Coming and Going

Well, It's been forever -- again. I'm not very good at posting regularly. I would love to write something every day, but I just don't have enough time. I have more time to work on things now that I'm not working ALL the time, but I have SO many things going on that I feel like I'm meeting myself coming and going. I'm helping to coach the North Daviess volleyball team, I take my couponing very seriously, I am trying to get things done around the house, I'm selling stuff on EBAY, and I'm doing lots of massages at the office, as usual. It's more than enough to keep me busy! But life couldn't be better!

So now, lets try to get caught up a little bit. My last post was Thursday of last week, so there is quite a bit to cover. Friday, I got to see my Sammie at work one last time. She came in to cover the front desk for the day. Once I finished my massages and visited with Sammie for a bit, I headed for home. Tim had to work Friday night, but I had a volleyball practice to keep me occupied for a couple hours. I can't tell you how much I love being involved again with THE BEST SPORT EVER! I also had practice Saturday morning at 7:00 am, and the rest of Saturday turned out to be a great day! I spent the day in Bloomington with Sammie, Jessica, Sam's sister Lindsay, and Sam's Mom Jane. Oh my gosh, did we ever have fun -- We were celebrating Sammie's birthday! We started the afternoon at the Trojan Horse for lunch. You can imagine the jokes and laughs that we had while eating our gyros. After eating at "The Trojan," we walked around some of the shops on Kirkwood for a couple hours. I wasn't looking to spend a lot of money, but it was still fun to look around. Our next stop was Oliver Winery for a wine tasting. It was my first time and I have to admit that it was pretty fun. We tried a bunch of different wines, but the Blackberry and Moscato were my favorites. We even bought a bottle of the Blackberry to enjoy on the patio. We found a nice cozy patio table next to the coy pond (they were HUGE -- Tim would have had his bowfishing bow out and READY to GO), and had a great time with good wine, good friends, and chocolate. We were all more than a little tipsy (besides Jane; she was our driver) by the time we headed to the mall for some more shopping. I didn't spend too much, but I probably spent more than I should have. Who can pass up shirts for $4.00 though? And I got some great yoga pants to wear when I'm coaching. It was late by the time I got home, but I can't imagine a better Saturday with my girls.

 Squashed-Face Glenna

The whole gang at Oliver Winery

Sunday was also a pretty good day for me. I slept in a while, but then made my trip to Elnora for a copy of the Indy Star. I can't miss out on my coupons. I spent the rest of the morning clipping coupons and planning my shopping trips for the next week. I made a big pot of chili for supper -- I can only make a huge pot of chili, otherwise the proportions aren't right. After Tim left for work, I mowed the yard before calling it quits for the night.

This week was a fantastic week! I wound up doing 24 and a half hours of massage, which is as close to a full week (25 hours) as I can possibly get. Tim and I spent some great time together as well. We had a couple great dinners on Monday and Tuesday night, and we went squirrel hunting on Wednesday morning. We got one squirrel apiece, which made Dixie very happy because she got to retrieve them from the woods for us. We could have gotten more I think, but the wind was blowing pretty steady and we couldn't see them moving in the trees. I made lasagna for lunch once we got back to the house. After eating, Tim took a nap and I headed to work. My plans for Wednesday evening included a trip to Wal-Mart and CVS. I scored a ton of free stuff at CVS and saved about $30 on my groceries at Wal-Mart! I love couponing! I am totally hooked. It's such a great feeling to come out of a store and know that you saved a ton of money. Jessica and I made a page on Facebook called "Coupon Clippers of Daviess County" that has really taken off! We have almost 100 Likes! That's incredible. I never dreamed it would be so popular so fast. I think its a great way to share ideas and coupons with others in our area. Jess and I are having our first get together next Friday evening at Eastside Park. Hopefully lots of people will turn out and make it a success!

Thursday night, I coached at my first ever North Daviess Volleyball Game. The girls had a game Tuesday night at Shoals that they won, but I wasn't able to go. They played Bloomfield Thursday night and WON AGAIN! They had to have 4 out of 5 games to win it, because the first game was a little ugly, but I thought that they all played really well. I have really missed playing volleyball, and it's wonderful to be involved again. I love coaching almost as much as playing. Next week, I will be coaching at Washington on Tuesday night, at North Daviess on Thursday, and maybe at the Pike Central Tourney in Petersburg on Saturday. I wish I could go to the practices too, but I get off work at the same time that they get out of practice, so that doesn't work. The games start at 6:00 pm though, so that's do-able for my schedule. It should make for a really busy week!

