That's a LOT of Sand!

I TALKED TO DWAIN TODAY!!! What a perfect Saturday! Tim and I have been laying around most of the day, but I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday. I got a call from an "Unavailable" number this morning, which I didn't answer because I didn't know who would be calling me. Turns out, it was Dwain! Dangit! I wish I could go back in time and answer that call. Oh well, I chatted with him on Facebook, and I know that he talked to Mom and Dad for quite a while. There is nothing better! He is back at the main base over there, which has internet access. Haven't heard much, but I would expect that he is doing fine. He says that he has gotten all 51 Care Packages now, minus a few who have gotten lost along the way. He thinks that they will find him eventually. Let's keep them coming! He says "THANK YOU" for all the packages. I bet it must be like Christmas to get a Care Package from home. He also posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook of his travels so far -- Let me tell you what, that's a LOT of sand. It is so good to hear from him -- Totally makes your day, that's for sure.

This is one of the pictures he uploaded to Facebook -- So serious

Yesterday was also a pretty great day. Fridays are always my favorite day of the week because they are a half day at the office for me, I get to wear jeans to work, and obviously, they are the last day of the work week. I had another full day of massages, but I was done at the office and headed home by about 2:00. I always have to stick around a little while to visit with Sammie, and I had Pete give me an adjustment before I left. One of the best things about working in a chiropractic office is that I can get adjusted anytime I feel like I need it, which has been pretty often here lately because I've been so busy.

I went home through Cannelburg so that I could stop at the processing plant to pick up our beef. Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Marvin gave us a quarter of beef, so we only had to pay the processing fee and we got all the beef that Tim and I will use in a year. It's so great to be a farm girl, and to have beef farmers for grandparents. I hurried home because Mike from Hamilton's Water was coming to the house. We are getting a water softener put in on Monday! YAY! No more rusty, orange water! I will be able to do laundry. I will be able to take a shower without worrying about my hair turning orange. I will save a ton of money because I won't have to use a bottle a week of The Works to keep everything clean. I can't wait! We are basically renting to own, so it won't break our bank account to get a really nice one, but it will be ours to take with us if we move or buy a house of our own in the future. I am really happy about this, to say the least. After Mike from Hamilton's left (we chatted for a bit while he was here -- He really liked Dixie), I cleaned out the freezer and put the new beef in there. It's good to have a full freezer again. We should be set for a while, and you can't believe how much it helps out on groceries.

Tim and I decided to go fishing for some Bluegill again last night. We wound up talking to Grandma Teddi for quite a while, but we still caught about 30 or so fish before it got dark. That was plenty to get our bait tank all stocked up. We took the boat out to get to the other side of the pond, but it also kept us out of the chiggers, which I really appreciated. I am just now getting over the last set of chigger bites that I got when we went fishing at Grandma's. I made spaghetti and breadsticks for dinner -- The spaghetti was really delicious, but I burned the breadsticks in the oven. I got distracted and forgot to take them out of the oven. Oh well, the spaghetti was good. I fell asleep while watching The Dilemma, but Tim said it wasn't worth watching so I'm not too torn up about it. Finally crawling into bed was a great ending to a great day.

Now, we haven't done much of anything at all today -- Besides talk to Dwain (YAY!) and I gave Tim a massage (He said he was sore, and I can fix that). Our original plan was to go to Tim's Uncle Randy's tonight for the Poverty Ranch First Annual Mudbug and Gumbo Getaway, which is a seafood cookout and music fest, but it's a long drive and it looks like rain (70% chance of precipitation). Not a good recipe for an outdoor cookout. I think we are going to wait on the rain to pass, then go fishing for a little bit, but I'm not totally sure on that. Tim is napping right now, so I'll know more when he wakes up. I think I'll sick Dixie on him here in a minute. She likes waking Daddy up with wet, slobbery, puppy kisses. And Daddy can't get mad and grumpy when she wakes him up -- Totally different story if Mommy tries to wake Daddy up.

I feel so blessed to have such a great life. I have wonderful friends, the best family, and a man who loves me even when I burn supper in the oven (which happens often, but I'm getting better). I have excellent pets (I love Dixie and Chuck) and a great job. I can't imagine a better life! I have never been so happy. Once I get Dwain home, there is not a thing in the world that I would change. Now, I am going to enjoy the NCIS marathon that is on TV, then wake Tim up so we can go fishing. I hope you all have a great weekend!    :^)

Operation Saheeb -- Two Months, Two Weeks

For those of you who don't have Facebook, here are some of the pictures of Dwain's Afghanistan Adventure -- or as he calls it, ASScrackistan. He still has his sense of humor, that's for sure.

CAMELS! -- I love camels!

Sweet Helmet Head Little Brother! 

 Those are some nice tan lines too -- Or are you just dirty??

 A sandstorm -- Can you even imagine what that would be like?

Dwain said his name was "Sonic" -- God, I love my brother!

No -- I Did NOT Grab A Gun

I hit the snooze button this morning, but it didn't really help me much. I felt like a zombie when I finally made it to work. That's what happens when you stay up until almost midnight the night before to write on your blog -- Self Inflicted Sleep Deprivation, that's what that is. Not the smartest thing I have ever done, but I really do love blogging. Even though I was tired as all get out, my morning at the office was great! Dr. Pete and I saw a pretty steady stream of patients -- We call it the "Pete and Glenna Show." I managed to get quite a lot accomplished even though we were busy. I worked on the filing project for most of the morning, which I'm really behind on. I also got a lot of paperwork done and watered the ferns. I went to the park to eat my lunch today because the weather was beautiful. It was nice and cool with a good breeze. Perfect park weather. With my sandwich and my Kindle, I was in heaven. I spent a very enjoyable hour at the park, but then I had to head back to the office to start on my massages for the afternoon. I had a full schedule again today, but they were all my favorite clients, so time went really quickly. Today was also Randi's first day back, but I was so busy that I didn't really get to visit with her very much. It will be good to have her back though -- I was starting to get worried about burning myself out. Don't get me wrong, I love working and I love my job, but there is such a thing as over-doing it. I'll be glad to just focus on my regulars again.

