Another Two Weeks Gone By

The last time I wrote in my blog was two weeks ago and it was also the last time I seen the little peanut, my grand-daughter. Last week she was suppose to go with her mother to visit her family but never got around to it so they planned on going this week so I didn't get to pick her up either. Last week was also my dh's birthday so my son and I went to purchase his gift. We got him a 47" LCD television to replace our old 52" projection television he watches all the time.

After weeks of research I had whittled it down to the 46" Sony Bravia and the 47" Vizio. We got the Vizio. Sony is supposedly a better brand but after comparing the stats I decided on the Vizio because I felt it had more options and some of the stats were better and for $400 less which paid for the wall mount, besides Vizio is the top selling brand right now. We had to return the first wall mount I purchased because our studs were 24" apart instead of 16" but they were less expensive than the first ones.

Once we got the television on the wall, which was a challenge, we moved our old t.v. into the guest room which is really suppose to be a living room and we are using it as a quest room. I moved some of the furniture around and went up to the attic to hook up the cable. Boy it was hot up there, I felt as if I was melting. I will see if I take pictures of the new t.v. and the old t.v. and post them on my photo blog.

I was getting the guest room ready for my grand-daughter and her mother who were planning on moving in this past weekend but I guess she wasn't ready yet. There is even enough space for the baby's crib. I call her my daughter-in-law even though she's not with my son at this time. I hope it doesn't bother her that I call her that. I see her as the daughter I never had, I hope that doesn't bother her either. Sometimes I wonder if I'm a bit too pushy wanting the best for the two of them. Maybe I just need to back off.

I been wanting to set up a small play area in the back for her to play and in case they do decide to move in. If they do I know we will be taking the baby to the park and the beach and spending plenty of time with her. I was hoping to help her mom get a job and eventually teach her how to drive. I also intend on talking with my niece about how she got her apartment in a gated community so that my daughter-in-law can eventually get on the list to get an apartment if she wants too.

I'm also excited about my other sister moving down here with her husband and my niece and nephew. My grandbaby will have fun playing with them when we visit and I get to spend more time with them too.

This weekend I plan on going to a psychic fair. I've been wanting to go for a while but keep putting it off. I think it's time so that I can see what the future has in store for me. Yesterday I did a Tarot reading but it wasn't a very good one. Looks like their might be a bit of turmoil coming my way but I'll try to stay positive and hope for the best. If I go I will post about it.

What A Day

After a week of getting back home from North Carolina it was back to work, but only for one day. The night was slow and the shocking news of Michael Jackson's sudden death after hearing about Farrah Fawcett passing away in the morning did not help, especially when some of the music coming from the intercom was Michael Jackson's. I had some family members call me and even a friend who knew how much I loved Michael Jackson.

I stayed up late and had to get up early to pick up the little peanut, my grand-daughter. I guess it was a good thing instead of watching the news about Michael Jackson all day and being sad. I even wore black today out of respect. Can you believe it? I had been upset the past few days because of what has been happening in Iran with regular human beings who were protesting against an election and then for freedom being "tortured and killed" out in the streets. Well that's for my other blog so I'll stop now on that issue.

Anyway I was wondering how people get their licenses. Do they buy them someone on the streets? It's unbelievable the type of drivers that were on the road today. Luckily it all happened before I picked up the baby.

First on the way there, a lady in a van came right into my lane inches apart from hitting our car. I suppose she didn't turn her head to look and almost rammed me. I hit the brakes and pressed on the horn but she just kept going into the next lane and cut someone else off. Well needless to say I pulled next to her and she did not even bother to look. What a b!

Then there was the driver who was doing heaven knows what and kept swerving into my lane. Must have been texting. I don't know why they do that when they're driving. I just passed that idiot.

Then you have the a-holes who are speeding when it's raining so hard that you can't see out the front window and they pass you by while splashing all the rain on the ground onto your car making it harder for you to see. And let's not forget the idiots who don't turn their lights on when it's raining. Did you forget it's the law to have your lights on in the rain?

