basement. There is an old coal room down there (super creepy) that I call the Saw Room, because I feel like there should be chains hanging on the walls. We just use it for storage, and there was a bunch of cardboard boxes and stuff down there. Mostly, it was just the boxes that were ruined, but my box of Christmas stuff was down there too. My beautiful Christmas stockings were soaked! I sewed them myself this year, and I'm not sure if they are going to be salvageable. There are some pretty serious stains on them and part of the letters have come loose. I will do my best to save them! I cried a little bit when I found them -- They were from our first Christmas together in our house and are very special to me.

Now, Tim is headed off to work and my butt is parked on the couch. It is raining outside and I don't have the ambition (or will power) to attempt anything productive. Maybe I will attempt to wash the dishes and fold up the laundry -- I'll even reward myself with some chocolate when I get it done. My plan is to watch the Oscars tonight then go to bed early. As for work next week, my schedule looked pretty full when I left on Friday, so I'm sure that I will be busy! Looks like it's going to be a good week!!!   :^D

The World Needs More Parents Like Mine

I apologize for not posting the last couple days. It takes about an hour or so to do a good day justice, and I usually get caught up doing stuff with Tim when he isn't working. We are busy people, what can I say? I will try to do better in the future. I'm going to set a goal for myself to post something EVERY day in March -- Maybe I will reward myself if I am successful. Sounds like a great plan to me!

My last post was Tuesday night, so I will do my best to catch you up from there. Wednesday was extremely busy. There weren't that many patients in the office in the morning (Dr. Bowling was sick and stayed home), so I worked on my filing cabinet project -- I now have two of nineteen drawers done. Woo Hoo! Hooray for small victories. Lunch was nice and peaceful. I read for a bit on my Kindle while I ate my chicken salad sandwich. Then I had 5 hours of massages in the afternoon. Honestly, I don't think I have been that worn out from massages before. They were all deep tissue and full body massages so I didn't get to use my elbows as much as I usually do (it helps save my thumbs) and my hands were pretty sore by the end of the day.

Wednesday was also the day that Tim and I were going to pick up his Ranger. Mom ran him to Washington after work so that we didn't have an extra vehicle to mess with. We took Dixie with us (she loves to ride) and made it a family affair (minus Chuck; sorry buddy). The new truck is very nice. It has now been on a gravel road and even has some mud on it -- I think that Tim is fighting a losing battle to keep it clean.  nbhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  That little spaz out of the keyboard was from Chuck jumping onto the laptop -- Sorry about that. Ok, so the trip to Evansville was good. We got the truck no problem and I followed Tim home (we forgot the license plate at the house and wanted to make it harder for him to get pulled over, so I basically tailgated him the whole way home). By the time we got home, I was ready to crash. We stayed up to watch the new episode of Justified, then went to bed. Tim hasn't been sleeping very well at night, so he didn't stay in bed long, but I was asleep within minutes. I had two more days of work before the weekend, and I really needed some ZZZ's.

Thursday started out pretty awful. I didn't wash my hair on Wednesday because of the bleach lingering in the water, so I was really, really looking forward to a shower on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, our hot water heater has something wrong with it and the hot water ran out halfway through my shower. I had a head full of shampoo, and no hot water to rinse it out with, which meant that I had to use the cold water. On top of the cold shower, Dixie somehow managed to get the beaver skull in the house and I had bone fragments and beaver teeth to clean up before work. Not the best start to a morning by any means, but at least it wasn't boring. My morning at the office was good. I worked some more on the filing cabinets and washed a ton of sheets. The ferns even got a haircut (they are looking much better now that we aren't over-watering them). We had a staff meeting after lunch, then I had three massages in the afternoon. It was actually kind of nice to not have a full schedule. After work, Tim and I made steak tacos for dinner. They were pretty yummy if I do say so myself. After watching a Netflix movie, we went to bed early again. It was good to get some decent sleep, though the storm kept waking me up. The rain is actually really peaceful (except when it's leaking through the ventilator in the bedroom), but the wind was rattling the windows in their panes. I woke up a couple times and thought the house was going to blow away. Just like The Wizard of Oz!

One of the things that Tim did Thursday was check his trail camera. He had set it up on a couple dead geese at the Good Place, which is across the road from Mom and Dad's. He wanted to see what came along looking for an easy meal. Here are some of the more interesting pictures we had. There were over 200 total, but most of them were of the limb moving in front of the camera.

Coyotes are his main target -- That big male (black tipped tail, front and center) has been giving him fits for a while now, but his days are numbered

 A Red Fox decided to see what all the fuss was about

Hey, Raccoons have to eat too!

Today (Finally Friday!), I skipped out on a shower again, because my first massage was scheduled at 8:00 and I didn't want to bother Mom and Dad that early in the morning and I for dang sure wasn't going to intentionally take another cold one. I actually got to sleep in an extra half hour because I didn't take a shower, which was kinda nice. Turns out, my 8:00 was a no-show (I was really bummed that I didn't get that extra hour of sleep; that would have been beyond wonderful), but I did get quite a bit done in the office before Carmin came in at 9:00. The rest of my clients kept their appointments and were fairly routine. Nothing major or drastic. I was out of the office by 1:00 and headed home for the weekend.