I think I'm about done blogging for the day. I need to go run through the shower and grab something to eat (I've got the munchies). I may do a little reading, but I think that I'm going to make today a relaxing day. I would like to go fishing on the river with Tim tonight, but he stayed out until 6:00 this morning and I don't think that sounds like a good idea to me. We will just have to see what happens.

Hopefully we will hear from Dwain again tomorrow. Sundays are usually the day he calls, if he can, so we hang out by the phone on Sundays. He called us last weekend and he is doing fine. They wound up just leveling the marketplace he was at instead of risking lives to get the job done. Much easier (and safer) that way. The link to the story about Dwain's latest mission is HERE. You should all read it. We are so PROUD of him! I miss him so much. I can't wait to give him a HUGE hug! Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday! I plan on it too!   :^D

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

It's Been a While, Huh?

Oh goodness! I have been away for a while. We finally got a new laptop (I scored a GREAT deal on it at Office Depot last weekend), so I now have the ability to blog again. I have really missed sharing with everyone, and I'm afraid that too much has gone on in the last couple weeks -- I might not remember everything I wanted to tell you, but I'll try my best!

The biggest thing that has changed is the hours I am working. Dr. Bowling had to make some cutbacks, so I am no longer working at the front desk -- I am only doing massages at the office. It does stink a lot to have a smaller paycheck every week, but I honestly think it has been a blessing in disguise. I now work from 1:00 to 6:00 Monday thru Thursday and from 8:00 to 1:00 on Fridays. 25 hours of massage a week. I will still make plenty of money (just maybe not as much as I'm used to), and I am LOVING my new hours. I now have more time to spend with Tim, more time to work on things at home (like mowing the yard and cleaning the house, which both need done right now), more time to sew, more time to sell stuff on Ebay, and more time for massages outside of the office. Not to mention that I feel better than I have in months and my level of sanity is closer to normal. I didn't realize that I was burning myself out so quickly. It's going to be alright! It was a little stressful at first (change is always stressful), but we have adapted. Now, instead of getting up at 6:30 almost every day, I can stay up late working on things and then sleep in a little bit. I like to think that positive thoughts create positive actions, so I am trying to be optimistic about all this. It has definitely been quite a lot to take in and process, but everything will work out for the best, I'm sure. The thing that upsets me the most is that I am no longer working with my beautiful Sammie (she got laid off in the "hours cutting" process). She made everyday at work so enjoyable! It's just not the same without her. I will miss that smile -- Not that I won't ever see her again, but it sure was awesome to see her everyday.

So, with my extra free time, I have been mainly trying to get the things that I have been putting off for months finished. It's amazing how much I can get done when I have all week to work on things instead of just the weekends. I have plans to paint our bathroom, and I really need to get the windows sealed up so that our electric bill won't be so high. I don't think it will help much in this heat, but it's worth a shot. I also have a lot of sewing projects in mind, and of course, it's almost hunting season(s), so I will be doing a lot of hunting with Tim in a couple weeks. Squirrel season starts Monday!!

I just thought of something else that has changed at the office. After next Friday, I will be the only massage therapist working at Bowling Chiropractic. Randi has decided to leave us, and the new girl won't be able to start until she gets certified/licensed, which could take several weeks. I am going to be busy, to say the least. My own regulars are enough to keep my schedule fairly full, but it's going to get a little insane when I start absorbing Randi's patients too. Oh well, it's better for the ol' paycheck!

I think that's all I'm going to write about for today. There has been so much going on lately that I would have to write for five or six hours to cover everything, and I just don't have time for that. We have talked to Dwain a couple times here and there the last couple weeks. The last time was Monday, which was Mom and Dad's 30th anniversary. He had to do a little bribing I think, but it is always good to hear from him. He is still out in the field on a mission, which is more than a little dangerous. How DARE they shoot at my brother!! He did tell us that he should be headed back to the States by the first of November, so he only has about two and a half months left. He has been gone FOUR MONTHS today! Time really has flown by! I can't wait to get that tall, goofy thing back home. I think that I might start by giving him a hug for a whole hour, then because I connect with people by touching them, I want to give him a massage -- for about three hours! I don't think he will have any objections to that. I worry about him everyday, but I know that God is looking out for him. He has always been good at keeping out of trouble, so I try not to worry too much, because I could drive myself crazy by worrying -- and that's just not healthy.

Well, I'm signing off for now. It's about time for me to get ready for work. Tim and I had "Taco Night" last night, so I will be having some leftovers for my lunch today. I have a full massage schedule waiting on me at the office. It's a good day! I hope you all have a good day as well!   :^)
Operation Saheeb -- FOUR MONTHS!

