Fasten Your Seatbelts, everbody!

What's with the traffic today??? I am driving home and all these cars seem to speed up if they saw me try to attempt...ATTEMPT to make a left turn! Barreling down towards me. If only my van was a sports car, I might go from 0-60 mph in 1 second! No, it takes longer than that.

But I made it home safely. Whew.

This day was really....long.

And sleepy.

And sick.

This morning I showed up to drop Josh off at Opa's house to find the house completely dark! So we went in carefully and I'm praying and holding my breath and telling Josh to go upstairs and wake up Opa. I hear Opa profusely apologizing and blaming his alarm clock.

He's aliiiiiiiiiiiive! So I say bye then take off. I almost turned left to go to McD's to get a drink...but the traffic was heavy. Ehhh...nah.

So I turn right (illegally...oops!) and head on straight towards the town I work in (26 some miles away....)....and had some time left to swing by one of the many McD's and get my drink.

Parked and went inside...the library looks so clean and nice. I was very curious how the event went Friday night.

So I asked one of my co-workers...she said there were no tours but everyone seem to stand around eating and drinking...and visiting with friends and people. And that the food was really, really good.

Darn...I should not have declined.

Eh, too late.

As I was shelving new books, I kind of got confused because of all the shifting of books I did last week, it wasn't in their old place...so I had to kind of work backwards to find the right sections to shelve my books. Burned a lot of calories there too, I think.

Spent the rest of the day doing some spreadsheet work and bringing in records.

I get a call from Opa around 3...Josh threw up at school. Going to pick him up. Take him to his house or drop him off at home? I said, better drop off at my home...that way he can crawl in bed and sleep.

I get home, and yup, Josh is snoozing away on mama's bed. Oh yes, my bed.

The crockpot dinner is nowhere nearly done...I guess I'll just let it cook another couple hours.

I feel like I'm sliding off my seat. Where's that seatbelt?

Woo! It's FRIDAY!

Let's have some more WOO's!

Well, I've completed shifting the remaining shelves...and dusted (oh my, talk about a sneeze-fest!) and tidied up a bit.

My shoulders/arms/elbows/wrists/fingers are all sore! Oy.

Now I know I can rest this weekend. I'm very thankful there are no major plans going on.

I'm currently on break right now so wanted to blog real fast. Saw one co-worker who works in Archives all dressed up. Wow. Guess he didn't want to hike home, change, and come back. But no matter, he looks really good for someone who's been with the library ... forever!

I suppose it's time for me to go down and track somebody to see how I can help them prepare for the gala...be it setting up tables, or what.

I'm really excited for them.

Thankful Thursday

I have a lot to be thankful for.

It's payday today! Woo.

I gassed up for 3.65 this morning! Woo.

I got yummy pumpkin spice cappuccino to get me started this morning! Woo.

Got to work on time! Woo!

Was asked to do a major, MAJOR shifting project...so that involved a lot of math thinking, counting shelves and divvy it up, etc. It was a great workout, but I know I will pay for it when I wake up in the morning. It is a good feeling knowing how much I've been able to accomplish in a whole day's work ...except for the last 2 hours---6 hours can do anybody in. Will finish the remaining 64 shelves in the morning. Woo!

The library I work at is having its 10th anniversary gala tomorrow evening. I was invited, but there was no way or time for me to get a fancy schmancy dress...it is a black tie event. Woo. But I'm very happy that the library is being recognized. The library has been going through MAJOR cleaning this week, and oh yeah, light bulbs were FINALLY replaced over my beloved Government Document shelves! Oh yes! I can SEE!

Had some good news regarding Deaf Cafe business, and I'm very excited and looking forward to us having a great future. Woo!

A guy who was going to lead a conference in TN had to cancel due to low registration. Well, a church here in Michigan invited him up instead, and we've (Deaf Cafe) been invited to participate in the evening programs! WOO!

Well...woo. Now I'm tired.

Woooo....

What's the difference?

I picked up some fresh beef from Jerry's Market here in Tecumseh. I asked for the price on a pound of beef that was already cut up for stir fry. It was over 4.50 a pound. Ouch. So I told the man I'd like 2 lbs of the beef stew chunks. He looked at me and said, what's the difference? I said, it's cheaper by 75 cents!