By the time I made it home from work today, my stomach was rubbing a blister on my backbone, so I grabbed a bite for lunch. I took a little nap, then it was back to the car to head to a volleyball open gym up at the high school. Coach Burkhart asked me to come in and help the girls with blocking and hitting. I miss volleyball very, very much. I would love to coach, but I can't take off work to be at practices. After school appointments are our busiest ones at the office. Someday though, I will have my own business and will be able to take the time to coach. For now, I'll just help out when I can -- It's also an excuse to get some playing in and I can't turn that down. I had a blast, even though there were only two girls there. Hopefully next time, more girls will be able to make it and we can do some scrimmaging.

It's now Friday evening, and you can find me sitting on the couch with Dixie and Chuck, watching a show on History International about the Minotaur in Ancient Crete. I ran up to Mom and Dad's a while ago to take a shower. We still haven't got the hot water heater figured out. Grandma and Grandpa (who are also our landlords) changed one of the elements in it thinking that was the problem, but we still don't have hot water. It's lukewarm, but not hot, so we are going to try replacing the other element tomorrow and I'm praying that fixes it. I would really like to take a shower in my own house. I feel like I'm a college freshman who has to go down the hallway to take a shower. I know Mom and Dad don't care if we use their shower, but it's such a hassle. Fingers crossed that the problem is solved tomorrow.

I think it's time for bed now. I have a big day planned for tomorrow. I'm playing in a volleyball tournament at the Simon J. Graber Building at 9:00 am. I CAN'T WAIT for that! It should be really, really fun! Hopefully, I will be done with that in time to go to Jessica's Stella & Dot Party at 2:00. I think that good food, pretty jewelry, and margarita's will be an amazing way to spend a couple hours of the afternoon. Other than that though, I don't think we have big plans for this weekend. Just going to have to wing it and see what we can get into!

Dad started reading my blog tonight (Mom got him a laptop for Valentine's Day and he is working on figuring it out), and I would just like to say "I love you Pop! I am so very lucky to have a dad like you! You and Mom taught me well and made me into who I am today. I sure can't complain. You must have done something right, because life seems to be treating me pretty well. I am so blessed to have you always watching out for me. Thank you so much for being wonderful parents! I love you both more than you can imagine! I want you to be proud to call me your daughter, because I am proud to call you my parents! The world needs more parents like you!"  :^)

Never Work A Day in Your Life

Today has been a very wonderful day! One of those days that just make me love life. I braved the shower this morning -- The result? I have a faint bleach smell to my hair. Not very attractive, but that's what happens when you have crud in your well and you put bleach in there over the weekend to kill it. The bleach sat in there all weekend, but I had to take a shower this morning before work. I'm hoping that by tomorrow it will be better.

Work this morning was great. I spent the morning working on stuff at the front desk. I'm cleaning out the second filing cabinet drawer, but there are 19 to go through in all -- So, I'm going to be at this job for a while. The phone was ringing off the hook as well, which is very good for business and means that I stayed busy for the whole morning. I almost forgot to eat! We had a good, productive staff meeting after lunch, then I had four massages on the books for a busy afternoon as well. Time flew by and before I knew it, it was quitting time.

After work, I talked to Tim for a bit -- The radio room girls at the jail can probably predict my calls. We should be going to pick up the new truck tomorrow night when I get off work. Tim and I are both excited about it!!! When I finished chatting with Tim, I headed to Wal-Mart. I truly dread going there, but we were running a little low on edible things in the house. I needed to stock up on the essentials. I am getting better at grocery shopping finally. It's taken me a year, but I can go in there now and load up on enough food for about a month and only spend about $200. Not too shabby if you ask me -- And I think my opinion matters since this is my blog. It took me forever to get things unloaded and put away, but I managed. The fridge and the freezer are stocked up again. I even got some new things to try cooking. I'm gonna make Jessica's Steak Tacos for Tim on Thursday. I'm almost positive that they won't be as good, but I'll give it my best shot! You just can't beat Jessica's cooking!

There is clean laundry to fold up (I did three loads today), dishes running in the dishwasher (a never-ending job), and I need to run the vacuum, but they are going to have to wait until tomorrow. I'm beat and I have an early day tomorrow. 6:30 is going to come around pretty quick if I don't get to bed soon. I have a couple thoughts to share before I go to bed though. Thought Number 1: DWAIN IS GOING TO BE HOME IN 9 DAYS!!! Can't you tell that I'm excited?! There are countdowns going on every calendar that I have -- Even the scheduling book at work has one going on it! I can't even describe how much I have missed seeing and talking to him. Thought Number 2: I have a very good friend who was attacked and raped at VU two years ago. They have never found the S.O.B., but she has not given up her search for justice. Last night, her story was told on Fox 59 News out of Indianapolis in the hopes that it might help the police find her attacker. I would like to share a link to that story with you so that you know just how brave my friend really is. Share this with people you know, and we will eventually nail this sucker! I love you Brittany!