I'm ALIVE!! No Really! But Our Computer is Still "Deceased"

Just a quick update: We still haven't replaced our computer so I haven't taken the time to write anything in a while. A lot has happened in the last couple weeks though. Starting yesterday, I am only doing massages at the office -- No more office hours. It will be nice to have some more time to work on what I want to and to spend time with Tim, but I'm really going to miss that part of my paycheck. I guess I'll just have to find a way to make my free time productive. Other than that, I have just basically been working a lot. I am sunburned from mowing the yard on Sunday. Today was Jessica's girl Sofia's first birthday. I have been saving a TON of money with my coupons, which is good considering that my income has been depleted. We found a laptop that I am very interested in purchasing from Best Buy, but they are completely and totally sold out -- Like online and in every store within 200 miles! Thanks so much Back to School shoppers. Oh well, we'll figure something out. Okay, that's all I really have time to write tonight because I'm at Mom and Dad's and my bed is calling my name. I hope you all have a good Wednesday! Good night!   :^D
Operation Saheeb -- Three Months, Three Weeks, One Day

Our Computer is TOAST!

Well, this is going to be a quick post, and I apologize. Our computer burned itself up, so blogging is not something that I am able to do much of right now. We are in the market for a new one, so I hope to be up and running again very soon.

My last post was on Saturday, but I'm not going to go into detail getting you caught up. Let's just hit the highlights. I don't want this to take all night. I had a pretty basic week this week. Nothing extraordinarily remarkable. I worked and did a pretty full schedule of massages. I had my last two volleyball open gyms on Monday and Wednesday. The heat was terrible! Thankfully, the gym is really air conditioned, so it was tolerable.

I scored some pretty good deals while couponing this week. I think I am just about stocked up on things for several months. Jessica and I even made a Facebook Page so that we can get together with people and swap coupons. Check out Coupon Clippers of Daviess County! I wound up at Jessica's house Thursday night after getting Chinese with Sammie. It was an all around great evening. I love those girls!

My plans for tomorrow also involve Jessica and Sammie. We are making a shopping trip to Evansville to pick up things for Sofia's first birthday and a few other things. There's nothing better than a Saturday out with good friends. I also plan on doing some fishing with Tim this weekend. Other than that, who knows what we will get into.

We heard from Dwain today!!! I got to chat with him a little bit on Facebook and Mom and Dad got a phone call from him. It was SOO GOOD to hear from him. It had been too long! That's such a huge load of stress that I can just throw away. Sometimes, you just can't help but worry.

Okay, I think that's all I'm going to blog about tonight. I can't really think of anything drastic that I have missed. There is probably something that I've forgotten, but oh well. I think I might grab something for supper and curl up with my Kindle. Yup, sounds like a great idea! Good night everyone!   :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Three Months, One Week, Four Days

A Date with Harry Potter

Tonight, I have a date with Harry Potter. I am just finishing the first movie, and I plan on watching all of them in order (over the next couple days, of course) to prepare for when I get to watch the final installment, which is hopefully in the next week or so. I don't want to fight everyone at the theater, but it is definitely on my "To Watch" list. I have been a Harry Potter addict for as long as I can remember. The books are much better naturally (I've read the series at least a dozen times), but the movies aren't too bad either. I have also been listing stuff on EBAY all afternoon. I like to go to St. Vincent's, which is our local thrift store, to find good deals on name brand stuff and books then turn around and sell them on EBAY for a profit. It's a good way to make some money on the side, and every little bit helps when you have bills to pay. I used up my 50 free listings per month though, so I am done with that for a while. Let's just hope that I can sell my stuff for a good price.

The remainder of my work week went really well this week. Thursday I worked in the morning then did five massages in the afternoon, and Friday morning I did five massages then came home. I wound up doing 25 massages this week! That is as booked up as I can possibly get. I have to make sure that I get enough sleep to keep from wearing myself out, but that will sure make a good paycheck on Monday. Maybe the best I've ever had! Because we were only open three days last week, I had a little overflow into this week. That's why my schedule was so full.

I haven't really done much this weekend. When I got home Friday from work, I did the only logical thing for someone who had a week like mine -- I took a nap. Once I got up and Tim left for work, I read on my book for the rest of the evening (Our Direct TV has STILL not been fixed). I kinda feel lame not doing anything "exciting" on a perfectly good Friday night, but Tim had to work and I was tired, so ask me if I care. It was SUPER to have a lazy evening.

