Saturday, November 29, 2008

BLACK FRIDAY, in more ways than one

BLACK FRIDAY....the day after Thanksgiving when stores reduce the prices of their merchandise deeply for pre-Christmas sales. Stores open early (4am is the earliest so far) and people wait in line for hours to get in and get the 'limited supply' merchandise. Mostly its electronics, but some toys are included, and clothes as well. The problem is people get hurt. The huge rush of people trying to get in the store ends in serious injuries, and in some cases death. One woman died at the WalMart rush, a pregnant woman was seriously injured, and some employees were injured as well. To me, that is just crazy. One woman was injured trying to help one who was getting trampled. I'm sorry, but that is pure, blind greed at work. When you don't realize or don't care that you are stomping on another human being is ludicrous. But I digress...

The original reason for this post was to talk about another reason I reference BLACK FRIDAY. Let me start by saying that no matter how hard you try, you really cannot prepare yourself emotionally for some things. One example for me was when my Grandmother died 6 years ago. I knew it was coming...she had been going downhill for over a year and the prognosis was not good at all. But when I got the call, I was crushed. I thought I had prepared myself, but it was such a blow that I wasn't sure how to handle it.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that no matter who you are...a Monk who meditates for hours to prepare for life, or an Illusionist of any sort, you are still making people see something that really isn't there. For me, its strength. Not all of my emotional strength is an illusion, but on occassion, it is.

November 28th, however, was a total meltdown of any strength, real or otherwise, that I might have had. November 28th I sadly had to put my 2 Giant Schnauzers to sleep. Now before all of the animal rights advocates get crazy, or anyone else decides to jump on some sort of weird bandwagon lecture, let me explain.

First, GS don't have a long life span, and they were already 7 years old. Second, this new job that the DH and I are taking is absolutely NO PETS. Third, both dogs were trained in personal protection, and to sell them or place them with someone who doesn't know the breed or their training is just asking for a lawsuit. They would get bit, and I can't live with that. The few people who are into that type of dog don't want one that is so old. So you see, I had no choice.

We called the vet out earlier in the week, had the hole dug in the back yard, and I thought we both had prepared ourselves emotionally. Wrong. It was awful. The vet was great about it all, he had wonderful 'bedside manner' so to speak and seemed to understand our situation and our emotions. He kept us talking about different things, and didn't hang around too long, but didn't just up and leave, either. But let me tell you....once he was gone, and we had to put them in the hole and fill it, that is when we lost it. DH went and got the tractor (the hole was huge) while I began with a shovel and rake. I cried...LOUD. I apologized to them both, and told them how much we loved them despite all of the crazy things they had done. DH arrived with the tractor, and I had to open the gate to the back yard to let him in. It was then that any composure I had left was gone. See, whenever someone drove up, they barked. This time, there was no barking. DH got the majority of the dirt pushed back in, and left again. I raked, and put the sod back in place. once DH arrived back at the house, we just hugged. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I tried doing other things....I emptied their water buckets, picked up their food bowls, and cried even more. DH finished up the dirt, and as we put the yard tools back in the shed, I told him..."no barking". All he could do was nod, and I went to the house.

Later on, we couldn't stand it anymore so we showered and went out to eat. We both had to have a distraction, and that worked out nicely. We were to bed early, the emotional drain had just wiped us out, not to mention we had been up since 3am to go shopping. We both woke at about 6.30am, and I said "you know, when I went outside to unplug the Christmas lights, I didn't hear him come out of his kennel...it killed me."...that is when the DH replied "I lost it completely when I heard you close the kennel gates, that familiar squeak. It just killed me." We both agreed it was the little sounds that you never think about that we will miss. I also find myself, out of habit, walking by a back window and looking out to see what they are doing. But its empty. Today we spent the day away from the house for the most part. Obviously we can't do that everyday, but I think it just helps us cope in our own way.

So as you can see, it was BLACK FRIDAY in more ways than one.