Once I finished up my day, I made a quick trip to Wendy's to grab Tim a bite of supper. He almost took the last of Sammie's Strawberry Cheesecake with him, but he didn't want to share it, so it came home with me. He can eat it tomorrow when he gets home from work and CPR class. I would feel really bad if he didn't get a piece because it was SO GOOD! Thank you again Sammie for my birthday cheesecake. I have really, really enjoyed it. I am babysitting Mom's dog Annie tonight while Mom and Dad are at a tractor pull somewhere in Kentucky (I think they are in Kentucky). I spent entirely too much time messing with Mom's nubby tailed kittens tonight while I was feeding the dogs and rabbits, but I got some really cute pictures and videos of them to share at the end of tonight's post. Now, I have eaten my supper, and I'm almost done blogging for the night. I have GOT to go to bed earlier than I did last night. I have a busy day tomorrow. I start my day at 8:00 with five massages back-to-back, then I have to go home through Cannelburg to pick up the quarter of beef that Grandma and Grandpa gave us. That will fill our freezer back up! I also have Hamilton's Water coming to the house tomorrow afternoon to test our water. We are going to see about renting a water softener to clean up our rusty water. Let's hope that they can help us out. Who knows what Tim and I might get into for the rest of the weekend. We are going to Poverty Ranch (Tim's Uncle Randy's farm in Tennyson) for a cookout and some great music on Saturday night. It should be a really great time! Other than that, I think we will be winging it as far as weekend plans go. You never know what we will come up with. Anyway, I hope you all have a great Friday! Good night!  :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Two Months, One Week, Five Days

P.S. -- I love Chuck! He just killed the mouse that has been running around my kitchen and crapping on my counter. I have had mouse traps out all week trying to get him (actually, it turned out the mouse was female). As I was sitting here blogging, I heard a sudden crash in the kitchen and a VERY high pitched shrieking sound. I ran into the kitchen to find Chuck with the mouse in his mouth, but it was still alive. The idiot turned it loose in the middle of the kitchen floor! I did what any farm girl would do (No -- I did NOT grab a gun). I grabbed one of Tim's cowboy boots, put my hand inside it, and went mouse hunting. I had to chase the mouse (and Chuck) around the kitchen a little bit -- he even went behind the tan couch in the living room -- but I was finally able to kill it. Nothing like a good whack with the heel of a cowboy boot to knock a mouse unconscious. I threw the mouse outside -- Chuck went out too, of course -- Then called Tim to tell him what had happened. I bet he is laughing at me with everyone at work right now, but those stories are too good not to tell. That cat is worth his weight in gold! Anyone need a mouse caught? I'll rent him to you for cheap lol!

Let the pictures (and videos) begin! These first ones are from last week. They are a little late, but I just found them on my camera

The I-69 overpass is almost finished just south of North Daviess High School 

Dixie riding "shotgun" with me Friday night for our Care Package Adventure

She got tired on the way to the office 

I LOVE this dog!

Now it's time for the pictures from tonight -- Bring on the pictures of nubby-tailed kitties!

Rufus -- I caught him off guard as he was running to attack his sisters

The little tabby kitten's name is Millie -- She's attacking the bag of wood chips 

Rufus again -- With Grippo in the background

 Millie -- She's the friendliest one of the three -- and ADORABLE!

Marley is attacking Mom's scissors 

All three kittens were chasing Marley's tail tonight -- Only one tail for three kittens to chase = Hilarious!

Millie is serious about getting that bag of wood chips

Let's do some videos -- Sorry, I always sound like an idiot; especially if I'm talking to a dog

Video #1 -- Kitties playing in the barn

 Video #2 -- Maggy being bothered by Dixie

Ok, More Pictures of Kitties!

  

Marley was ricocheting all over the front of the barn

Millie being a turd! 

Rufus stalking Marley -- Sibling love! 

Marley attacking Millie -- There was lots of attacking going on this evening 

Momma Kitty (Skink) just chilling -- Watching her babies be goofy!

Millie, being Millie

Why Do Bugs Like to Eat Me?

Well, what do ya know? I'm behind on blogging again -- Ugh, why do I have to be so dang busy all the time. My last post was Thursday, so let's try to get caught up a little bit, shall we?

Thursday night was pretty uneventful. I got home from work and helped Tim get his boat ready to go out on the river with Scott. They spent the entire night out there, but they did catch a couple nice fish, so it was a good night. I cooked myself a pizza, then spent the evening absorbed in my book. It was a good night!

Friday was a sad day. My dear friend Samantha lost her grandmother on Friday. She had been fighting a battle against Alzheimer's for quite some time, and it's never an easy thing to say goodbye to someone you love so very much. My thoughts and prayers have been with Sammie and her family this past weekend. I love Sammie with all my heart and it makes me sad to watch someone I care so much about go through such a loss. There is nothing in the world like a grandma -- It makes me infinitely thankful that I still have both of my own grandmothers. I love them both so much!

Friday at the office was a good day. I had five massages in the morning, but they didn't start until 9:00 so I got to sleep in an hour. Sleeping in is the perfect way to start a day -- especially a Friday! One of my massages got her time mixed up, but it all worked out in the end. I was able to work on Mary Sue for a little while in the open hour slot. It's always a good thing when we can work on each other at the office. It keeps us sane. After work, I headed home to spend a little time with Tim before he had to go to work. I always try to take advantage of any time that we get to spend together.