Click HERE for Brittany's Story

Tomorrow is going to be another great day. My massage schedule is booked up through next Tuesday -- How great is that? I sure do love being busy! Life is being good to me, and I am so thankful. The saying "Find something that you love doing, and you will never work a day in your life" applies to me in a very big way. I love my job and all of my people -- The ones I work on and the ones I work with. It is a great joy to get up and go to work every day. The rewards are incredible! Now, in order for me to do my best tomorrow, I need to head to bed -- Actually, I should have been there an hour ago. Good night! I hope your tomorrow is going to be as good as mine. Come on Dix, Chuck! Let's hit the hay!  :^D

Anniversaries and Steak Tacos

What a weekend! Tim and I pretty were lazy for most of the weekend, but we had a great time! Saturday night, we went to the Four Seasons to listen to a couple guys Tim works with play in their band -- The Amber Lamps. They were good, and we had a blast. We didn't get home til 3:00 in the morning. Ugh, makes me realize that I'm not near as young as I used to be. It took all day Sunday to recuperate. Tim was nursing a bit of a hangover, so the most ambitious thing we did was make Mexican Chicken Casserole for supper. Lots of laziness in our house on Sunday, but sometimes you just need a lazy day to get you ready for Monday.

I asked Tim about the skull in the yard -- Yup, it's a beaver. Well, it was a beaver at one point. Now, it's just a jawbone and some big nasty, yellow teeth. I haven't got a clue where in the world Dixie found a beaver at -- We do live in the middle of several corn fields -- But she has been carrying it around the yard since Saturday.

Today, it was back to work. I don't really mind Monday's at the office because I only work a half day. I actually went in a little early today to work on Grandma Teddi (my schedule was already full, so I squeezed her in before my other clients) and to meet with Dr. Bowling and discuss ways to figure out how to even out the massage schedule. My schedule is usually very full, but the other therapist struggles to fill hers up sometimes. We just talked about ways to fix this problem. After our meeting, I had four hours of massage to complete a great Monday at work.  After work, I went to Jessica's house to eat with her, her husband Scott, and Sammie, who is Jessica's sister-in-law. She made Steak Tacos and they were DELICIOUS! Scott's margarita's weren't bad either. Finally, I made it home (I also stopped to visit with Grandma Ruth and pay the rent for this month). Dixie was not a happy camper; she had been in her kennel for almost 6 hours by the time I let her out. I think I might have to take her outside and throw some tennis balls so that she can burn off some steam. She is pretty wound up, and I'm just about ready for bed.

Three years ago today, I met the man who stole my heart. We have had a wonderful three years together, and I can't wait to see what our future holds. He is one of the best things about my life and I can't imagine what it would be like without him. I love you Tim! You are my rubber boots when life gets too deep. Thank you for all the little things you do to say "I love you." Happy Anniversary!!

According to my calculations (Just typing that phrase made me feel like a mad scientist -- hehe), tomorrow should be a pretty wonderful day. Tim is headed to the bank so that we can get the money lined up for his new truck. I have a full schedule in the afternoon and lots of stuff to work on in the morning. I do have to make a trip to Wal-Mart after work tomorrow and I'm dreading it on every level, but we are just about out of things to eat in our house. It should be an interesting day! Right now, I'm going to eat one more Caramel Delight (Girl Scout Cookies are one of the best things ever created), then I'm heading to bed. I have a date with the Sandman tonight -- Sorry Tim. I need my beauty sleep. Good night!  :^)

Tim bought a New Truck!

Whew, I have been a slacker lately, haven't I? No posts since Wednesday? Not good. I have been beyond busy though -- Busy in a good way, but very busy any way you look at it.

So, I need to bring you up to speed. Thursday was a very typical Thursday at the office. I worked at the front desk all morning. Cleaning out the filing cabinet is going to be quite a large undertaking, but I will prevail! We had a staff meeting at 1:00, then I had a full massage schedule in the afternoon. After work is where the craziness began. Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Marvin helped me put bleach in the well to try to kill the algae that is growing in there and causing our water to be orange-tinted. I was late getting away from work, so we had to do it in the dark. I had picked up 5 jugs of bleach at Wal-Mart (ugh, worst place in the world) on my lunch break. We got the bleach in the well, which is not the easiest thing to do (It KILLS my knees to crawl in there, but I had the youngest knees out of the three of us, so I volunteered to do it). Next, we had to run water in the house to get the bleach water up through the plumbing. This took for-ev-er! We finally gave up and left it running while we went to eat supper. After supper, we went back down and wrapped things up for the night. "Thank you Grandma for doing a load of my laundry while we ate. I really appreciate it!"

Now, I had to pack. Tim and I were going to go to the National Wild Turkey Federation Convention in Nashville, TN for the weekend with his parents and his two uncles and their families. I had not even started getting stuff ready for that. I had no idea what I was going to wear or what I was going to pack for Tim to wear. After finally getting all that stuff together, I went to bed, but it was already after 1:00 am, so I wasn't going to get much sleep before Tim got home at 6:30 and we had to start getting ready to leave.

