"IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!"

Just something quick to show I'm still alive and kicking.

1. Had a good time at Nordic Fest last week end. Saw family and friends, although somewhat disappointed with parade.

2. Fairly crappy work week followed and I'm very glad that another weekend is here.

3. Isn't it odd how sometimes events or things to do on your calendar all fall at the same time and then you'll go for weeks without anything in particular happening? The next few weekends are all very busy. Going to a Jimmy Buffet concert next weekend in Chicago with some coworkers. Should be fun and I'm listening to alot of Buffet music to get prepared.

4. Can't believe July has ended! Summer is flying by waaaay to fast. Soon I'll have a senior and a sophomore and from there it's just a hop and a skip to the eldest going off to college and then........ it seems like life is moving a lightening speed and I just quite seem to keep up.

5. Looking forward to my class reunion this fall although the "get in shape" plan I had isn't really working out. Again with the "where did the summer go???" theme.

6. Why can't I figure out Facebook? It really can't be that hard, but I don't get the format. It's weird. I wish they would have asked me first and I could have given them valuable input.

Proud parents and other ramblings

1. We have been very blessed with 2 wonderful teens. Last night was the annual FFA banquet. Our daughter, a junior, is the President this year so that means she MCd the program. She did a great job! She won the Outstanding Leadership award, as well as being recognized for other competitions, including competing at the National Convention this past fall. Two weeks ago she was inducted into the National Honor Society. Our son, a freshman, is pretty terrific himself, is involved in sports, FFA, and has a sharp sense of humor. Knock on wood, but they seem to be really good friends to each other as well. They spend a fair amount of time just hanging out together, talking and laughing. They both make me want to tear my hair out at times but MAN, I don't know how we got this lucky. Sorry, but I just had to gush for a moment. I'll stop sounding like one of those REALLY annoying Christmas cards you get that makes you want to smack somebody.

2. Co-workers and I have been exchanging work out videos. I have an embarrassingly large collection of them. So far I have discovered that I am more of a Core Rhythms kind of person instead of a Hip Hop Abs person. Yes, I watch entirely too many infomercials at 3 am. But it's been fun AND a whole lot cheaper than buying them all.

3. Work is a frustration but I'm not going to bitch (well, not too loud anyway) because I'm grateful to have a job.

4. I have a strong desire to have a garden this year. I'm a gardener wannabe. I love to look at beautiful landscapes, flowers, and vegetable gardens and think, wow, I'd love to do that. I unfortunately lack any kind of gardening skills, which is really odd, since I had to garden all the time as a child. Apparently, I blocked it all out. I can't tell you how many beautiful plants I have taken home only to have them die from gross neglect. My intentions are always good, grand in fact, but I have trouble with the follow through.

Hello, again

Yep, still here. Man the days fly by and before you know it, you're several days, several projects, and several pounds behind schedule. Story of my life. Anyway, I had an interesting conversation with my mother recently. In light of recent lay offs at her place of employment, she decided to retire. She felt guilty having a position when others were losing their jobs, so the decision came about rather abruptly. Not that she hadn't been thinking about it for awhile, but hadn't settled on when until very recently. So she has been retired for approximately 2 weeks or so (which means both she and my father are at home at the same time now). The last time I spoke to her she made some reference about finding an apartment if this is how retirement was going to be and that "my father" was driving her crazy. It's funny how he becomes my father as though I'm the one who picked him out of a crowd. Listen lady, you married him 50years ago so get used to it. I shudder to answer the phone at times. I don't know if I can deal with both my parents' and my teenagers' relationship issues at the same time.

PS

I was only able to catch the last part of Beyonce and the first dance for Pres.&First Lady Obama but let me just say WOW!!! I'm usually a little ambivelent about Beyonce, could take her or leave her, but she really nailed this one big time. And what an awesome song, "At Last", I had to shed a tear or two just watching the happy couple.

Random thoughts

Six random thoughts ...hmmmm.

1. Funny, when one is asked about random thoughts, you suddenly have none.

2. I don't like the idea of "flesh toned" band aids. They are only "flesh toned" for a certain demographic.

3. Can I do the job I do for the rest of my working career? I'm not sure and it certainly depends on the day. Should I go back to school? But then what?

4. I'm lucky to have my health and need to take better care of myself which leads me to my recent decision to change my healthcare provider. Easier said than done though since I personally have a little hang up about scrubbing in for surgery with a physician and then going over to their office for a pap smear. So who do I chose? I know this is my own personal issue about the situation and that all of the providers would be completely professional about it and not give it another thought, just as I do when I take care of a co-worker. Still it feels a little too weird and I'm having a bit of a struggle with it.