After Tim went to work for the evening, I headed back to the office. We had a lot of people who brought in items to send to Dwain and his unit last week, but I didn't have time to get them all ready to ship. I wound up spending the entire evening packaging and printing labels, but I was able to get a dozen more Care Packages ready to ship out the next day. Dixie came with me to the office. She had to explore everything and check out all the new smells, but then she stood guard over the door and barked at everyone who walked by. Heaven help anyone who had tried to come in and get me. Friday was also Dwain's birthday, so I made up a special "Birthday" Care Package just for him. I had a blast buying bouncy balls and other fun kid stuff to send him. I wanted to send him things that would entertain bored Marines -- I think that I did pretty good. I think that all those Care Packages will go over really well once he finally gets them. I am still just blown away by how great our community is. Once I finally made it home, I crashed! It was a long day!

Shopping for Dwain's Birthday in the Kid's Aisle  

Dixie and the Care Packages I got ready on Friday night -- She's such a good girl!

Saturday morning, Tim and I watched Unstoppable, which was a pretty good movie. I took Dwain's Care Packages to the Post Office -- We are up to 51 total now!!! Isn't that AWESOME! I sure think so. Mom and I had a Mother-Daughter day on Saturday. We went to Classy Nails in Vincennes for manicures and pedicures. You just gotta love spending time with Momma! There is nothing better! We made a trip to Wal-Mart before heading home, and I picked up Subway for Tim's dinner while I was there. I spent the rest of the evening reading on my Kindle -- Tim, thank you again for my Kindle; I LOVE it! -- My book is almost too good to put down. I didn't want to go to bed because I would have had to stop reading. But my body was telling me that I really needed sleep, so I listened to it and went to bed like a good girl.

Sunday was another lazy day. I gave Tim his Father's Day gift when he got home from work that morning -- It was from Dixie and Chuck; not a hint that he is going to be a Daddy anytime soon -- Don't panic! They got him Season One and Two of River Monsters, which was a home run as far as I could tell. They must know their Daddy pretty well. About the only other thing that I did besides read and be lazy was do some laundry. I just couldn't get motivated to do anything productive. I had one heck of a busy week though, so I think that I deserved a lazy day. Tim was working again Sunday night, so I went up to Mom and Dad's to celebrate Father's Day. I love my Daddy! He is the best! Without him, I wouldn't have turned out to be the way I am. He and Mom taught me how to be a good person, and I will be forever grateful that they taught me those valuable lessons. They made several sacrifices to be able to raise Dwain and me the way they did. I love you, Mom and Dad, with all my heart. Sunday night, I took Dad his Father's Day cards (one from me; one from Dwain) and we watched True Grit, which was Dad's gift for Father's Day. It was a great evening!

Monday was my BIRTHDAY -- And it was a FABULOUS day! I only worked from 1:00 to 6:00, so I had a lazy-ish morning laying around the house with Tim. I volunteered to help get the Bowling Chiropractic booth set up at the Daviess County Fair Monday morning, but that only took about a half hour. I got ready to go to work, but work on Monday was great too! I had a full schedule of massages, and I got lots of "Happy Birthday" wishes. My phone never stopped buzzing at me to let me know that someone had written on my Facebook wall. I love my friends and family -- What would we do without our loved ones? My fantastic co-workers got me a really nice card, and one of my regular massage clients even got me a birthday card and a really pretty bracelet for my birthday. Thanks Jennifer! After work, I headed home so that Tim could take me fishing for my birthday. Does that man know me or what? I had so much fun! The Bluegill were biting like crazy, which is great for me because I have ADD when it comes to fishing. If they ain't biting, I'll be bored to tears. But that wasn't the case Monday! Tim and I usually keep track of who catches the most fish -- It's a game of ours -- But he didn't stand a chance of catching up with me. I bet I caught at least thirty fish in just an hour or so. Like I said, it was the best birthday! After we got home, Tim grilled T-Bone Steaks for dinner, while I made Mom's Potatoes (which are cubed potatoes, olive oil, and onion soup mix that is baked in a pan in the oven -- Yummy). It was delicious and the perfect ending to the perfect birthday!

It's a little blurry, but here is my Birthday Dinner -- Tim is the BEST cook!

Yesterday (Hooray! -- We are on Tuesday now) was an exceptionally great day. The only dark spot on my day was that I woke up with about a dozen chigger bites from the fishing trip the night before. They are evil, disgusting little things. I don't know why bugs like me so stinking much, but I really wish that I tasted worse to them or something. It's really annoying that Tim and I were fishing side by side and I got bit and he didn't. So not fair! They itch SO bad! I put some medicine on them though (and clear fingernail polish to suffocate the little demons) so I felt much better before too long. I had to be at work by 8:00, but my morning went really well. I was able to get a lot of work done, and I even had time to run several errands on my lunch break. I had planned on going to the park after getting my errands done to do a little reading, but it was entirely too hot and muggy to sit in my car, so I went back to the office and gave Mary Sue a massage. I might as well make some money if I can, right? The rest of my afternoon was filled up too, so I had a busy day, but it went very quickly and before I knew it I was headed home. 

Birthday card from one of my regulars -- His little butt moves! How cute is that?!