Well on the way back from picking the baby up the weather had cleared, thank God for that. We made a pit stop in Walmart to pick up some diapers and a few things and headed home. Wouldn't you know that half a mile up there was a car on the other side of the road who when into a ditch. Must have been the one who was speeding in the rain.

After getting home fed he baby some lunch, played with her for a while, let her watch cartoons and then put her down for her nap. She slept for about two hours.

I can't believe how fast this month has gone by and July is around the corner. It's too crazy. It's also dh's birthday next month and I already know what I'm getting him. It's just a matter of choosing one, getting a fair deal and bringing it home or getting it delivered. I have to wait for Sunday though in order to start the process.

Other than that there's nothing more for now. Posted some of the pictures I took in North Carolina on www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com site.

Back From North Carolina

Home-Sweet-Home...we arrived yesterday from North Carolina. We left Saturay morning to spend a couple of days visiting with dh's daughter, my step-daughter, whom we hasn't seen in over 20 years and our grandson that we never met and is now 6 years old.

We also went to visit my stepson's daughter, our grand-daughter, who we hasn't seen seen she was a toddler. She is now 12 years old.

Dh was truly excited to go and I was happy to drive him more than 10 hours to see them. I was happy for him to finally make contact with his family again. He was thrilled to see them all and I know he enjoyed himself and the time he spent with them.

His grand-daughter was really thrilled to see him and she didn't want us to leave. She wants to get to know the other side of her family and that is a good thing to want to know your family and your lineage.

We plan to keep in touch this time and hopefully will not lose contact. With the Internet, email and so many social sites like Facebook, I don't see why that should happen. I would love to have them visit and spend some time with us too.

When we arrived home we arrived to a broken air conditioner. Luckily dh knows his a/c and fixed it within the hour. It took a while for the house to cool down because it was pretty muggy and hot outside. Dh also had to repair the vacuum which wasn't sucking up.

After relaxing a bit, I unpacked and washed about 3 loads of laundry. I figured I did not want to leave it for today so I got it out of the way. I wanted to sleep late unfortunately I was up by 9:30 a.m.

Today I just went through my snail mail and email accounts and purged what I didn't want or need. I checked my MySpace and my Facebook sites. Other than that I took a lazy day.

I Can't Believe It!

Today our nephew on my dh's side and his wife came by to visit from New York. We went to have lunch at Cici's with them and our son. I made sure to update emails and phone numbers. So I added them to my Facebook site and they added me to theirs. We were happy to see them as always.

Later that evening I decided to plug some names into Facebook to see if I could find some old friends who I have been trying to find for years. I do this every couple of months. I'm really not a Facebook fan so I rarely use it but lately I've been using it more so I can get use to it.

Well needless to say I found two old friends from back in the days. I was so excited because we were like family. I added them as friends and sent a message. I got a reply back from one of them and it was great reminiscing by email. Her sister has yet to reply but I was happy none the less. To think the last time I saw them was in June 1981 and here we are 28 years later in June we find each other. I can't believe it!

Last month I also found a cousin I hadn't seen in years too. I hope I could find some of the other people I'm looking for. I think it's great connecting with people in your life who have drifted away due to life.

This weekend we will also be visiting with dh's daughter, my step-daughter, which we hasn't seen in years, I believe it's more than 20 years since they last seen each other. I know he's excited. I'm happy for them. We also get to meet our grandson, on dh's side for the first time and I know that will be exciting and let's not forget the son-in-law.

Yes It's June Already!

Seems like I have been slacking off on the blog thing. I guess I may be spending too much time on Twitter. There's nothing much happening lately just taking it one day at a time. Still working for now and spending time with my grandbaby on the weekends. She is just growing up too fast. I tried putting some videos on my photo blog but for some reason they didn't load. I guess I will have to try again.