Elite von Elberfeld 21 May 2001 - 28 Nov 2008

Harras vom Haus Boskens (Carlo) 21 Oct 2001 - 28 Nov 2008

Rest In Peace, and we will see you at the Rainbow Bridge.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Day

Today is a day when 90% of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. The age old question is posed "what are you thankful for?" and again, 90% say "My family." I've heard varying answers, but that is the most common. Most also spend time with said family today. Now, this is great, unless you belong to a huge family like I do. In which case you celebrate Thanksgiving early, so everyone else can go to their respective families. That being said, the DH and I had the day to ourselves. I've said in the previous blog that my days to come would be busy, and today was no exception. Planning and preparation cannot afford a holiday. So today we did several things, although it seems the mess now is bigger than when we started.

1: Found all of the Christmas decorations and got them sorted into their appropriate room.

2: Did some minor decorating with what was imediately available, or easy.

3: DH drained the hot tub and got the pipes drained out along with the pump. All that is left is to blow out the small amount of water that is left and then cover the entire tub.

4: Used our 30 ft. flag pole as a guide in making a 'christmas tree'...only to realize we need bigger lights. (that will get re-done tomorrow)

5: One of the 6 trees assembled. It still needs 'fluffed' and decorated.

It doesn't seem like much, but other little things had to be done in order for those things to come together. I had to move pieces of furniture to another room, rearrange furniture to accomodate the trees, take some everyday things down in order to put up the decorations, etc. I can feel the stress creeping up on me, and it shows its ugly face in the form of fatigue. Whenever I begin to get overly stressed, I just want to sleep. Today after lunch I couldn't function at all, so I slept solidly for an hour. I didn't want to get up, but had to. And my poor DH is catching my 'frustration'. I get on him for standing around and doing what appears to me as...well,....nothing. Poor guy, but I guess like most men, he is just lost as to what I want done, so he figures as long as he stands around and makes himself available, he is safe...WRONG. To all you men out there....DO SOMETHING. You see your significant other working on a project, you know what needs to be done, so DO IT. Don't wait for them to ask, JUST DO.

Ok, that mini rant is over. We have decided to try our hand at shopping on Black Friday. Personally I have never felt a need to participate in this event, but there are a few things we still need that will be on a 'can't pass it up' sale. So we will have our tired asses at JCPenney tomorrow at 4am. ugh. Then its off to WalMart at 5, and either K Mart or Target at 6. The plan is to be home by 8am. Gawd I can only hope. I still feel like I have so much to do! It just seems overwhelming because I want it all done...NOW. I've only got 2 more weeks to get this place ready for the Open House. Not to mention I'm still working on the stuff for when we leave.

Which reminds me....the Open House. I have decided to go a bit against the grain (although just a small bit) and make a Christmas CD. Just music that will be playing in the background for the 4 hours people will be here. Yes, it contains Christmas songs, and the traditional ones at that. But the small twist is they are all from the Big Band Era. Yep, swingin' baby! I just love Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Tommy Dorsey, Nat King Cole, and Glen Miller...and lets not forget Burl Ives!! So I composed a 45 minute CD with all of these great singers for a really up beat, swingin' Christmas! I also purchased 3 other CD's that have the traditionals on them as well, so if I put them all in the player on 'shuffle' I should have a great mix. While I was searching out the music, I downloaded some regular swing tunes that I might make into a CD as well. Lately I've been listening to a channel on Sirius satellite radio called "The 40's on 4"....they play all of the Big Bands, plust some of the 20s and 30s. Its actually been quite a nice change from the same songs played over and over on the radio. Of course the DH thinks I'm losing my brain, lol. Sometimes I wonder if I'm suffering from some sort of past life regression in my subconcious. I mean, how many 37 year old women do you know that actually WANT to listen to that music? Yeah, I've always had extremely eclectic taste in music, but I think this tops the list, lol.

Ok, so now that I have rambled completely off topic, I'll release you all from this boring blog. I hope those of you who celebrate it had a great holiday, and for those that don't, I hope you just had a good day. And what am I thankful for? Many things....our military (especially the K9 units out there!), my DH, my son and step son, the opportunities I've been given in the past, and all the ones to come, my health, and the few friends I do have, thanx for not bailing out on me! <3

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

'Tis the Season.....