However, Tim and I talked once he finally got home and decided that it would be better if we just stayed home. He has been battling an upper respiratory and sinus infection for about two weeks now. He was feeling pretty awful again yesterday morning, and we thought it would be better for everyone if we just stayed home. Together, Tim's uncles have 5 kids under 3 years old that were going on the trip too, and Tim doesn't have any business being around them and possibly getting them sick. It kinda sucked to not go to the show, because it's always really neat and fun, but I have been the last two years and Tim has been for pretty much the last decade. The show always has some new stuff, but it is basically the same every year. In a nutshell, we decided that it would be worth it to just stay home and rest so he can get better and to save our money.

So the plan for yesterday changed a bit, but we still had a GREAT day. Tim has been looking for a new truck for a while now and he finally found one he liked on Craigslist. I called the number yesterday and we set up a time for that afternoon to go look at it (in Evansville). Turns out the guy who owned it works for the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Dept, which meant that he and Tim had quite a bit in common. It was an awesome little truck! It's a 1998 Ford Ranger Extended Cab, 4 x 4 with a 4.0 L V6. Cleanest truck I have ever seen; I bet it's never been on a gravel road. It only had 92,000 miles on it too, which was the best part. The guy had only driven it a few miles back and forth to USI, and it had been sitting in the garage for the last year. The only things that we found wrong with it were that it needs new brakes and there are a couple tiny scratches in the paint. We knew that this truck had to go home with us. Tim talked the guy down a bit in price, and we are now the new owners of a Ford Ranger. We have to get to the bank sometime today and get that stuff figured out, but we are hoping to pick it up and bring it home very soon. Tim and I are both very happy!

After leaving Evansville, we stopped at Tim's friend Travis's house in Elberfeld to let the dogs out to pee. We were babysitting Annie for Mom while they went to the Farm Show Tractor Pull in Louisville. Finally, after chatting a bit and catching up, we were headed home. I had to feed Mom's bottle babies for her last night, and the dogs were a little hungry too. We had lasagna and cheesy bread for supper, which is easy to cook and always yummy. I fell asleep while watching TV with Tim though, so we went to bed. It turned out to be a very good day. We are glad that we didn't go to the Turkey Convention, because we wouldn't have been able to get that truck -- and it was just too good to pass up.

Now, it's Saturday morning. I really need to get Tim up and get to the bank so we can get the loan for his truck. He didn't sleep well last night though, so I will let him sleep a while longer. Chances are the bank won't be able to do much til next week anyway. There is some kind of dead animal skull in the yard that I just found while letting Dixie out for the morning. I haven't got a clue how it got there, but I swear, it looks like a beaver! More than likely it's a groundhog or something, but the big front teeth really threw me off. Who knows?? Chuck is laying on my lap trying to get my fingers while I'm typing -- Obnoxious feline! I think I'm going to watch a movie while Tim is sleeping. It kind of makes me mad that my brain still wants to get up early on the weekends, because it would be nice to sleep in every once in a while, but I do get more done this way. I think that the plan for the day is to work around the house a while (there are still limbs in the yard), then we are going to the Four Seasons tonight for some music and beer. Should turn out to be a productive day with a good finish. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.   :^)

Pepé Le Pew: 1 -- Dixie: 0

What a day! What a day! WHAT. A. DAY! The last 24 hours have been sooo crazy! A whirlwind if I ever saw one.

Last night, not even 10 minutes after I finished up my post for the evening, we headed to bed. Only problem was that when we let Dixie out to pee one last time, she got sprayed by a skunk (at 11:30 at night -- fantastic)! I opened the door to let her in and by the time I realized what I was smelling, she had already dive-bombed the carpet and the side of the couch! I yelled at Tim to grab her QUICK! We headed straight to the bathtub. I started soaping her up ASAP --You gotta love it that you can tell her to "load up" and she will jump in the tub to get a bath, even though she doesn't really like them at all (she kinda hates baths actually). Tim did such a great job training her. Too bad it's next to impossible to give a waterproof dog a bath. Pretty frustrating actually.

Eventually, we were able to get most of the skunky smell out (baking soda, peroxide, and vinegar are wonderful things), but her face still smells a little ripe and the house is pretty stinky. I have all the windows open in the house now and it is GLORIOUS! Thank the Lord that she didn't get sprayed 2 weeks ago when it was still cold out. We would have been up a creek without being able to open the windows. The smell will probably hang around a couple days anyway. Poor Dixie. I would bet a week's paycheck that she thought it was Chuck out in the field and went to run him down like she usually does. She wouldn't have known what hit her. I sure hope she learned her lesson though; I don't really want to have another night like last night. I didn't get to sleep until after 1:00 am. Five and a half hours of sleep is just not enough. The irony of the whole thing is that I had just changed my status on Facebook to "What a wonderful evening with Tim." Turned out to be a not so great evening -- Yup, that's the definition of ironic. Oh well, what's another adventure?

Work was fantastic today! I worked at the front desk this morning, then had a FULL schedule in the afternoon. I got to work on some of my favorite people today. Henry brought me a Marine Corps "Devil Dog" flag to give to Momma. He thought that she needed to have one hanging in her yard. I agree completely. He is such a great client -- He always brightens my day! Five Massages Later: Sammie and I went to The Great Wall for some YUMMY Chinese food. So much for trying to eat healthier, huh? I took some take out to Tim for dinner at work. He said he was starving, so I  provided dinner for him.