Last month, a couple of day after my birthday I happen to get a migraine that lasted four days and had to call in sick on one of those days. I was on Tylenol and medication but none of it really helped. It just dulled the pain but the pressure was still there along with the nausea and dizziness. This morning I also woke up with one but took my meds and it went away.

Yesterday after work dh and I took our youngest son out to dinner at Red Lobster for his 22nd birthday. We enjoyed the Pina Coladas and got stuffed with food. I can't believe he is 22 already. I also can't believe it's June! Where did the first half of the year go? Next month it will make two years that I have been working. I can't believe that one either.

Today I had a doctors appointment in Tampa with a specialist to take care of a problem that is getting worse day by day. The cost for the 15 minute appointment, $400. Can you believe it? And I still have several more appointments but the relief I felt afterwards way more than worth it to me.

After the doctor dh and I picked up the little peanut in Clearwater. I can't believe how excited she gets when she sees us. She was sitting in her high chair and her mother was feeding her but she just smiled, started talking baby talk and waving her little hands and feet. She wanted to get out of that high chair so fast it was so funny. She stood up half way but couldn't get up any more because she was strapped in so she just stretched out her arms for Nana to pick her up. She is so funny. God bless her.

Her mother said she had just woke up so I figured she might be cranky on the hour and a half trip but no, not a peep out of her, except when she was trying to sing while dancing in her car seat to a Latin meringue.

She is such a good girl. I pray she stays that way. No temper tantrums here yet, thank God. Every time she tries to throw one I distract her from what she was upset with and get her doing something else so she forgets about what she was doing and no problem, she goes right into the next thing with no crying or anything.

More than Two Weeks

Last time I wrote a blog was more than two weeks ago and already the month of May is halfway gone. I can't believe half of the year is almost over, just two more weeks and it will be June. Nothing much happened during the first two weeks of May.

On Mother's day dh, our grand daughter and me went to spend the day with my mom, brother and sister. We hung out there for several hours and my grand daughter enjoyed playing with my brother's puppies. She laughed when the puppies would try to lick her face. After we left we had to take her home. That's the hardest part of baby sitting, taking her home. I wish her and her mom were living with us, I think it would be easier for all of us. I posted some photos on my photo blog. I will post some of the videos I took of her playing with the dogs and dancing as soon as I get a chance.

Thursday was also my birthday and dh gave me a surprise party. Well sorta, I knew he had something planned. I tell him that I'm psychic, lol, but he doesn't believe me. It was the big 50! Half a century, wow, and the best is yet to come. We had friends and family come over to spend time with us.

I didn't get too many photo though, I wonder why I always forget to take certain photos? I get disheartened when I realized that I failed to get more pictures. I will post some when I get a chance.

An Early Birthday Present

Sunday night when I opened my laptop, I pushed the power button and nothing happened. I noticed that the power button was out of place. I looked at it and wondered how did that happen? I looked for something that I could move it back into place with because I did not want to scratch it or damage it further.

I managed to get the button back into place and got it started after fidgeting with it for about 10 minutes. I then wondered if I was going to have a hard time getting it started again so of course me and my big ideas I shut my laptop down and of course I couldn't get it started again because the power button wasn't making the connection. I tried for around 30 minutes pushing and prodding but nothing.

I then decided to pull the power button out and it came out pretty easy because it was broken. I tried pushing the little connection inside the computer with something rubber because I didn't want to get shocked but it wouldn't start. I then got my craft tweezers with a rubber grip and started messing with the connection again and I managed to get it started. My laptop has now been on for three days straight and I managed to backup all of my data.

So today dh and I went out to buy a new laptop. It's my birthday next month so I got an early birthday present. I checked to see how old my other laptop was and didn't realize that it was four years old so I didn't hesitate to go out and get another laptop. Hopefully this one won't give me so much grief and crash every other day like my old one. The new one cost half of what I paid for my old one so I know I got a good deal.