....to be extremely BUSY!!!! I don't know if I could pack any more shit into my day. Between trying to get the little shit done before we leave, to getting the holiday shit done, I meet myself coming and going...its getting annoying because I realize how bad my hair looks!! lol

The wonderful DH decided that we would have one last 'hoorah' before we left, and that would entail putting up all the trees (6 or 7, I lost count)plus ALL the decorations and then some. We would then send out invitations to the family and friends for a "Christmas Open House" with TONS of food. I sent out 31 invitations, and if everyone comes, I'll have between 60 - 80 people coming through my house between 4 - 8pm. Eating, touring the house, asking tons of questions, commenting on trees, did I mention eating?

I have spent today making pretzels covered in white chocolate, vanilla oreos covered in regular chocolate, hanging the lights outside along the fence, along with the bows. I also did 4 loads of laundry, folded it all and put it away, did 2 sinks of dishes, moved a twin bed/boxspring into the closet, re-arranged the clothes in said closet, and still had time to take pics of 5 crates to send to a friend who needs one. People, that is just TODAY. Its 5:30 and I just sat down for the first time since 8 this morning. I'm pooped!

Also, I have disengaged the home PC and am working off of our laptop. We had it completely cleaned and the memory wiped and re installed. We also took out the 512RAM and put in a 1G stick. I thought it would run faster, but I think since we are on the end of the DSL line it doesn't matter. I can't wait to get on the road and use the cell stick that we'll have. It will allow us to run off of the cell phone towers, which will help, plus we'll have WiFi and high speed at the motels. I believe that is when I'll be glad I put in the 1G.

Anyway, that has been my day. I have so much to do in the days to come, I don't know if I'll have time to post or not...I hope I do!!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

So we all know I've been holding out on the info lately for fear of jinxing the whole thing. Well now I get to spill the news!!

DH and I applied for a 'couples only' job about 2 weeks ago and after sitting through a 2+ hour interview, we got the call last night that we got the job!! The best parts are as follows:

1-- We get to live in sunny FLORIDA where its WARM!!

2-- We get to keep this house

3-- We come home about twice a year

4--Did I mention FLORIDA???

5--We have the opportunity to save a bunch of money

6--WARM, BEACHES, SUNSHINE

Anyway, the job starts in January. We will spend about 2 weeks here in Illinois for training, then trot our happy asses to FLORIDA!! Holy shit I'm excited!! I guess the main reason is we were looking for something along these lines, and when we saw this job, everything just fell into place. And when the manager told us we would be assigned to a specific region, I was really hoping for the southeast, and even concentrating on FLORIDA. So you can imagine the Happy Dance I did when we got the call that not only did we get it, but FLORIDA!!! Dammit People!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!

We are telling the DH's family on Sunday during the typical family gathering. So on top of the holidays to gear up for, I have about 3 good weeks left to get things in order here. Things like getting all the bills taken care of and debited out on a regular basis. Having people come by and mow the grass and flush a toilet now and again. Getting things ready to pack...after all, we'll be gone for 6 months, at which time we'll only be back here for 2 weeks, then back down to FLORIDA again. I would go into further detail, but there is really no need. I'll have the laptop with us, so I'll still be able to blog. This time it will be about all the adventures in WARM, SUNNY FLORIDA!!!!!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Ventriloquists

I don't think I could ever do this, but the talent these two guys have is amazing! First is Terry Fator who won the 2007 America's Got Talent, as he appeared on David Letterman.



And here he is again on AGT.



Those being shown, I still think the best is Jeff Dunham and Peanut. Jeff has many characters, but I really like Peanut.

Jeff and Peanut, part 1:




Part 2:



Part 3:



Like I said, he has many other characters and you can see them on YouTube, but these 2 are my favs!!

Friday, November 14, 2008

TWILIGHT

One more week and the movie TWILIGHT will be out...I can't wait!!! Here is a music video by PARAMORE

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Rant on Germs....