Now, I really need to go to sleep so that I'm not completely dragging butt tomorrow. I have big plans for my morning at the front desk (no patients in the morning means that I get to work on my own terms -- I sure do love Tuesdays and Thursdays -- I get soo much accomplished). Tomorrow will be my last day at work this week, Tim and I have big plans for the weekend so I am taking Friday off! Everyone needs a day off every once in a while. I'm going to try to bleach the well again tomorrow night -- It's a big project, but I want to fix our water problem. Fingers crossed that it will work!
Okay, Dixie, Chuck, Let's go to bed! Last one there is a rotten egg!  :^D

He drew first, so I was "Justified"

Whoa, sorry about the non-existent post from yesterday. Things are pretty busy when Tim is home from work and blogging is just not on the top of my list.

We had a great Valentine's Day! We don't do the flowers and chocolate thing, but we like to spend the day together. Tim has still been battling a cold, so we didn't really do anything super exciting. For dinner, we went out to the Fish and Carry in Odon for our romantic Valentine's Day dinner. I thought it was perfect because neither of us had to cook it! We then spent the evening watching Season One of Justified (Tim's Valentine's Day gift this year). It was a wonderful, romantic Valentine's Day!

Today, I had a busy day at work. Spring cleaning commenced on the filing cabinets -- This will be a long process; like several weeks worth of pulling out 2009 insurance stuff. I actually only had two massages this afternoon, so I got to come home early. That was very nice with Tim having the night off. Tim and I had Fish and Carry again for dinner -- Who really likes cooking, honestly? -- and watched a couple more episodes of Justified then Larry the Cable Guy's show on the History Channel then Top Shot. Now we are back to watching Justified. It's such a good show; we just can't stop.

I promise that tomorrow's post will be longer. Tonight though, I want to enjoy my evening with Tim. I just don't get enough of them.  I have a great day ahead of me tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it!   :^)

I Love Country Music

Tim is still sick today -- This cold is just hanging on and he can't shake it. I felt so bad for him when he was trying to sleep today; he couldn't stop coughing. That makes it next to impossible to get a decent sleep. He is off tomorrow night though, so maybe he will be able to recover with a couple days off.

My original plan to work outside today in the nice weather was shot in the foot when I realized that they had spread turkey manure on the fields around the house. WOW! That reeks in a big way! No way was I going to be outside in that nasty stuff. Guess it's going to have to wait a couple more days. One of the hazards of living in the country -- Made even worse by the fact that we literally live in the middle of a cornfield. We had a lazy inside day instead. I tidied up the house a bit, made spaghetti for lunch, and read my new Cosmo Magazine. Other than that, we didn't do much today. It was nice.

Right now, I am watching the Grammy Awards. What have I learned from this? Justin Bieber is an annoying little boy, Mick Jagger is an old man who did way, way, way too many drugs (You are not sexy; please stop acting like an idiot, it's not attractive), and I LOVE COUNTRY MUSIC. There are better things on TV, but I can't seem to stop watching. I am thinking of going to bed soon. Tomorrow is Monday, but I don't mind. I'm actually looking forward to it (if you really want the truth). I have a short week this week, but that probably means the week will seem to take forever.

Yup, it's bedtime. I might even read a little bit. Hopefully Dix will stop barking at every little noise (The furnace kicking on just scared the daylights out of her and every car that goes by the house is someone coming to invade us). Chuck has already claimed his spot on the couch. My life would be so boring without those two. Sweet dreams!  :^)

Productivity is Over-Rated

It is 9:00 and I have done absolutely nothing today -- Besides going to my class officer meeting this morning, my day has pretty much been a waste. That makes me feel like a terrible bum, but I really just wanted to lay around today. Guess I'll have to try to be more productive tomorrow.

Tim has been feeling crappy lately (he works in a cess pool for crying out loud), so when I was in Odon today, I went to the pharmacy and picked him up some medicine to make him feel better. Day-Quil and ZiCam should have him on the mend in no time.

I have been watching movies on TV for most of the day -- Get Smart is on now; Steve Carell should be good for some laughs. I am going to fold up the mountain of laundry that is on the love seat as soon as I finish this post (shouldn't be too long, I have ADD tonight and can't focus on one thing for very long).

Dixie and Chuck have been going through a stage the last couple days where all they want to do is beat the tar out of each other -- Dixie has the advantage of course, but Chuck is very good at ambushing her when she least expects it. He chews on her paws and attacks her tail. She just plows him over. I can't yell at her for playing too rough, because he is just as mean, if not meaner, than she is -- And, I can't yell at Chuck because it doesn't do a dang bit of good to tell a cat "NO". Thankfully, they are both sacked out right now and it's pretty peaceful in the house. Give it an hour, tops, and they will be back at it. Okay, time to fold those clothes. Good night!  :^)

Laughter is the Best Medicine

I have come to the conclusion that Tim needs to be on the next season of Top Shot on History Channel -- Totally up his alley. Lots of different weapons and a $100,000 prize for the winner -- Yup, he is applying for the next season.