Latest Happenings

I see it's been a while since my last blog. Well nothing much happened the week after my last post except work and appointments.

The weekend of Good Friday, my sister and her family came down to visit from New York. They spent a couple of days with us and I was so happy to see them all. It was good seeing them and spending time with them. Thanks sis! I wish you guys are able to move down here soon.

They got to meet my grand baby and she loved playing with my niece and nephew. I had taken the week off from work so I was able to spend time with my family. My brother and sister-in-law also stopped by to visit with my other nephew. It was great having my most favorite niece and nephews together. I took some pics and will post them on my photo blog when I get a chance.

This weekend my daughter-in-law, grand baby, dh and me went upstate to visit my son. It's almost a five hour drive so we spent the night in a hotel and visited him the next morning. We all had a pretty nice visit and I thought the baby was going to misbehave by crying and throwing tantrums because she was so tired but God bless her she was a little angel. Not one cry, not one scream. She was a little squirmy because she would get tired of one of us holding her but we just past her back and forth and she was happy.

She even fell asleep in my arms as I sang her a lullaby. No great feat since I don't have a singing voice but to her it doesn't matter. The only bad thing was we had to change her diapers so many times because she had a poo poo problem, other than that she was a little angel.

I can't wait to pick her up this weekend. She loves it when I sing and read to her. It is so much fun spending time with her and playing silly little games that she thinks are so funny. I love her funny faces and she makes me crack up so much.

Easy Day For Us Today

Today I'm still sore from Friday's chores. Dh and I decided to try and pressure wash the back of the house again. We had tried it last year but were unsuccessful. We got off to a rocky start but managed to get it cleaner than what it was. The pressure washer gave us a hard time at first but we got it going.

We only did the back of the house because it was the only place that was dirty. The rest of the house looks clean. We also pressure washed the patio deck which was really dirty. All this took several hours.

During the last hour or so I vacuumed the family room and moved the furniture around. I washed the sofa covers and cleaned out the bird cage. I cleaned and organized the pantry and started dinner. After dinner I cleaned up the kitchen and did the dishes, then it was time for Max to get a bath. Once all the work was over we showered and then relaxed for what was left for the rest of the evening.

Yesterday I woke up sore and my legs were killing me from going up and down the ladder. We stayed in bed till after 12 watching t.v. Later on in the day we decided to go do some grocery shopping. I made dinner and we sat down to watch t.v. and relax still sore from the previous day's work.

I didn't have the little pumpkin this weekend which is why we decided to tackle the pressure washing of the house. I can't believe how much I miss the little pumpkin and her funny faces, her smile, her quirky mannerisms.

Today we had another lazy day. all day long. Tomorrow we have several appointments. I also have to get some new tires for my car because they are starting to wear. My son had to get tires for his car on Friday.

I work Tuesday and Thursday of this week and plan on picking up the little pumpkin this weekend. My sister was planning on coming down this weekend from N.Y. but now she doesn't know if she wants to come. I was excited about seeing my niece and nephew again and I haven't seen my brother-in-law for a while. I really hope they decide to come down to visit. I really wish they lived in Florida because I miss them.

Busy Day - Chores, Chores, Chores & Stupid Neighbor

Today was a busy day for me. I had to catch up on some chores. Upon waking I tackled the shower and bathroom. While I did some laundry dh helped with the vacuuming, he did several room. I had three loads of clothes to do. Then we tackled the kitchen. While dh wiped down the bottom cabinets I did the top ones. I cleaned the toaster oven, the microwave and flushed the coffee maker vinegar.

I cleaned the fridge inside and dh did the outside. I set the oven for cleaning and sprayed the stove top covers with oven cleaner. I cleaned out some of the cabinet drawers, ran the dishwasher, mopped the floor and started dinner. Since I don't have small kids I don't have to do an all out cleaning everyday.