And besides, when I get home, I could cut it up in thinner pieces (and get more for my buck) and throw it on my flat long skillet and cook it up.

Yum. Made fajitas...oooh la la.

The kids put away the dishes---WHOA! No arguments here. Okay...

We're stuffed to our gills.

Oh the snickerdoodles I made last night? I didn't have vanilla extract. But had almond extract. That was actually very good...giving it the tang...yum.

Wait, I think I did blog that already. I apologize.

Really nothing exciting going on today. A lovely day outside, and full tummies today, and I'm feeling good...just can't stand or walk for long period of time w/o having some back pain.

Well I supposed I should empty the washer and throw it in the dryer.

Ahhh...

Snickerdoodles...

Josh and I are gonna bake!

For dinner today, I made up something out of thin air---well, okay, I confess. I had gazdillions of pop bottles to return. Josh helped me pop those in and get our money back...and had enough to get ground beef. I COULD HAVE gotten couple more items but no...I didn't. I used the ground beef to make this instant lasagna thing that you throw stuff together from a box. A Betty Crocker thing. It was actually pretty good but I couldn't eat a lot of that.

We need something....something...to settle dinner.

Thought...aha! Snickerdoodles!

Where's the butter? All out. Well, not completely OUT but not enough to get a 1/2 cup's worth.

I sent my husband to the store to pick up some butter. I seem to have forgotten all about THAT one. I ought to fire myself.

Will watch Dancing with the Stars tonight...I'm looking forward to that. Read a book, and just be careful not to do something that'll throw my back out.

Eat cookies.

Yum.

Suddenly it's Saturday!

Oh yeah. I slept in!

It might seem like it at 7:15 in the morning...but if going to bed at 9 pm last night...oh yeah, I call that sleeping in this morning!

Been a busy week at work and other things.

Got inventive with dinner and was pleased to know I had some meat left to make tacos for dinner...for the hubby and myself!

Today will be a busy day. I need to clear out the "trunk" of the van and try to clean up a bit here 'n there. I'm picking up 3-4 people today and heading up to Flint for a meeting...MIBCD this time. Then we have our MIBCD fellowship after that. It'll be nice.

I am sorry I not have much to report at this time. Maybe I'll crawl back in bed for another hour? Yeah, I think I'll do that....

Wednesday...

Well, I've gone back to naming my post title by the day I'm writing it on. Sheesh.

I've been overwhelmed with several upsetting situations that occurred since Monday! And trying to step back, take a deep breath, think things thoroughly before taking action. Oh yeah, praying a lot for wisdom on choice of words before I speak/write them. Pray for me as I deal with this. I know God is in full control of this situation I'm dealing with. *smiling big*

I'm cooking up macaroni so I can make goulash. I know my friend Vonnie makes it differently. Hers is homemade. Mine is ...quick and easy. Cook the mac elbows, throw in spaghetti sauce and some meat, and viola!

If I have shredded cheese, I might sprinkle some in.

So much for gourmet meals. Hang on....

10 minutes later:
Okay...I'm back. The mac has been cooked, I threw in the sauce, mixed it all up, and added ground beef to it....and found some mozeralla cheese...the boys (yes, my son and husband) are enjoying it. Me---I'll eat some later. Or make a sandwich...eh....


Well, I'm off to read a book for a bit, to try to de-stress myself. Then will do a report tonight and get some other stuff pulled together...and start another work day tomorrow.... la la la.

What's up with the traffic?

This morning, I was a bit late for work. Normally I make pretty good time. Until I arrived and was informed of a terrible fiery accident that occurred on I-94, west of Ann Arbor.

Oh.

I noticed the traffic lights were changing too fast....I thought it was the Ike rainstorm from Sunday that threw them off the timer or something.

Then I remembered how heavy traffic was this morning. Some people were cutting through the gas stations or some parking lots to get around.

Ah.

Well, at first like I said, blame Ike or maybe everyone woke up this morning and decided they MUST report to work.

At least it's sunny today, a nice break from all the rain we had over the weekend. One friend called me on the VP and we chatted. She attended her grandson's football game. Her grandson is same age as Josh. He told grandma that he loves playing in the rain. She was telling me even with her umbrella on a wet, rainy Saturday, did not work. She is very expressive and I just loved seeing her describing how she felt. Came home and they all needed hot showers to get the rain off. And wash his football clothes. LOL. She missed Deaf Cafe because of that.