Last night, Tim and I had barbecued pork chops and potatoes for dinner -- So, so delicious! He is such a good cook. I made a cheesecake for dessert. We watched Criminal Minds for a while, then went to bed early. The wind last night made the house very drafty. The warmest room in the house was the living room, which is the opposite of what is usual. The wind out of the south really made the house cold though. We bundled up with some extra blankets for good measure -- I am so ready for Spring weather.

Today, I had four hours of massages in the morning, then I was done for the day. I spent a little time chatting with Jessica and working in the office, but Friday is usually one of my easier days. I was home today by about 2:00; grabbed some leftovers for lunch, then crashed on the couch. I was nursing a headache (it's gone now, thank goodness) and needed a nap. After Tim left for work, Mom stopped by for a few minutes. She picked up some K-Cups for my Keurig Coffee Machine. I took it to work with me today -- It will be used there much more than I use it at home. I am not a big coffee or tea drinker, but I really like the Hot Cocoa and Hot Apple Cider. It's going to be nice to have the Keurig at work -- Good heavens, that's where I spend most of my day anyway.

Now, I am watching the History Channel on TV. For a while, I was watching America's Funniest Videos -- There is nothing better than laughing at the dumb things that people do. I was almost crying. In my professional opinion, laughter really is the best medicine -- It can make anything better. I need to head to bed soon. I have a meeting tomorrow morning to start planning my 5 year class reunion -- That's going to be an ordeal. I'm dreading it really, but that's what I get for being a class officer I suppose. Who knows, it might not be so bad. I can hope anyway. Time to hit the sack -- Dixie is giving me the "Mommy, I'm tired, lets go to bed" look and I can't ignore her any longer or she is liable to go to bed without me.  :^)

I am so Blessed!

Going to be a short post today -- I have lots to do and not enough time to do it.

Yesterday was a wonderful day. I spent the morning working the front desk and visiting with patients. I made my trip to Wal-Mart over lunch -- That was unpleasant! I only had an hour to get everything I needed so I was very rushed, and I still managed to spend $75 dollars, which isn't really terrible considering how much I had to get, but holy moly, that place takes your money hand over fist. My afternoon was completely booked solid, so that was super fantastic! I love having a full schedule!

After work, (We even got done early, and it wasn't dark yet when I got off -- YES!) Tim and I made dinner and watched a movie. It was a very nice night in. Salt is a strange movie -- I'm not really sure what I think about it, but it was okay I guess. I wouldn't buy it, but it was fine to watch. Dixie and Chuck got in MAJOR, BIG trouble last night when they pulled the steaks off the counter that Tim had spent an hour making. I'm sure they knew it was wrong, but just couldn't resist them. They were yummy after all (We cleaned them off before we ate them, of course).

This morning, I had to contend with Chuck in the shower as usual. He got wetter than normal though cause he LAID DOWN in the water! What a dork! Hands down, that cat ain't right! I couldn't resist taking some pictures of him -- They aren't the best quality, because I have no idea where Tim put our camera, so I had to use my phone, which is designed to be Glenna-proof, not take good pictures.

Soggy Kitty 

I'm Gonna Get the Soap! 

HI MOM!

I sure do love my life! Today, I have been busy in the office (I'm on my lunch break now). Mary Sue's mother just scared the living daylights out of me, but she is so dang cute I don't even care! We have a staff meeting at 1:00, then I have four massages this afternoon! Another GREAT day -- I am very blessed; I get a lot of great days. Tim is home again tonight -- Making pork chops for supper! Woo Hoo! I can't wait!  :^D

Chuck, the Mouse Slayer

There is nothing in this world better than curling up on the couch after a long, satisfying day -- Nothing beats it! Tuesdays and Thursdays are my favorite days of the work week. There are no patients in the office in the mornings on those days, which gives me time to work on projects. The over-achiever in me loves projects. Today, my project was to organize the cannula's and get rid of the ones that belong to patients that haven't been in for a while. It turned out to be quite a job and took me most of the morning to get done -- But I honestly enjoyed every minute of it. Sad, but true -- I love having things to work on. I'm very much looking forward to Thursday when I get to start cleaning out the filing cabinets.

At our staff meeting today, we talked about things going on in the office and what needs to be done better. I sure hope everyone listened. In addition to a great morning, I had a solid afternoon as well. My massage schedule was pretty lacking early in the day, but I was able to call some of my patients that hadn't been in for a while and fill in a couple gaps. I wound up with 3 out of 4 possible massages -- Not bad at all. I always try to keep a mental list of people needing to get in, so that when I have a slow day I can call them and fill up the empty spots. It works great for both of us. They get an appointment on short notice, and I have a full schedule.

Sammie and I decided that Mexican sounded REALLY good, so we made a trip to Mi Pueblo after work for Mexican and Strawberry Daiquiri's. God, it was fantastic! We always eat entirely too much food, but it's so delicious, you just can't stop. I have a ton of leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I love, love, love my time with Sammie. She is one of my dearest friends. When we go out, we usually talk for a couple hours -- I couldn't ask for a better friend or co-worker! The worst thing about eating out is always the drive home afterwards -- You just can't get comfortable, and 25 miles is a long way to be that miserable. First thing I did when I got home?? Let Dixie out of her kennel (She is doing so much better in it; much less freaking out when she is left by herself). The second thing?? Put on my favorite sweatpants, which happen to be Tim's -- Ahhhhh, so much better!