So here I sit, watching the morning news show, drinking my coffee, and they decide to do a segment on germs. Specifically germs on shopping carts. Supposedly they find such nasty things as Ecoli, Staph, Salmanilla, etc and of course the name of the segment being "The Secret World of Filth"....WHAT? Could we just send more panic into our already Germaphobic world? How long have those of us with kids been putting them in the shopping cart and doing fine? How many of us rode in those same damn carts and LIVED???? My god people, they make it sound like if you don't sanitize every single thing, you or your child may DIE.....WTF???

Its no wonder we have cancer beyond control...all the preservatives etc in our food. We have children with asthma, low immune system function, and other illnesses....because we are germaphobs. We have started taking our children, and ourselves, to get antibiotics for just a sniffle. Our systems don't have a chance to buld up an immunity to viruses, so we are actually becoming weaker. When will we all WAKE UP and realize that our fast food, pesticides and preservatives are KILLING US????? Probably won't be in MY generation.

Monday, November 10, 2008

A bit, but not all....

Ok, I know I've hinted at information in other posts, and today I'm going to give you just a bit of insight, but not all of it..hee hee :)

Today the DH started a new trucking job. The old one was just screwing him over. They promised 4 days on, 2 off...HA! NOT....They promised and trained him to haul acid...he MIGHT have hauled a load a week..pffftt.

Anyway, point being he found a company here locally that is small, and has more loads than they have drivers. He will be home every other night, and in some cases he can be home more. He gets 2 days off a week, just has to let them know which ones. He can bring the truck home (woohooo!!) which is a major time and gas savor on my end. So all in all, its great! Sure beats the hell out of being gone for 2 or 3 weeks at a time, layed over in some town for the weekend and not getting paid.

As for the other news, I can't yet elaborate. I'll know some info tomorrow, but until we go through the entire process and get....oh shit, can't say that! LOL

I'll keep ya posted...I'm off to plan this evening's meal for when the DH comes home from work... :)

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

MORE SHOES!!!

I told you I was a shoe/boot freak...got this pair in the mail today. Ordered them off of eBay and they ROCK!!

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How can you not love these???? LOL

Halloween, St. Louis, and SHOES!!!!

Ok Ok...so its been forever, I know....BUT I've been busy!! Ok, maybe not THAT busy, but I've just had things to do, and I've been spending time with the DH. Is that a bad thing? lol

So, as most of you know, we dressed up for Halloween as Danny and Sandy from GREASE. We had a ball! Went to a party, and although the band wasn't bad, and they played a variety of songs, all of the songs sounded the same. They played the same style of music for every song, no variety. But nonetheless, we had a good time.

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Also, there was a couple there that came as "Dead Wedding Couple"...the makeup and attire was awsome!

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And of course, I met ELVIS!!! woohooo!!

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Here are some singles of DH and I.

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So on Saturday we decided to go to St. Louis and have a nice weekend with no family, no animals, nothing but US. We had a really nice time, shopping around in different districts, and even an outlet mall that was completely inside....(usually outlet malls have the entrances to the stores all from the outside). And as a first, DH ate at a Chinese place in the food court, lol. I guess the explaination would be that he has always been leary of oriental food, and has a complete aversion to rice, but this time he ordered some spiced honey chicken. I know most of you say "so what? it was just chicken!" But for him, it was a HUGE step, and I was so proud! LOL

We went, as I said, to all kinds of malls and shops. And since I am a complete shoe nut, we just couldn't leave without getting at least ONE pair! Nope, I got TWO!! LOL...so one was a cool pair of purple heels, and I couldn't resist the coolest pair of BOOTS!!

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Now as for the shoes....oh boy do I need to get some gel inserts for the front. I wore them for 5 minutes and thought I was gonna cry! There is NO cushion and as most women know, beauty is painful, but damn, this was outragious! LOL The boots are just so awsome, when worn with a pair of skinny leg jeans, they look HOT!! LOL

Other things are going on here, but at the moment I can't discuss them for fear of jinxing it!

One last thing, depending on the stuff I can't yet discuss (could I be any more vague?), that will determine if I will be able to go to my great friend "Jade's" house in Wisconsin for a few days. I'm hoping I can go, but there are so many variables right now, I just don't know. So Jade, please be patient!! :)