Oh and let's not forget, I went off on our next door neighbor. I couldn't believe myself. It's been years since I've gone off on anyone that I could remember. The last time I remember was years ago when I went off on a cashier in a store. My son who was young at the time was shocked and asked if that was the New Yorker in me and I said yes.

As you know we have a dog, Max he's our German Shepard. He is a house dog and we let him out to go do his business, when I mop the floors or when I need to which is rare. Of course if he sees someone outside he will bark, understandable. When he starts to bark I always bring him inside because I don't like him barking. Well he hates this particular neighbor because the neighbor teases him.

So the dog is barking and I call him but he doesn't want to come in because he wants to bark at this neighbor. He finally comes in and I notice he is all wet and of course messes up the floor that I just mopped.

Well I went ballistic! I opened the slider and started yelling next door. I yelled, "You better stop wetting my dog! You do this every f-ing time and I'm getting f-ing tired of it!" Well of course he wasn't there but then his son shows up and I tell him he needs to tell his father to stop wetting my dog. Then the father comes out and I go off on him. I tell him if he doesn't f-ing stop teasing my dog I'm going to call the police.

The nerve of him to apologize and say that he was just watering his lawn. BULLSHIT! He knows he does it on purpose and I told him so. "My dog is f-ing drenched how does the f-ing water from your f-ing hose end up on my dog who is in MY f-ing yard! You f-ing do this all the time! If you're not wetting him you are teasing him with your f-ing weedwacker and trying cut him with it. You better f-ing stop!" I went inside and closed the slider. How convenient that every time I bring the dog in, he's finished watering or whatever the f he's doing.

I can tell you this much, it felt good! I don't like cursing. I keep to myself and let things go because I don't like to start trouble. But when push comes to shove I will not hesitate to stand up for myself.

Next time I may just record him teasing my dog, call the cops and take him to court if he keeps his shit up or maybe I'll just hex his ass. I posted a picture of Max on www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com

Orlando Tea Party

This past Saturday morning dh and I got up extra early to head out to the Orlando Tea Party by Lake Eola. We got dressed before we woke our grand daughter up. I had packed her bag and woke her up. I changed her, fed her breakfast and gave her her bottle of milk. We dressed her and started heading out the door.

On the way out we were suppose to grab our portable chairs but they weren't where they were suppose to be, but we finally found them. Once in the car I realized I didn't have the directions and had to go back inside and to get them. Well you guessed it, I couldn't find them. So I woke up my son and asked if his computer was on because my laptop would take all day. Okay so I printed the directions and it's back to the car.

Once I got back in the car you guessed it! I had to change a diaper. It seemed that something kept coming up to prevent us from getting there by 12 noon. Once the diaper was changed we were finally on our way. I can't believe we got out of the house an hour after I had plan to leave.

When we finally arrived we couldn't find any parking but then we saw a lot that was for sale and didn't have a "no trespassing" sign so we pulled in and parked next to the other 10 cars in the lot. We had to walk 5 blocks and when we got there I couldn't believe how so many people were there. Reports are there were over 4000 people there. I took pictures and posted them on my photo blog.

We arrived at the Tea Party at 12:30 p.m. and stayed till 2 p.m. then we went by to visit my mom and left around 6 p.m.

The Past Two Days

It's back to work tomorrow. Yes I have to work and I'm not complaining. I'm grateful that I have a job even though I don't need one. I am grateful that I haven't been given a pink slip yet.

I can't believe how fast this month is going by. I didn't do much for the past two days but rest.

I spent some time yesterday organizing all my favorites, and believe me I have plenty, while watching all my favorite political shows. I also put in for some days off for next month when my sister and her family come down to visit.

Today I did several loads of clothes, watched my shows, reviewed some blogs and Twittered on www.twitter.com/ellietwits, my twitter site. I printed and signed letters to my State Representative and Congresswoman asking that they support H.R. 1207. I wrote about it on my Ellie's Blogging site. This weekend I'm hoping to attend one of the many American Tea Parties that have sprung up around the country.