Our Drinks! Don't they look yummy! I stole this picture from Sammie, but I don't think she will mind.

Now, I'm sitting on the couch and not planning on moving til bedtime. The only productive thing I did when I got home was clean Chuck's litter box -- I swear I have never met a cat who poops as much as he does. And it never fails -- He always USES the litter box WHILE I'm trying to clean it. It's so irritating!! I have to stop cleaning so he can finish his business; like he couldn't wait 30 seconds for me to be done. UGH! He is by far the strangest cat I have EVER seen. He loves water (we had shower time again this morning, and he went fishing in the bathroom sink while I was brushing my teeth). He beats up on the dog (But, they sleep together -- Now, that's a love / hate relationship). And, he chases his tail. The only real cat-like thing he does is catch mice. Incidentally, he does that very well; there was a headless mouse skeleton in the basement when I was down there earlier. I bet that was a slow, agonizing death. I guess I can stand the weirdness if he keeps the mice out of the house. Dirty little things! I wonder if the mice have a perimeter set up around the house -- Do they tell each other, "Don't go to that house. The devil lives there, and he will torture you then eat you!"? He could be a super-hero -- Chuck, the Mouse Slayer.

I really needed to go to Wal-Mart after work tonight, but I chickened out -- I can do it tomorrow on my lunch break. The thought of ruining such a good day with a trip to Wal-Mart was too much to bear. If I can, I will always put off that job until the next day. It is my LEAST favorite place to go -- Truly an awful chore.

Time for bed I think -- Or at least, time to lay in bed, trying to sleep, while Dixie and Chuck have their own version of a demo derby on our bed. It's ridiculous! Why do they have to be such night owls? Maybe I will read for a little while. That sounds like a very good idea. Don't mind if I do. The book I am reading (Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon) just keeps getting better and better! Tomorrow is going to be another good day!  :^D

"Bye Bye Mommy Doggy"

TALKED TO DWAIN TONIGHT!!! He is coming HOME March 10th! Yes!!! This is one happy sister!

Sorry for not posting anything the last couple days -- It was a busy weekend. Saturday, we went down to Warrick County to visit with Tim's family. We spent almost all day Saturday watching Season One of Top Shot. Saturday night, Tim's aunt and uncle came to visit with their little boy Jaxson. Jax is terrified of dogs, so Dixie was a little scary for him, but he warmed up to her. He kept calling her "Mommy Doggy," he even told her bye when they left. "Bye Bye Mommy Doggy." Soooo cute!

Early Sunday morning, Tim and I went coyote hunting. We saw a skunk (that was scary), and a coyote, but he was too far away to shoot and he skirted around us so I never got a shot at him. Maybe next time. Sunday night, we went to a Superbowl Party for a little while, then Tim went coyote hunting again while I finished watching the game (and the commercials, they are the best part). Tim's dad Randy helped me file my taxes -- I can't wait to get my refund check! I'm seriously considering buying an elliptical to have to work out on at home. I think that would be a nice investment in my health -- I know that I need the exercise!

Mondays are my easiest day of the week -- I made it that way on purpose. I slept in with Tim today, then we had a bite to eat for lunch. I had to be at work at 2:00, where I had a full schedule of 4 massages. I helped Sammie close up the End of Day, then we headed home. Who could ask for a better Monday? I went to Mom's this evening to get a couple loads of laundry done. Dwain called and we talked to him for about an hour and a half. He cut his leg this week while doing his parachuting stuff, but he is okay. They didn't even half to use stitches to fix him back up. He told us some of the things that he has been doing. It was GREAT to talk to him! I sure have missed his voice. The best part is that he is going to have some days off where he can come home in March. His deployment date is March 30th, so it will be good to see him before he goes. March 10th, Hurry Up PLEASE!

Now, I think it's time for bed. I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow, but I am looking forward to it. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my favorite work days. I love having the mornings free to get things accomplished.

Wow, I hope Dix and Chuck calm down soon, or I may never get to sleep. You would think they hadn't seen each other in weeks. They are chasing each other and rough housing all over the living room -- Holy Moly, I hope our house is sturdy enough to handle this! We took Dixie's stitches out tonight -- She is officially healed from her surgery. Just waiting on her hair to grow back in now.   :^)

What a Turd!

The last two days have been quite exhausting. Yesterday, I was at work for TEN hours straight! My morning was spent at the front desk. I gave the ferns a haircut, did the filing and laundry, made Blue Folders for our new patients, and created an insurance verification form for Jessica, among other things.

My co-workers at the office give me a hard time because I love to make signs and forms. I don't know why I enjoy it so much, but I think that if I ever went back to school it would be for some sort of graphic design thing. It just comes naturally for me and I love making things work on paper. I know it's weird, but -- In a sort of over-achiever way, I feel like its a good trait to have.