5. I hate insomnia! Though I rarely sleep well, I've had a really bad last couple of nights, as in probably a total of three hours a night and not all together either. I need to look into Mindy's Heavenly Bed idea.

6. Happy Inaguration Day!!! Even though President Obama has stated repeatedly that we have a tough road ahead of us as a nation and it's going to take a lot of work to get us back on track, I still predict that it will be a very short time before the oh so fickle (and frankly, not very bright)general public starts to blame him for their sad state of affairs and will have completely forgotten how we got here. Unfortunately I think there will be a lot of "I knew they shouldn't have elected a black man" kind of comments. They bask in the glory of it all now, but will turn on a dime. Here's hoping I'm wrong and that his decisions will be judged on merit and not on color.

Carpe Diem

I seem to be experiencing technical difficulties but I shall persevere. Yes I'm still around, but have had a hectic few weeks: busy work schedule, hired new employee, Christmas (with all of my husband's family staying at our house) son with pneumonia, and bronchitis for me. There, that about sums it up.
We had the last Christmas party today. My side of the family at my parent's house. We also celebrated my father's 70th birthday and my parent's 50th wedding anniversary which are both today. We had a great time! My uncle, who lost his wife of 50 years this fall, was also there. He said he was planning a trip to Las Vegas this April and invited along any of us that wanted to go. So we started to make some tentative plans. I hope it comes to fruition. I gave my parent's a gift of a family portrait that we will take sometime this spring once we align everyone's schedules. Here's the glitch - I now have this feeling like I have jinxed us somehow. Like now what if the family isn't intact in the spring!!! Why did we wait??? I know I titled this blog "Tomorrow is Another Day" since I frequently say that at work. I say I take the Scarlet O'Hara approach to things and when people say "Huh??", I respond with "You know, tomorrow is another day." But I just as easily could have called it "Seize the Day" since that's more how I feel on a day to day basis. ANYWAY.... I just have this weird feeling now that I know we have this family "appointment" in the spring. I don't think I would be weirded out if there was, say a wedding scheduled this fall. I don't think I'd sit and think "Gee, that's a ways away, what if were not all still alive by then?" I usually have the feeling that none of us a guaranteed a tomorrow so try to make the most of the now, but for some reason this picture thing has put a bug in my bonnet. Strange.

I am annoyed....so what else is new?

I got off to a fairly good start with this whole thing and then life got in the way and I'm just now finding the time to touch base again. It's funny how random things that happen spark the thought, "I should post that in my blog". But then I forget them as fast as they come. Many of the things I think of are things in daily life that annoy me, which, as most will tell you, for me that's a fairly long list. For example, I find I am annoyed by the individuals that shovel their walks and driveways into the street. I understand that there's a limited number of places that one can go with snow but it makes the street that much messier if you put all your snow into the street. I think some of my snow angst comes from the fact that my father plowed snow for many years so I heard the flip side to the "plowing of the snow" saga all during my formative years.
I find am also annoyed with the people who continually bitch about the winter weather. Yes, I think that below zero temps do get to be a bit much to deal with at times (and can be down right life threatening in certain circumstances) and I'm not a huge fan of coatings of ice that make travel and just staying up right almost impossible. BUT.... having said that, I think there are few things more beautiful than a winter day when there is fresh snow on the ground, it's calm and about 20-25 degrees. I could be out in that all day. The air is crisp and you just feel ALIVE. I know there aren't a lot of days like that, but they are hard to beat.
I also don't think I'm asking for too much to have someone design a decent pair of snow boots. I do have a pair that I really like but I do tend to look like a just returned from racing in the Iditerod when I wear them. Not the most appropriate look at times. Not that I am a slave to fashion, but I just would like something that is simple, keeps my feet warm, and I CAN TUCK MY PANTLEGS INTO!! Why do most boot manufacturers assume that I would prefer to have my pants bunched up around my knees?? The last pair of boots I tried on were so tight around the calves that I could not get them zipped. Now I realize I am not the thinnest person in the world but come on..... what stick figure would be able to get these things on?
I need to stop this negative flow of energy before I really get going. I'm off to choir where I'm always in a better frame of mind when I leave than when I came in.
I'm still hoping to post my kitchen window view per Little Sisters assignment. The skills are developing slowly but surely.