I have been livid about what's going on with our Country lately and felt that I had to do something. So by writing the letters and attending the New American Tea Party I feel that maybe, just maybe my voice will be heard. If all goes well this weekend I will take pictures and post them on my photo blog.

Other than that not much happening around here. Dh has been wanting to take a trip to North Carolina to visit his daughter and meet his 6 year old grandson and son-in-law but I don't know when we should plan the trip. He says he would like to go sometime in June. It is about a 10+ hour trip and we will most likely go for only a few days, maybe 3 or 4, and stay in a hotel nearby.

I don't want to use my timeshare week because he told me that they might be moving sometime soon but they are not sure when. If we reserve the week and they move then we will be stuck going to NC or lose the week. I prefer using our week for a beach vacation. He will have to discuss it with her to see if she knows for sure when they will be moving and when would be the best time for us to visit them.

Twittering & Blogging

I recently signed on to this thing called Twitter because it seems that everyone is Twittering. Don't know much about it but I guess I will figure it out as I figure everything else out. Also signed up to Skype and Facebook but don't know if I like that Facebook too much.

Anyway today I had to work. I worked four hours today and tomorrow I work another four hours. I had been off since last Wednesday and I get tired standing on my feet after being off for a while.

I'm getting so use to having my grand baby around that I miss her when she's not here. She makes me laugh so much. I get a kick out of watching all of her silly faces. Saturday she had me cracking up so much I was literally crying tears.

I posted some pictures of the baby on my photo blog at http://www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com/.

I posted a blog regarding the abuse Rihanna recently suffered under the hands of her boyfriend on http://www.elliesblogging.blogspot.com/.

I also posted the birthday card I gave to my grand daughter for her first birthday on http://www.elliescraftroom.blogspot.com/.

Another Week Gone By

This past weekend dh and I went to the mall to get our grand daughter's birthday present. We brought her a teddy bear from Build a Bear with several sounds in it. After picking her up we took her to the Strawberry Festival. The weather was cooperative, it wasn't cold, it was nice. We walked around, took pictures, ate and saw some of the entertainment. It wasn't all that, more like a carnival with rides and food but since we've been in Florida for almost 20 and haven't been there we decided to go and check it out.

On Saturday we went shopping with the baby and purchased a car seat for her because she is getting too big for her current car seat. Then we headed home and watched her make her play and make funny faces. We played and watched cartoons with her too. It seems she loves Sponge Bob Square Pants. It's been a long time since I've been into cartoons so it's been weird watching a yellow sponge with pants do stupid things.

Once she fell asleep at night I read the instruction on installing the car seat so we could put her in it and go to Orlando with her for her birthday but the seat didn't meet my approval, it moved around too much so we had to go to Orlando with her other car seat.

On Sunday we headed to my mom's and met up with my brothers and my sister. They all got to meet her for the first time. I purchased a cake for her and we sang Happy Birthday. She slept on the way to my moms and on the way to her home. Luckily, because they were both two hour trips.

On Monday we took the car seat back. Then we brought another one, tried it in the store parking lot but didn't' like that one either so we returned it too. We then headed to Toys-R-Us and brought another car seat. I hope to try it tomorrow and hope it's better than the others.

On Sunday her mom is going to throw her an official birthday party so I will be taking more picture. I have posted some pictures on my photo blog.

My Days Off Winding Down

I've been off work since last Thursday. It was our second weekend baby sitting. I took some more pictures of the baby and today I managed to do a layout on the baby, one on my niece, finished up one on my son and got to post all of them plus some birthday cards I had done.

I managed to get some important letters out in the mail and other than that I really didn't do much. I return to work on Thursday for a whole 3 hours. Luckily I only live 10 minutes from work otherwise it would not be worth the drive.