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. In the past, I have left the office for my lunch hour and gone either to the park or ran errands. The cold weather makes this miserable though, so lately I have been staying at the office and eating my lunch there. I don't really mind too much -- My Kindle makes it very nice actually. After lunch, we had one of our two weekly staff meetings, where we talked about some of the important things that go on in our office. It's nice to have those meetings every week -- It keeps everyone on the same page as far as office policies and procedures are concerned. Yesterday, I had a full massage schedule in the afternoon. Four massages later, it was time to head for home (after helping Mary Sue close up the office). I'm so glad that Spring is almost here! Yesterday was the first day in forever that I made it home from work before it got completely dark outside. I love those days! Come on Spring! Hurry up!

Once I made it home, I got something quick for supper and settled onto the couch to watch a movie. Good Burger was on ABC Family and I can't resist watching that movie whenever it's on. So classic! I wound up falling asleep though so I didn't get anything posted last night -- Sorry, fire me! I put Dixie in her kennel and went to bed. We have been trying to kennel break her again, but it's going to be a long, slow process. She does fine at night though, so I slept like an angel.

This morning, my schedule at work was completely booked. On Fridays, I do massages in the morning then I'm done for the day. After a busy day at the massage table, I spent about an hour helping Jessica in the office. I do love that girl! She and I have become such good friends. At 2:00, I had an appointment to get my hair cut at Hair by Holly. She does such a great job on my hair! My ends really needed a trim, but they are nice and smooth now! Nothing like a great haircut to make your day!

My plans for the rest of the day?? I have no idea at all. Tim is sleeping right now, but I will wake him up in a little while. We are free for the weekend, so there is no limit to the number of things that we may get into. The limbs in the driveway need picked up (thanks to the ice this week, I think we have more trees laying on the ground than still standing), but they will probably stay on the ground until the weather warms up a little -- It's just too cold outside for anything but the most necessary tasks. Yes, coyote hunting qualifies as a necessary activity -- I'm hoping to get rid of a few coyotes this weekend. There are just too many of them out there.

Dwain is going to have a great weekend -- he won't have any cell signal this weekend, because he is going to be PARACHUTING! What a turd! HOW COOL IS THAT? I'm a little jealous, I think. Not sure that I would like parachuting, but it would be fun to try one time. Maybe, someday I will be brave enough.

I think that this post is long enough. I am rambling now, and I need to do something more productive that stare at a computer screen. Until next time...   :^D

Over-Grown Rodent Predicting the Weather Day

It's late and I'm tired -- That means that this post will be short and sweet.

Today was a very good day! I got to the office this morning at 8:00 and took care of the front desk til noon. After lunch, I had 5 massages to do. Talk about a busy day. Simple, but very satisfying. I love my work!

In the words of one of my beloved friends, the weather was craptastic today. This translates to "It snowed." Big, beautiful snowflakes fell all day today. They never really added up to much, but it was colder than a well digger's ass on account of the wind. I like to call it a "lazy wind", because it's too lazy to go around you, so it just goes through you. Brr! The temp is supposed to get down to 12 degrees tonight!

Today was Over-Grown Rodent Predicting the Weather Day, otherwise known as Groundhog Day. Why in the world we rely on an oversized rodent to predict the arrival of Spring, I have no idea. Actually, it's some pagan holiday thing, but it makes no sense to me. This year is one of only 16 times in the 125 year history of Groundhog Day that the groundhog says Spring is coming early -- You're not going to hear me knocking him too much though; I'm ready for April. Someone even told me that they had seen robins already! Spring must be just around the corner, which is a good thing considering the Winter we have had.

I can't think of much else to write about tonight. I'm sure there is more, but I am having a brain-fart about it right now. I'm hoping to hear from Dwain sometime tonight -- That would be a nice ending to the day! For now, I'm headed to bed. I'm still playing catch-up from when I was sick and I just can't seem to get enough sleep. Good night! Sand Man, here I come!   :^)

Ice, Ice, Baby

The ice missed us last night -- Too bad it decided to rain all day, so now that it's cold, it's slicker than goose crap outside. We have limbs all over the yard because they are too heavy for the trees to support. Not sure what it's going to be like trying to get to work in the morning -- Gonna be fun I bet. Good Lord, I hope it doesn't snow too.

I made something different for supper tonight -- Mexican Chicken Casserole. I got the recipe from one of my massage clients from the office. She was telling me about it, so I decided to make it. Nothing wrong with trying new things -- I get so bored eating the same thing sometimes. It turned out really well! I thought it was very tasty and it was really easy to make. My kind of meal! There are leftovers for lunch tomorrow, which will be a welcome relief from my usual ham and cheese.

Today was exhausting. It was my first day back since being sick, but I only had problems with my sinuses. The spearmint aromatherapy is my massage room helped immensely. I made a trip to Wal-Mart on my lunch break to pick up a couple things -- Just in case I get snowed in tomorrow. I also bought a humidifier to make the air better for us to breathe (stupid propane heat makes it really dry in our house). Not a bad day, but tiring.

I would like to apologize for the boring-ness of my posts the last few days. Being sick has made me feel very un-inspired. I hope to do better in the future. I am very ready for my nice soft bed now. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I look forward to it regardless.  :^)