Tim and I decided to catch a movie last night, but we didn't leave the house in time to make it to the 7:30 show (we were coming into town at 7:35, and that's just cutting it too close), so we decided to get something to eat and kill some time then just watch the late showing at 10:30. First, we went to Rural King to get a bait fish tank so that our bait doesn't die before we use it to catch a big ol' catfish. We could have probably spent more time at Rural King, but that usually means that we spend more money, so we left. After Rural King, we went all the way across town to Wal-Mart so that we could get more bait tank supplies (water filter, which we forgot, and an aerator, etc). We had to have an employee come unlock the air supply tubing in the fish section so that we could get it off the shelf. I guess it is used to make meth, so they lock it to keep people from stealing it. That was inconvenient, because I had to pay for it separately and that's a total waste of my time. Do I really look like I cook meth? Really? Anyway, once we finally made it out of Wal-Mart, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. I really like B-Dub's, and we even had a gift card left over from Christmas, so our entire meal actually cost us $3.54. Not that I'm a cheap date, but -- I'm a cheap date. I love saving money! I was really upset on Monday when I got my first edition of the Evansville Courier Sunday Edition (I took out a subscription last week). I ordered it so that I could clip the coupons out of it, but there weren't any dang coupons in it! Not cool Evansville Courier, not cool. I better get coupons next week, or I'm gonna be calling someone to speak my mind. Ok, well, I went off on a tangent there -- Let's get back to last night. Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, B-Dubs. Dinner was delicious (and dirt cheap), and we were ready to watch our movie. The Hangover: Part II was not quite as good as the original, but it was still one heck of a good movie. We were cracking up the entire time. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a good laugh. The movie ended, and we were headed home. I don't even remember getting out of Vincennes before I fell asleep. We made a detour up to Mom and Dad's to pick up our four-legged daughter (Dixie) then hit the hay. I'm getting too old to stay up all night like that.

I was pretty upset with my alarm clock this morning. Five hours is just not enough sleep for me to function properly, so I was dragging butt for most of the day today. The morning schedule was really busy. There were patients coming in and out in a very steady stream. I like being busy at the front desk though, because it makes time fly by. I couldn't believe how quickly my lunch break came around. I took my lunch to the park to eat (and I read on my book a bit). It was a little warm, but not too bad in the shade with a breeze blowing. I took a quick power nap as well, and felt good as new for the afternoon. My chigger bites are still really itchy and swollen, but I'm hoping that they are better by tomorrow. My massage schedule this afternoon fell apart on me, but honestly, it was kinda nice to have a slow day. It gave me more time to enjoy the DELICIOUS Strawberry Cheesecake that Samantha made me for my birthday. What a great friend -- And her cooking skills aren't too shabby either. The afternoon passed pretty quickly. I was really looking forward to volleyball open gym tonight because I skipped it on Monday -- My birthday, remember? We worked on hitting quite a lot. I broke down the footwork for the girls to work on. It is better to work on the basics, I think. Most of the girls are younger -- We can't get the older girls to give up a couple hours of their summer vacation to play volleyball. Oh well, their loss. I had a lot of fun, once again, but I was really glad to get home and take a nice, hot shower. I have been watching the History Channel and blogging ever since. I made a quick supper, which means that my belly is full and I'm just about ready for bed. I am glad that the weekend is just a couple days away. I have had one heck of a busy week, and it's only Wednesday! Thank goodness, Randi is coming back to work tomorrow so I won't have to do ALL the massages anymore. I like what it does for my paycheck, but I have been running on "Empty" for a while now. I'll be ready for it to slow down a little bit. We haven't heard from Dwain in several days, but I'm sure that he is very busy and my philosophy is "No news is good news." I wouldn't mind an email though. I just like to stay up to date on how he is doing. I can't tell you how much I miss that boy! I am BEYOND ready to have him home again! Alright, I think it's time for bed now. I have a busy day again tomorrow, and I have already stayed up later than I wanted to. Blogging is just so darn addictive. Have a good Thursday everyone! Good night!   :^)

Operation Saheeb -- Two Months, One Week, Four Days

Delicious! -- Thank you, beautiful Sammie, for the birthday Cheesecake!

Queen of the Court

I didn't get to post anything last night (not enough hours in my day), but I thought I would get a quick post in today on my lunch break. I really should be running to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple things, but blogging is much more fun.

Yesterday was another busy day at the office. Our morning schedule was pretty booked up with patients to see Dr. Pete, so I spent a lot of the morning checking patients in and out and chatting with them. I really miss getting to spend time interacting with our patients. Now that my massage schedule is so full, I have less time to spend at the front desk in the afternoons when we are busiest, so I don't get to visit with as many people. Those of you who know me know that I love to talk. Maybe I should have gone to school for something related to that -- Nah, who am I kidding; I couldn't have picked a better career! I still managed to get quite a lot done yesterday morning while I was working. We are going to have a booth at the Daviess County Fair next week, so I spent some time getting things organized for that. I also washed part of the laundry we have to do at the office -- We use a LOT of massage sheets and gowns. Laundry is one of those never-ending jobs that you can never seem to get ahead on.

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I didn't bring anything from home, so I went to Wendy's for lunch then went to the park to read my book. I finished Dragonfly in Amber Tuesday night so I'm reading Voyager, which is the third book in the Outlander series. I just can't tell you enough how much I am in love with this series. It will get you hook, line, and sinker, and you won't want to put it down. I spent my entire lunch break reading, but before too long it was time to head back to the office. I had a full afternoon of massages ahead of me, which was great, but doing five massages three days in a row will wear you out. Randi is still gone, and let me tell you what, I am B.U.S.Y! It's awesome for my paycheck though -- And man, do I love getting paid. I have nine more hours of massage to do this week, which will make it my busiest week ever for massages. I guess you could call that job security.

After work on Wednesdays, I hurry to North Daviess to help coach at the volleyball open gym. I love it so much and have a blast! I love coaching and I get to spend a lot of the time playing, which is even better. I have missed volleyball more than you can imagine. It was a huge part of my life for nine years, and quitting cold turkey was really hard. I am so thankful to be able to be a part of the game again. I hope that what I have learned over the years will help the younger girls become stronger players. We worked on hitting quite a bit last night, then worked in some scrimmage time and Queen of the Court (three on three). Queen of the Court is one of my favorite volleyball things. The three "old ladies" that are helping to coach (Becca, Audra, and I) were on the same team, and we weren't too shabby! We don't always move like we used to, but it's still fun. I even stayed after open gym for a little while to work with a couple of the girls one on one.