Tim didn't come back from work at his usual time this morning, but Dixie must have missed that memo. She walked around the house all morning whining and looking for him. I think it's great that she knows his schedule! He did a ride-along with one of the Sheriff's deputies so he could see what they do. The Sheriff Department is hiring Reserve Deputies, and of course, he is hoping to get one of the spots. Dixie was beside herself when he finally made it home, but he crashed out almost immediately. He didn't even make it halfway through a Dukes of Hazzard episode before he was sawing logs. I walked to the mailbox with Dixie then did my EBAY thing for the afternoon. I made Tim spaghetti and cheesy bread for dinner, which was very good. I think I might have a second helping after while.

I'm now on the second Harry Potter movie. I might even watch the third one tonight if I get time, but they are pretty long. My only plan for tomorrow is to mow the yard and tidy up the house a little bit. It's getting pretty dirty. I also have a baby shower I want to try to go to tomorrow, if I can. I think that about wraps it up for tonight. If any of you want to check out my EBAY listings, you can by clicking here -- http://myworld.ebay.com/glennal_87. I hope you all have a great and lazy Sunday. I sure hope that we hear from Dwain soon. It's been a while, and we are more than a little worried. Good night everyone!   :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Three Months, Five Days

Talk about a Run of Bad Luck

Wednesday night. Where am I? Sitting on my couch watching How To Train Your Dragon, doing laundry, and blogging. It has been a very long day, but it has been a good day. I plan on finishing this post, taking a quick shower, then calling it a night. But first, I need to get you caught up on the last couple days.

Monday, my massage schedule at the office was booked. I did five massages, but I didn't stick around long because I had volleyball open gym Monday night. The girls are really coming along nicely. Tim had to work Monday night, so I came home after volleyball, took a shower, then went to bed. Sounds about like my plan for tonight, huh?

Tuesday was a great day. I was really busy all morning at the office. There was tons of paperwork and such to keep me busy. I ran some errands over lunch (I saved about $40 using coupons at Wally World), then headed back to the office for another afternoon full of massages. I had to do a little fancy scheduling to get Randi's schedule filled up too, but we both had full day's on Tuesday. A wicked storm blew up about the time we got off work, and I was headed to Wal-Mart to stock up on some household stuff. I have some great coupons for the things that we use everyday, so I am going to use them to save a little money on the things that I buy all the time. It's so nice to save money, and I won't have to buy anything like shampoo or deodorant for quite a while -- That money stays in my pocket. Anyway, back to my story. I got to Wal-Mart just as the storm was really starting to blow, so I stayed in my car and read a bit while the storm was raging around me. I had checked the weather before I left the office, so I knew that it was going to be a quick storm. The only problem with my flawless plan was that the wind was blowing so hard that shopping carts were scooting all over the parking lot. I was a little afraid for the well-being of my vehicle when I saw a cart NAIL a pretty red Cadillac. I decided it would be a good idea to move to a safer spot. Before too long, the storm had blown itself out and I went inside. I was able to stock up on quite a few things and save a lot of money. In total, I spent about $150 dollars on Tuesday, but I saved over $100! That's a good day in my book! I can use that money on so many other things besides razors and hair gel. Think of all the fishing poles you could buy! After I got home and got my purchases unloaded and put away, I went up to Mom and Dad's for supper and some quality visiting time. I wound up falling asleep on the couch, which is typical, but I really enjoyed my evening. Yup, Tuesday was a good day!

Today has been almost as good! Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Tim before I left for work this morning because he went South to take his Mom out to eat for her birthday. -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my second Momma! I love you Kim! -- I didn't want to leave Dixie at home all day, so I took her to visit with her Grandma Sara while I was at work. I'm pretty sure that she had one heck of a day, because she has been sleeping ever since we got home. Playing with Annie sure wears her out. I had another busy morning at the office, then a full afternoon of massages. I have done fifteen hours of massage so far this week, and I have ten more to go. Man, that's great for my paycheck and it's great to be so busy! I had volleyball again tonight after work, and it was one of the best open gyms yet. The girls are attending a team camp at Linton this week, so we didn't want to do anything too serious. "Not too serious" means that we did a lot of fun drills and playing either three on three or six on six. I haven't had that good of a workout in a long time. I bet I burned off at least a couple pounds tonight. After volleyball, I went to Mom's to pick up Dixie. I haven't done a whole lot since I got home. I washed a load of clothes, the movie just ended (I watched it while blogging -- It was VERY cute!) and I still need to take that shower. I'm more than a little grimy from sweating so much, but it's SOO MUCH FUN!