My boss had scheduled me to work on the 21st & 22nd but since I was baby sitting I had to give my work days away. I don't mind working the one or two days for three or four hours a week. Tomorrow I get my schedule for next week so I hope he doesn't overdo it with three or four days of work but I doubt it since they need to continue cutting hours.

Our First Weekend Babysitting

Well last week was our first week babysitting our grand baby, unfortunately it went by too fast. We picked her up on Friday and dropped her mommy off at work then came home. Traffic was crazy, I didn't realize we were going to get stuck in rush hour traffic so it took longer to get home.

When we got home we had to get the play pen set up, feed her, get her ready for bed and get things ready for Saturday. It rained all day on Saturday and was a bit hectic. We had a long trip to go visit her daddy on Valentine's Day. After getting home around 9 p.m. we were all exhausted and didn't get up the next day till around 10 a.m.

We got some time to play after her breakfast and then after lunch we had to get ready to take her back home. I was able to set up the cam so my sister and her cousins could see her do her silly little faces. I can't believe how good she was. She fell asleep all the way up and slept most of the way back home except for the last 30 minutes.

Tomorrow we get to pick her up again. This time we will be able to spend more time with her because we don't have to visit anyone until next week when we plan on visiting my mother, her great-grandmother. If it's a nice day we may take her to the park but I believe it's suppose to be wet and cold.

Also she will be a year old on February 29th, oh wait there is no 29th so does that mean she won't turn one till 2012? Well I plan on having a little something for her on March 1st when we visit my mom.

I took some pictures and posted them on my blog at http://www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com/

By the way on Friday when we picked her up she got her ears pierced. She cried a bit and we all felt bad. I had to clean her piercings several times a day while she was with us but she did really good.

Busy Day Today

Today was a very busy day. Dh and I had a lot of errands to run. I was off today so it wasn't a problem driving all around town to do what we had to do. Our first stop was going into town to pick up a new smoke detector for my craft room. It had been out of order for a while and I wanted it replaced.

Second was taking dh to the foot doctor for a follow up with his painful foot. Last week I had injured my foot when I was putting up the wallies on my bathroom wall. I was swollen and I was in pain and had to go to work with it like that. It still hurts too. Anyway, after the doctor we headed back home for breakfast then left to drop off our taxes with the accountant.

We than had to go to a tool repair shop in the next county to get something fixed on a table saw. After arriving there the guy told us that he could fix it but we would be better off if we took it back to the store and got another one if the return date hadn't expired.

We went back home to get the box, manual and receipt to the table saw. Lucky I save all my boxes. I though the return policy was 30 days and had expired but lucky for us it was 90 days. So we did an even exchange. I also purchased some wheels for a cart that I plan on using in my craft room.

After exchanging the table saw we stopped off at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and purchased some vitamins. Then we went back home, had dinner and then left to go visit a friend who was in the hospital. He had fell and broken his hip several days earlier and had surgery on Tuesday. Unfortunately we got there at the same time the transport team arrived to take him to the rehab center so we said a quick hello and told him we'd visit him at the rehab center.

Since the hospital is near Kohls, we decided to go shopping. We looked for our son who works there but he had left so then we went to the children's department to look for some clothes for our grandbaby. We got her several things that happen to be on sale.

She will be spending her first weekend alone with us next Friday. I had asked my job for the weekends off so I could baby sit her on the weekends and was approved. I thought they would approve it but was actually surprised when they did.

My Week So Far

I've been off since Sunday and go back to work on Saturday. Monday I didn't get much done, I just did a few things around the house and then we went to pick up our grandbaby and her mom so they could spend some time with us. Tuesday night we took them back home.

My dh and I really enjoyed the time we spent with the baby. She is so funny and makes the funniest faces. She had me laughing so much with her funny faces, her laughter and the way she walks. She still wobbles and falls every now and then.