Once I made it home and got a quick shower (I was a little sweaty), Tim and I made a quick trip to Mom and Dad's. We didn't stay long, but it's always nice to visit with them. I seriously have the world's best parents! Tim and I made a quick dinner, which was delicious, then watched a little TV before heading to bed. It was a very good day! I love having Tim home for the evenings. It makes my day when he is off work.

I had a pretty crazy morning here at the office, but I survived. There was a constant flow of patients, and the phone never stopped ringing. I am looking forward to the afternoon. I have only got three and a half massages, which isn't a full schedule, but with the week (well, month, really) I've had, it will be nice to have a little slower day. I don't want to burn myself out. I am really looking forward to the weekend -- And Monday is my BIRTHDAY!!! I can't wait! Sammie said she is making me a Strawberry Cheesecake and that makes me start to drool. I LOVE that girl!!! Anyway, I'm going to sign off for now. I need to go eat my lunch, and I think I might read a little bit. I really wanted to get some more Care Packages sent off today, but I ran out of time. I will be sending a BUNCH of them tomorrow! Tomorrow is also Dwain's 22nd Birthday. If anyone would like to send him a "Happy Birthday" email, they can send it to jolliff55@gmail.com. I know he would love hearing from you all! Think about how bad it must be to spend your birthday in Afghanistan. Not cool, huh? Alright, until next time then. I hope you all have a great day!   :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Two Months, Five Days

18 and a Half Pounds of Soap!

What a crazy day. Tuesdays are usually very good days, but today was just awesome. I didn't actually get much work done at the office this morning (Sorry Dr. Bowling) because the phone rang every 30 seconds and three different people walked in wanting to be seen by the doctors. The only problem is that I'm the only person at the office on Tuesday mornings -- So they had to come back later. I also got four more Care Packages ready to take to the Post Office for Dwain. Getting those Care Packages ready is like playing Tetris. You kind of cram whatever fits in each box the best so that they are packed tightly to keep them from moving around during the journey to Afghanistan. Today, one whole box was filled with nothing but hotel soap bars that someone donated. That was the easiest customs form I have ever filled out. What is in your shipment? 18 and a half pounds of soap! Haha, now that's pretty dang funny.

Typically, I only do four massages on Tuesdays, but we didn't have a staff meeting today so I was able to get someone off the waiting list and in the books. Sammie also came back to work this afternoon and I was so glad to see her face. I'm glad that she had a great time this past weekend, but I really missed that girl. We made a much-needed trip to Mi Pueblo after work today for some Mexican food and adult beverages -- DELICIOUS! I sure do love our dinner dates. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, better than spending time with good friends. I am so very blessed to have my girls in my life. Sometimes you just need to go make yourself sick eating too much Mexican and have a good time complaining about the sucky things in life.

After finishing up at Mi Pueblo, I took Tim my leftovers for his supper -- He was very grateful, and hungry -- then I headed to the Jay-C Store to get some groceries for the house. I didn't have to get much, but we needed milk and bread and a few other things. I wound up getting WAY more than I had originally planned, but they had a LOT of stuff on sale, so I stocked up a bit. Nothing too over the top, but we won't have to buy cokes anytime soon.

Now, I've got the groceries put away and I'm just about ready to call it a night. I want to finish this post then read the rest of my book. I've only got 3% left according to my Kindle, and I really, really want to get it finished. It's so good! The book is called Dragonfly in Amber. It's the second book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon that I started reading earlier this year. I got out of the habit of reading earlier this Spring, but I picked it back up a few days ago -- And I'm totally hooked again! I have missed reading. It's such a great way to unwind, and that is something that I really need to work on. My mind just won't shut off most of the time, so it's really nice to lose myself in someone else's story. And Dragonfly in Amber is one heck of a story. One of my favorite books of all time! I can't wait to start Voyager, which is the third book in the series. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good love story.

Before I call it a night, I told you all that I would upload pictures of the kittens. I have a couple other pictures thrown in there too. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy taking them. Those kittens are way too cute to handle. They are just now figuring out how to play, and I could spend HOURS watching them.

Mommy Kitty -- Her name is Skink, because she has a nubby tail just like one of those blue tailed lizards

Peeking around the scale to see what that crazy girl with the camera is doing  

I'm gonna get it! 

Nubby-Tailed Mommy and little Tabby baby -- Well, baby feet lol 

The Tabby kitten doesn't have a name because she is going to a different owner when she gets older, but I call her "No Name" -- Because it's so original lol 

Is that not the cutest thing ever??

Little "No Name" finally looked at the camera 

This is Rufus -- He's the most shy of the three, so I had to put a sneak on him to get a picture. Crawling across the dirty barn floor was not my finest moment, but it's not like it was the first time -- Probably won't be the last either. 

The three heathens -- Only picture I could get with all three of them 

Rufus and Marley -- Marley has a tail, but Rufus doesn't 

My little lap kitty

Well, that's all of the kitten pictures. I couldn't decide which ones to upload, so I uploaded them all. It was too difficult to choose. Here are the other random pictures that I had taken over the last week or so.

Tim and Buck went fishing last week -- Buck must have missed the memo to hang on while Tim was driving, so he went for a little dip in the river 

The tiniest Praying Mantis we had ever seen -- It was so small the camera couldn't even focus on it to take a good picture 

 Maggy -- World's Laziest Dog

She was given to us because she "wasn't good with people" -- What a bunch of malarkey! 