It is a bit chilly this morning, and I did a stupid thing by putting on capris and sandals and tshirt. Oh....yeah. It's chilly. Brrr.

Well, I'm going to guzzle more of my latte and read my book for the rest of my break time.

Gee...

My favorite Christian singer "came out"...and I'm just feeling really bummed. 2 people brought it to my attention today. Imagine my shock. And my grief.

Oh, don't get me wrong...I have many friends who are gay or lesbian or whatever. But I continue to show love. I do not like the lifestyle, but I still love them.

Driving home, I just couldn't bear to play the cd.

At this point, I don't know what more to say. I can only pray for him and who knows...

Caffeine jump-start your day...

After being drenched by Ike over the weekend, and taking a nap that was cut short yesterday by a growing, hungry son....and driving in some type of weather that could blow anyone off the roads...that's pretty tiring!

So, here's to you all who needs a jump-start for today. After all, it's Monday.

Rain rain...go away....please?

Well I'm at Vonnie's house and woke up early. We had our Deaf Cafe program last night. I truly felt it was very successful. I am very pleased. The turnout was actually pretty good. So that is impressive as well.

Two team members did a great job doing a duet after we performed our skit. I was truly touched and they are such naturals. I'm very proud of them.

It has been raining hard the past couple days. Last night was a challenge as far as taking things that we took down (props, equipments, etc) and had to haul it out to the Deaf Cafe trailer. It POURED. Many of us were soaking wet. But, we got the job done in a very timely manner. I thought everyone worked so well together.

Sitting here at 7:15 in the morning, I am thinking, wow. It is a good feeling and I know God is pleased with us.

Soon I need to shower...even though it had been so humid, the shower curtain in the bathroom kept sliding down so we will try to put it back up. And attempt to shower. If can't, I will just use the shower head (it's a hose type too...) and wash my hair. I can always shower at home.

Happy Friday...of course!

First off, I want to say Bright Red Socks Dude is now home, resting comfortably. I envy him, though, because he gets to sleep all day. Then play with us at Deaf Cafe tomorrow night.

I would love to do that myself---sleep.

Anyway....welcome home, Bright Red Socks Dude!

I had my hair done last night and I think I can safely say, spunky. The hairdresser who did my hair loves me. I told her she could go for it. Meaning, whatever color she thinks I should have. I might go seasonal for a while....so my hair is very pretty. As soon as I get someone to snap a pic of me, I'll post it. I'll try to find a before, an after and another after. LOL.

My washer/dryer is soooo happy to have me all to themselves today. I've started my second load now in the washer. First load in the dryer. I can hear them happily working away. I made a teensy weensy clearing of my daughter's floor. GASP! I have forgotten what the floor looks like!

Packing up, getting some things put together, and will need to clean up the van a little bit more. I have forgotten some things in there and I'm sure a container I have forgotten is beyond worth saving so in the trash it will go.

My son was grinning from ear to ear today. I said, "What are you so happy about?"
He said, "You're off today. I love it when you take me to school. And when you pick me up!"

Awww. He really does love me, doesn't he?

Bright Red Socks...

I would like to take a moment here to ask you all to remember the tragedy 7 years ago. I know there are many ceremonies and programs going on today. Remember those who have died.


A lot has been going on and for myself personally, I'm just totally wiped out. I do hope I regain my true self sometime this weekend.

We are hurtling into final preparations for our first Deaf Cafe-Flint program, going into our 5th season. We are very excited.

One team member is currently in the hospital. Even though he is fine, they still want to make sure he's okay. We know God is in control!

He did share a very interesting thing with us:

When they brought me into the room they put these BRIGHT RED slipper-socks on my feet. I found out why. RED means that I may lose my balance easily and am "unstable." Ok lose balance fine...UNSTABLE?? You know what I always say..."Define normal." I am just as unstable as the next person..lol..It really means unstable on my feet and there should be someone with me when I am on the move. See?? Learn something new everyday.

I had a good chuckle over that. I asked him to question the nurses for all the color coded socks so we could somehow use the ideas for Deaf Cafe skit ideas! Thanks, pal!