I could probably stay up late tonight watching TV or something, but our Direct TV antenna is still misaligned. I actually called our repairman today because I was beginning to think that he had forgotten about us. Let me tell you what, he has had one hell of a last two weeks. He told me that he wouldn't be able to come out today because he had to go to his nephew's funeral. His nephew (he can't have been that old) was killed in an electrical accident a couple days ago in Martinsville. As if that isn't bad enough, Rob (that's our repairman's name) told me that two weeks ago he was working on someone's roof and was electrocuted bad enough that the doctors at the ER were surprised that he had survived! Talk about a run of bad luck. I think I would stay away from electricity for a while. I felt terrible for calling the poor man on the day of his nephew's funeral, but he said that he would get out and get us taken care of in a couple days. I assured him that there was no rush -- We have been busy enough that I really haven't missed having TV the last week, but I will be calling Direct TV to have them adjust our bill. I don't really want to pay for the week that we haven't had signal.

I think that I'm going to wrap this post up for the night. It's been a long day, and I have another big one tomorrow. Hopefully, Tim will be home tomorrow night -- I would like to spend some time with him if I can get him off the river long enough. He is going for Round #2 on the Ohio tonight. Maybe he will catch another big fish -- Who knows. All I know is that I'm ready to catch some ZZZ's. For those of you who are keeping tabs on Dwain, we haven't heard anything from him in several days. I'm sure he is just busy on some mission somewhere, but I sure would like to have a chat with him. I miss him a lot, but being busy helps make the time go faster. I can't wait until we get to see him again. It can't get here fast enough. I hope you all have a great Thursday. Goodnight!!!   :^)
Operation Saheeb -- Three Months, Two Days

You Could Fit His Head in There!

What a weekend! I went on a road trip with Mom and Dad to South Bend for my cousin Karl's wedding. The wedding was nice, but the drive was LONG! I wanted to read on my Kindle, but I kept getting carsick. That made it a very long drive. I guess that I'm not done reading the Outlander series -- I thought that there were just three books, but there are SIX! They are all over 800 pages! I'm going to be reading for a little while longer about Jamie and Claire's adventure. I was able to read quite a bit by putting my hands up as blinders so I couldn't see the road flying by, but the curvy road still made me sick to my stomach.

The wedding was held at the park of the town where Karl and Stephanie live, and the reception was in Aunt Diana and Uncle Bill's backyard. It was very pretty. It was great to visit with family, and I got to meet some wonderful new faces. We stayed at the reception until after midnight, then went back to the hotel to crash for the night. The plan was to get up early the next morning and be on the road, but we slept in, so we didn't get headed for home until about noon or so. By the time we made it home (about 5:00 or so), I was ready to call it a day. Unfortunately, the yard needed mowed. Tim wasn't home yet -- He had gone catfishing this weekend on the Ohio; more on that later -- so I went ahead and did the mowing. Thank goodness, Grandma Ruth let me borrow her riding mower, so it didn't take me more than a couple hours. I got out of the shower at about the same time Tim got home. We went up to Mom's to visit with them a little while then came back to our house. Tim watched a movie, but I don't remember more than the first ten minutes or so before I fell asleep.

Tim, on the other hand, had a very unforgettable weekend! Like I said earlier, he went fishing on the Ohio River this weekend with his friend Pat and his little brother Josh. They were fishing for catfish and maybe a few carp here and there. Tim caught a MONSTER!! Two of them actually! He caught a 27 pound Blue Catfish and a potential state record Flathead. It broke the scales at 67 pounds, but judging by the length and girth etc, he has figured that it was probably pushing about 80 pounds. How about I just let the pictures speak for themselves? Be ready to say "Holy Crap!"
 

The 27 pounder -- It's a baby fish compared to the other one!



Jumping Carp -- Killed with a Bow and Arrow



And now the real fishing begins!

 

Fish on!



Look at that rod tip go down!

 

Making a run for the bottom of the river -- Hold on Tim!



No more captions after this -- Enjoy the show!

 

 

You could fit his HEAD in there!

 

Catch and Release -- So we can catch her again someday



He got a little "damp"

What a helluva fish! He could have taken it and had it officially weighed and measured to see if it really was a new State Record, but it was late at night, and he didn't want the fish to die while he was trying to get it weighed.

Now, it's Monday and we have to go back to work. Tim is making butterfly chops for lunch, and I'll be heading to the office soon. I have a full schedule and volleyball open gym after work. I really need to go to Wal-Mart after work to pick up a couple things, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. It's going to be another busy day! I hope you have a good Monday -- If that's possible.    :^)

Operation Saheeb -- Three Months! We are about halfway done!