The goat kids from this Spring -- I had to get them in there too

I think I am ready for bed now. Well, actually, I am going to go read for a little while then go to sleep. I have a busy day tomorrow. I hope to hear from Dwain tomorrow. It has been a couple days since I last talked to him, but I know that he is staying busy and that's good. We have shipped out a grand total of 39 Care Packages to him, so he should be getting some more of those soon. Time is flying by -- It's been TWO MONTHS! -- And the busier I am, the faster it goes. That's completely okay with me! I can't wait to have him home for good! I hope you all have a good night! Have a good Hump Day, which is Wednesday for those of you with your mind in the gutter.    :^D

Operation Saheeb -- Two Months, Three Days

I'm Too Old to be Doing Stuff Like That

Well, once again, I have gotten behind on blogging. Honestly, I don't mean to; I am just really busy. Tim was also home with a chest cold both the days he was supposed to work last week. I don't usually post when he is home because it takes too long to compose a post, and he gets frustrated when I don't pay attention to him. So, I am going to try to go over everything that happened last week and this weekend, but it's been a BUSY one, so I may miss a few things -- I'm sorry.

My last post was LATE Monday night. Tuesday was a pretty routine day at the office. My morning was filled with paperwork and other office-y things. We didn't have a staff meeting after lunch, but my massage schedule was full so I had a busy afternoon. I have never been more thankful for my inside, air-conditioned job than I was on Tuesday. Not only was it one of the hottest days of the year, but Mom and Dad put up hay Tuesday afternoon. They were even square bales. But wouldn't you know it, I wasn't able to help out with that nasty job. Have I mentioned that I love my job? By the time I made it home Tuesday night, they were just about done doing hay, so Tim and I ran into town to pick them up some Gatorade. We also got Subway for supper while we were in town. After watching a little TV though, we headed to bed for the night. Wednesday was going to be a busy day.

My Wednesday morning was spent working at the front desk at the office. I actually got quite a lot done before I headed to lunch. My massage schedule for the afternoon fell apart. I started out with 5 massages, but two of them cancelled on me. I can't complain really; it was kinda nice to have an easy day. It turned out that one of my cancellations was the last massage of the day, so I got to leave a little bit early. I wasn't headed home though. Wednesday nights are volleyball nights -- And this Wednesday was the "Old Lady Scrimmage." We got some "retired" players together to play against the high school girls. Oh my gosh, it was so much fun! I still felt really out of shape, but we all played really well. It was a really fun evening. I got to see some old friends and made a couple new ones. Tim called in sick to work Wednesday night (and Thursday) because he has been battling a pretty serious chest cold and hasn't been able to sleep much. We went up to Mom and Dad's for a little while, but didn't do much else the rest of the night. I wrote a Letter to the Editor last week, and it was in Wednesday night's Washington Times-Herald. We don't take the paper, but I had Mom save me a copy. I just had to share with everyone how much it means to me that so many people are bringing us items for Care Packages, and I figured that writing a letter to the paper was the best way. I obviously like writing, so why not?

Thursday was another typical day at the office with one exception -- Dr. Pete is now seeing patients on Thursday mornings all summer. That means that I'm not the only person in the office on Thursday mornings, but I still had plenty of time to work on my projects. I took two more Care Packages to the Post Office on my lunch break, then we had a staff meeting before I started the afternoon. My massage schedule was booked up again on Thursday afternoon. Tim was supposed to work on Thursday, but he was still feeling sick so he stayed home. We went up to Mom and Dad's so that he could make some rod holders for his boat. It took him most of the night, but he got em done. I puttered around on the 4020 John Deere with Mom while Dad and Tim worked. It's so much fun to ride on the fender -- It brings back memories of my childhood. Tim and I finally made it back to the house, but it was really late. We made a quick dinner, then I hit the hay. I'm still having lots of dreams, which is annoying because I don't feel rested when I wake up in the morning. Not good for my sanity at all. I need sleep to function, that's for sure.

Friday was a little different for me than usual. I still did massages in the morning, but I didn't get to go home early like I normally do. Samantha usually runs the front desk in the afternoons, but she went to Bonnaroo (modern-day Woodstock) for the weekend so I covered her shift Friday afternoon. I enjoyed it because I got to visit with some of our patients, and I wound up leaving at about 5:00 or so, which wasn't too bad. When I made it home, Tim and I got all our stuff packed up for a weekend at his parents' house. It took us a little while, but we finally made it down there. Tim spent the night fishing with Pat and Jon, but I stayed home to watch a movie with Tim's brother Josh and his mom Kim. I'm kinda glad that Tim didn't want me out on the Ohio River for the maiden voyage of the new boat because a big storm blew up out of nowhere. I'm not a big fan of storms, so I was glad to be at the house. They were trying to beat the storm back to the boat ramp though, and they hit a log floating in the water. It broke a pin in the motor, so they had to rely on the trolling motor to get back to the truck (they were trying to make it upriver, but were only able to go 1.68 mph). They wound up having to ride out the storm on the side of the river. Needless to say, Tim was a little wet when he made it back to the house. Thank goodness it will be a quick, inexpensive fix to get the boat running again. Friday was a great day, but it was just the start of a busy weekend.

I did a couple hours of massage at a bridal shower in Washington on Saturday morning. It was a lot of fun and a great way to make some extra money in just a couple hours. I had to take Tim's truck for the trip, which is a manual. I have only ever driven it back and forth to Mom and Dad's house, so driving it all the way to Washington and back was quite an adventure. I managed to make it the whole way without killing it (taking off is the only thing I still have problems with), but I did have one minor incident at a stop light on 57. I had to stop by the office to pick up my massage table before heading to the shower, but as I was turning off 57 onto Main Street, I got stopped by a red light. I rolled backward a little bit, panicked because I thought I was going to hit the truck behind me, and squalled the tires on the wet pavement. How embarrassing! Other than that, I had a very successful trip and padded my bank account just a little bit. I headed back to Selvin for a few hours after leaving the shower, but we didn't get to stay long. Tim and I made a trip back to Washington Saturday evening for Randi's wedding reception. We had a lot of fun there with good friends (and the open bar). We stayed until about 11:30 or so, then headed to Tennyson to Double D's Tavern for some karaoke with Tim's Uncle Randy. Good music and good friends; now that's the recipe for a great time! We stayed until closing time (about 3:00 -- slow time, that is) then decided that we needed a little Denny's to finish up the night. There is nothing like a French Toast Slam at 4:00 in the morning. It brings back memories from my younger years. I tell you what though, I am too old to be doing stuff like that. It was starting to get daylight outside when we finally made it home, and that's just nuts. Ain't no way I'm doing that again anytime soon.