Tuesday in a tizzy...

Okay, like that title for today's post? Yeah? No? Eh...better than boring..."Tuesday"...

The past couple days have been interesting. Sunday I arrived at church to find out our senior pastor had gall bladder surgery on Saturday! So our music director had to multi-task and was asked to preach too! So he lead us in group singing, then lead the choir then he preached...and he did good.

I'm kind of like that---I'm a real multi-tasker.

Yesterday was busy day at work...with fall semester in full swing, the students and people all over the place, and getting the library ready for the 10th anniversary since it was built and opened. I was there 10 years ago!

Today was another busy day and had a very nice meeting that really boosted my morale. And had some good news in other places too, so I'm really thrilled.

Deaf Cafe-Flint was invited to participate in a weekend-long program a church is hosting, and so far, gotten many very interested team members wanting to participate. That's what I call, TEAMWORK! I know the host church will be so thrilled. Now just a matter of planning.

Just dropped Ashley off to babysit "Ilovechinesefoodnow!" off and I need to do some serious laundry but I really lack motivation...BLAH. I just want to read, read, read.

While I'm on that subject of reading, I'm going to finish the last couple chapters. I read this book and in the middle of it, I just SOLVED THE CLUE! but it took the heroine long enough to figure it out herself! "Demons Are Forever" by Julie Kenner. The subheading of that is really, "Confessions of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom". It's funny as well.

I have other books to read that Vonnie has given me...so I've already read 3 of those. I have many more--probably 10-15 more?

Off to finish the demon book.....

Football Fever...

Well, I got kicked off the tv, in a way. We have 3 other TV's as well, but my husband wants the BIG SCREEN one. In the living room.

And that one is hooked up to the fancy smancy digital cable box...and I like watching my movies on that.

His game is on a local channel...can watch on any other 13" TV's....

Pfft.

Oh well, not a major deal for me. But I love him enough to make him happy...for the time being.

Next week, I'll try to set him up with another TV. We'll see if I'll be successful.

Anyway, today did absolutely nothing. Even ignored my washer/dryer too. Tsk. Sad, isn't it. Well, there's always tomorrow. I've been in a mood that just kind of held me back and I'm just trying to calm down and cool off, take deep breaths and try to be patient before I deal with this situation...

I have a full house tonight. My kids are having a friend over tonight...and it'll be nice to bring them to church tomorrow. We'll have potluck after church so that'll be nice too.

I'm currently cooking ground beef with some salsa sauce in the crockpot...and will cook it overnight---it's for our tacos tomorrow. Yum.

Guess I'll just go watch tv in my room...try lipreading or read closed-captioning on a 13" tv.

Ahh....and I hate football.

Wheee!

That's a pretty lame title for today, ain't it?

Well, happy Friday, y'all.

As I stumbled around this morning...my washer/dryer were looking really sorry. Piles of clothes on top of them. Some dirty laundry on the floor in front of them begging to be washed and cleansed. Yeah, yeah, yeah....

And I've been talking for weeks about how I will have a hot date with my washer/dryer. Well, I really am not hot on doing laundry...and I don't trust my husband with the washer, really. He learned to fill it up and pour soap. And push the button to start. The problem with that, is his mom had a heavy duty washer and you can put a LOT in there. But not mine. And well, with my old washer, it caused some problems and wouldn't work. We can't cram it full to the rim. The washer won't be able to "churn".

Let this woman do it.

We had our first Deaf Cafe rehearsal last night. It went very well. We did miss one actor but we did very well. A lot of silliness, but we were also serious too. I am very excited we'll be starting our 5th season next weekend! WOO!

Got home around 9:30ish last night---and I was pretty tired...and slept hard.

Anyway, with the hurricanes coming to the USA...I expect some rain over the next few days. Yes I know we're UP HERE out of the way...but the clouds and everything will come up our way and we'll get rain. That's ok...I don't mind.

Have a super weekend and take it easy.

What were you thinking?

Okay, before I go on with this post, please bear in mind this is my own personal views/opinions and I'm entitled to vent or share. I am not out to judge anyone nor do I wish anyone to judge me. From my own observations of the political world, I'm allowed to share. Please do not attack me for my political thoughts....and I'm really a very nice gal, and not much of a political person....so if you don't like what I have to say...you can always leave this blog. I won't bite. I promise.