Tim and I slept until about 10:30 Sunday morning, but we had to get up and go to a family reunion. Thankfully, the Marshall Family Reunion is held at Yellowbanks, which is about five miles from Tim's parents' house. We took Dixie with us for her first outing with lots of people, and she did awesome. She is such a good little girl! We only stayed for a little while though, then headed back to the house. I fell asleep almost immediately on the couch, but Tim worked on his boat. He got a lot done on the boat, and I got in one heck of a nap. We ate supper with Tim's parents, then headed for home. We made a couple detours on the way home, but we eventually made it. It felt so good to be back in our own house. Chuck was BEYOND excited to see us! Poor guy must go crazy without anyone in the house to keep him company. It didn't take us long to get unpacked and into bed -- It was the perfect ending to a great weekend!

It was back to work again today though. Thankfully, I didn't have to go into the office until 1:00, so I got to sleep in and take it easy this morning. I got quite a bit of reading done before heading to work, and I got to relax in the hammock on the porch -- I'm just about finished with my book and it is so hard to put down. Work was also great today -- I had a full massage schedule. After doing my five massages and closing up the books for the day, I headed to Wendy's to get some supper for Tim. I'm sure that he wasn't ready to go back to work after having a week off, but that place would fall apart if he wasn't there to keep it running smoothly. I had volleyball open gym tonight, which was fun as usual. I love it that I am able to get involved in the game again. Now, I have been at Mom's this evening doing laundry. That's a never-ending job. I also got some great pictures of her kittens (they don't have tails!), but I will have to upload them tomorrow night. I am ready to hit the hay tonight. It's late and I have GOT to get my sleep this week. I'll burn myself out without it. I'm sorry again that it has taken me so long to write anything. I'll do my best to do better. I hope you all have a good Tuesday! Good night!   :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Two Months, Two Days

Do They Say the "F-Word" in Pulp Fiction?

Blogging is my stress-relieving activity for the evening. Tim is fishing with one of his friends, so I am chilling on the couch -- Ahhh. So nice to relax after a long day. How about I tell you about the last two days?

Sunday was a perfect, lazy day. Tim and I watched a little TV when he got home from work Sunday morning, but we both fell asleep before too long. Tim slept most of the day (dang night shift), but I got up again a little before lunch. I hit the shower, but there was no getting pretty. I went straight into a comfy sundress and put my hair in a braid. I spent an hour or so swinging in our hammock. There is nothing quite as relaxing as laying in a hammock on a nice day with a good book. The rocking motion is incredibly soothing, and you just feel cradled by the air around you. My hammock is one of my favorite things. Mom came over Sunday afternoon for a massage. Sometimes I am jealous of the people who I give massages to -- I would LOVE to have an hour and a half massage on a Sunday afternoon. I just need to find someone who can give me a massage when I need one. After I got Tim headed off to work, I watched a little bit of a Criminal Minds marathon and the movie Pulp Fiction (because I had never seen it all the way through) then went to bed. Wow, I don't know that I have ever heard a movie with that many F-Bombs in it! I googled it, and the F-Word is used 265 times in that movie. But, it was so great! I really enjoyed watching it all the way through. It's one of those movies you can watch over and over again and see something new every time. Sunday was a great day! I hope next Sunday is just as good!

I woke up when Tim got home this morning, but I went right back to sleep again on the couch -- until about 10:30! I felt really lazy, but there is no better way to start a Monday than by sleeping in. I had to be at work at 1:00, so I left the house just after lunch. Randi, the other massage therapist I work with, was supposed to be working today and tomorrow, but her fiance hurt himself yesterday at work, so she isn't coming in this week at all. I won't be seeing her at the office until June 23rd, so I'm going to be a little BUSY! My regulars are more than enough to keep my schedule booked up, so we will have one heck of a waiting list going to try to get people in if we can. It took me forever to get to work today because I got stuck behind a road crew that was painting the center lines on the highway. I didn't want to drive through fresh paint to pass, but we only went 10 mph all the way from Elnora to Plainville. Thankfully, I had left the house really early, so I wasn't late for my first appointment. I got to work on Grandma Teddi today, which is always great! I had a full schedule, but that's pretty usual now a days. After work, I hurried to North Daviess for volleyball open gym. I don't think I'll be too sore tomorrow, and I had a blast playing. I got to work a little more directly with the hitters tonight. I can't wait until we work on blocking. After I got home from volleyball, I took a shower (I was pretty gross) then made something quick for supper. Tim was already gone when I got home, so I was only cooking dinner for myself -- He went fishing, remember? I haven't done anything productive this evening except clean the shower, which was covered in rust buildup (I HATE our water), and run the dishwasher. Now, I'm sitting on the couch, blogging and watching TV. I plan on heading to bed next. I have a busy week ahead of me. I hope you all have a great Tuesday! Good night!  :^)
Operation Saheeb -- One Month, Three Weeks, Five Days

Class of 2006 -- Reunited!