Alright, reading the news today during my break time---I live in Michigan. I'm not that far from Detroit, but the mayor of Detroit is giving Michigan a pretty bad reputation, and I feel so bad for the people...not just in Detroit, but all over Michigan.

With Mayor Kwame lying and trying to cover up, etc., is not good. I don't care how young he is or if his mommy is on the congress (or some higher up position in the government world). I don't care if he wants to mess around with some other woman but...honestly, need to keep an image and not become tabloid fodder. I have been SORT OF monitoring the happenings of Kwame and his woes...and how his wrongdoings have not only hurt Detroit, but really hurt his own family and friends. Being abusive with his authority...that's just so wrong. And if you have a very important role as a political figure, it does not give you the right to be waived from all your wrongdoings.

Now, he pleaded guilty. Good. I, along with many others, have been begging him to step down and let someone else run Detroit. He will serve time in jail, and some hours of community service, and can't run for political office for 5 years (I feel he should be banned from running for office, ever).

Onto other things, McCain's VP selection....Palin. Okay, she's like 4 years older than me and has a 4 month old baby! Whoa. I feel...so out of place or something. But anyway, I do wish her the best. I again am not one to judge. Her teenage daughter is preggers....and everyone's making a big deal.

My opinion: if I was in her shoes, I'd decline the VP nomination. "Sure, my teenage daughter's pregnant and I see nothing wrong with that...and I will support her in every way I can...." blah blah blah. Um, being in the glare of media and cameras and the whole wide world WATCHING you....that'd be unnverving. IF I was THAT pregnant teenager, I'd tell my mom (who has been selected VP) not to accept because it wouldn't be just right.

And I did get pregnant w/o being married first---but I wasn't a teenage mom. However, my choices back then was very worldly, and I never cared what anyone thought. BUT, it did hurt when I've had to endure a lot of criticisms, etc. due to my lifestyle choices.

Well, I've straightened up A LOT...and on the right path...and would I do it again? No.

When anyone has an important role to take upon, I would strongly suggest they deeply search deep into their hearts, knowing what they will face ahead. Running a nation is such a huge responsibility (a city too!).

Now I'll just jump off my soapbox and get back to work in a moment....

Wednesday...

Well, I hope I don't name each day with the name of the day...Monday, Tuesday, etc. I sometimes draw a blank when it comes to coming up with a title of each day's blog.

My kids are happily settling into school, and Josh just continues to rave about his teacher, Mrs. Z. We talked about how much nicer she is and how she brought in her little friend, some type of lizard, to school today. Cool.

And no, you can't take the cat(s) with you.

Ashley has school picture day tomorrow. They do it so early because they need their student ID's to attend events, etc. So...that makes sense. But, sometimes bad timing....especially if strapped for cash.

Well I just fired my husband from going to the store....again. I gave him very basic list...3 items. Salsa (thick and chunky....), shredded cheese and sour cream.

He came back with the right salsa, shredded cheese and....light cream cheese? Cream cheese? for tacos? um....read my lips..."sour cream" is not "cream cheese".

Oh well. We can do fine with the shredded cheese and salsa. No problem. I'll just take the cream cheese back and exchange it for sour cream.

I'm gonna go eat my tacos....

Back to School!

Yup.

I woke my son up this morning...when he complained, I said, "first day of schoooooool......" in a sing-songsy voice.

Woke right up...and got dressed and put on his brand new backpack (it's like a sling back type).

Woke up Ashley before we left.

Joshua tells me he really likes his teacher, whom I shall call Mrs. Z. She's very nice, and doesn't get mad, he tells me.

Last year he had a teacher that was pretty rough, and yells a lot, short on patience...and sometimes not very nice. I never liked her.

At work today, we had our annual fall staff/faculty retreat. We learned a lot about facebook, and about addons for our browsers. Nice! Cool too! Facebook, I forgot I had signed up for it already---but got that started up again. So it was kinda cool.

My supervisor had been gone all summer. I finally sort of caught up with her today, and she really got a lot of sun! She looks really good. Sometime later this week we will probably do some catching up. Today was just a really busy day with meetings and the "retreat" we had today.