What a busy Saturday! I started out the morning by getting my hair cut by Miss Holly at Hair by Holly. She did a fantastic job, as usual, and I enjoy talking to her just as much as getting my hair trimmed. She is super busy planning her wedding right now so we have lots to talk about. After getting my hair trimmed, I made a trip to Subway for some lunch -- Subway Melts are the BEST! Sammie and I had originally planned on getting our toes done, but it didn't work out. So instead, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries, then headed home. I was going to water my flowers when I got home, but it was way too hot outside. I don't think my poor tomato plant is going to make it. The hail really hurt it a lot, and even though I have been watering it every day, it still looks like it's dying. I think I might have a black thumb instead of a green one.

After getting cleaned up (and prettied up) and getting Tim headed to work, I went to Bogg's for my five year high school reunion. It was great to see everyone again, even if it was REALLY hot outside. We grilled burgers and hotdogs and had a big variety of desserts. We had way too much food, but it was all really good. I got to see some people who I haven't seen in a couple years. We just sat around and talked about what we were all up to and reminisced about the old times. There were some good ones. Everyone is pretty much the same, just a couple changes here and there. I stayed until about 10:00 or so, but everyone had just about all gone home by then. I'm already looking forward to our next get together.

Dixie wasn't very happy with me when I got home, but she is sleeping on her bed now. I am watching Gran Torino -- By far, Clint Eastwood's best movie. He is just such a bad ass! It's probably my favorite movie of his. I don't know if I will do much else tonight besides finish my movie. I'm hoping to have a lazy-ish day tomorrow, but I need to mow and do laundry, so I will probably be a little busy. Hopefully, it won't be 100 freaking degrees outside. I won't hold my breath though. Mom and Dad spent the evening at a tractor pull in Salem -- Mom said that her dog Annie even got her picture taken while she was sitting on Mom's lap watching the tractors go by. She is a goofy dog! I will try to post it when the photographer gets the picture uploaded to his website. We didn't hear from Dwain today, but maybe we will get something tomorrow. I would say that he has been pretty busy. I think I'm going to wrap up this post for the night. My couch and I have a date with Clint Eastwood for the rest of the night.   :^)
Operation Saheeb -- One Month, Three Weeks, Three Days

Volleyball, I Have Missed You!

You know, for a short work week, this sucker has taken a really long time to make it to Friday. And, as usual, I'm a little behind on blogging, but Tim has been home the last couple days and I like to spend time with him when he's home instead of spending my time glued to the computer screen -- Even though I really love blogging, I love Tim more.

Wednesday was a FANTASTIC day! I worked in the morning at the front desk. There was a lot to keep me busy. The phone rang off the hook, and the patients kept me busy. After lunch, I had a full massage schedule. My schedule at work is about to get ridiculously busy. The other therapist I work with is getting married next Saturday and is taking most of the month of June off -- So, yeah, I'm gonna be booked up.

After work is when the best part of my Wednesday started. I played volleyball!!! Oh my goodness, I have missed it so, so much! I am helping coach the high school girls at North Daviess this summer, and Wednesday was their first open gym. I am more than a little out of shape, I felt ancient next to all those younger girls, and I felt like a beached whale -- But I had a BLAST! I haven't played volleyball on a team for a year and a half. To go from playing all the time for the nine years I was in school to not playing at all was one of the hardest things I have done. I am beyond excited to be involved in the sport again, and I'm really looking forward to teaching the girls the things that I have learned. The only problem? I'm a little sore. Part of my muscles hadn't been used in a while, but I'll be back in shape in no time. I told the girls that I would do their conditioning with them at the end of the summer -- Not sure if that was a good thing to get myself into or not. Anyway, I had a fantastic time, and I'm really looking forward to Monday next week so that I can play again. Once I made it home from volleyball and got a shower, I helped Tim get his boat ready (he went fishing with Scott), then watched a little TV before going to bed.

Thursday, I had another great day! I put the finishing touches on a Letter to the Editor to the Washington Times Herald to thank the many people who have been making donations to send Care Packages to Dwain. I mailed four more packages on my lunch break Thursday-- That brings our grand total up to thirty-one! How completely incredible is that?? Mom got an email from Dwain on Thursday, and he said that he received eight care packages that day! He said he was stock-piling it until the next one's get there.

After a productive staff meeting, I had another full massage schedule. I sure do love the people who come to see me; they really make my day! After work, Tim and I grilled burgers for supper -- Well, Tim grilled and I made Mac and Cheese, but it was all delicious. I also made a Peanut Butter Pie last night. Yum! We headed to bed full of good food and ready for some ZZZ's.

Fridays are usually great days for me, and today was a usual Friday. I had five massages this morning, then worked a little bit in the office and visited with Sammie. The only thing that I don't like about Fridays is that I only get to see my Sammie for a little while. I had some errands to run after work (got my goofy, messed up tire fixed -- it was a nail), then I was home sweet home. I haven't really done much since I got home though. I almost feel bad about it -- Almost. I have a BIG day tomorrow, so I will be going to bed here pretty soon. My five year class reunion is tomorrow evening -- We are having a cook out at Bogg's. But I'm also getting my hair trimmed and getting manicures/pedicures with Sammie. I might even win $1000 tomorrow! I am entered into the grand prize drawing for the Pay My Bills contest for the WAMW radio station. I don't know what I would do if I won! How awesome would that be? I'll know by 12:00 tomorrow -- Keep your fingers crossed for me. Yup, its going to be a busy day, so I think I'll head to bed now. It's getting late, and I know I need the sleep. I have been having dreams a lot lately, so I haven't been getting restful sleep. Most of them have Dwain in them; don't think I worry about him do you? I sure do miss him. I love it that time is going so fast! Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll talk to you all tomorrow! Good night.   :^)
Operation Saheeb -- One Month, Three Weeks, Two Days

Chuck is already OUT! I think I'm jealous.