She was enthralled with Yellow bird. If you are familiar with my blog you'll know that Yellow bird is our bird and since I didn't know what to call him and he was yellow, I found it to be a fitting name.

It seems that she has taken to my dh because she gets really excited when she sees him and he is also taken with her. She loves to play and is very inquisitive. Tomorrow she will be 11 months and she's already walking.

Today I didn't do much either even though I have a long list of things to do. I go back to work this weekend and it seems like the week is going by so fast it's not funny. Next week I have three days of work. I hope to get some things done on my list before I have to go back to work. I am however enjoying my days off.

I've posted two pictures on my photo blog at http://www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com/

Prayers For Bobby

I wanted to see this movie since they first announced it several weeks ago. It played on Lifetime. I knew that it was going to be a tear jerker for me but I didn't hesitate to watch it anyway.

It was about a young man named Bobby who was a homosexual. His family was strictly devout Christians especially his mother. In the movie when he told his mother that he was gay she condemned him and constantly told him it was a sin, an abomination. When he told her that she either love him and accept him for who he was or forget it, she said fine "you are not my son." After much turmoil, criticism and soul searching Bobby committed suicide. He jumped off a bridge onto a coming tractor trailer. Bobby was 20 years old.

This is truly a tragic story. Heartbreaking because it's based on a true story. So many people commit suicide because of the turmoil that goes on in their life, in their hearts and especially in their mind. They continue to live through the hurtful things that have been said to them throughout the years from stranger, friends but most important from their families. They feel that life is not worth living. I say it is!

Yes it may be hard or difficult but things "will" get better. So please don't do it. Find someone to talk to. Get help! But don't, I repeat don't leave those who truly care about you because you are important, you are special, you "are" a child of God and you are most definitely worth it! Suicide is NOT the answer.

I don't understand how someone could supposedly love their child or a relative until they find out that the person they love is gay, or has some sort of illness like Aids or until that individual does something wrong to them then all of a sudden they don't love them anymore and they want that individual out of their life or want nothing to do with them. I say, what kind of love did you have for them to begin with if you can disown them after the fact. Can you truly say that you had unconditional love for your child or relative to begin with if you can dismiss them so easily?

This story hits close to home but I can only say that my love for them did not change. I did not disown. I did not criticize. I did not distant myself from them. I can only say it wasn't easy and I had to learn to accept it and I have but I still love them like I did before and I am more understanding. I rather that they be gay or ill rather than they not be here with me.

The Bible says, "Judge not lest you be judged as you judge others." I believe this is so true. And Bobby's mother received her Karma in a swift blow. Yes it was tragic and Bobby is gone. If she would have accepted him for who he was maybe Bobby would still be here today. I feel sorry for her and her family and sad that it took her son's death to accept who he was. You can read about Bobby Griffith at http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/movies/interview-mary-griffith-inspiration-behind-prayers-bobby

This is an inspiring movie. I say to those of you who criticize your children by calling them names such as "stupid, idiot, jerk" etc, STOP! If you are hitting your child, STOP! Mental abuse is just as bad as physical abuse. This will stay with your child forever! This will cause all the harsh words you tell them to become engraved in their brain. This causes their self-esteem to evaporate and so they see themselves as worthless. This is why we have so many children today doing things they shouldn't be doing.

If you are one of these parents who is harming your children then you have probably been harmed by your parents which is why you are keeping the chain alive. You need to break the cycle. Otherwise the cycle will continue from your child to your grand child and so on unless the chain is broke.

Incase you want to read a bit more about the book, Prayers for Bobby you can go to http://www.oasisjournals.com/Issues/9512/fea0795-prayers.html

Recession Hitting Near Home, New Blog

It seems that the recession is hitting near home. Linen-n-things which opened in July 2007 around the same time the store where I work opened, closed down. And now Circuit City is closing down. They are located in the same strip mall where I work.

Yesterday certain people where I work got some not so good news. Some full time employees were made part-time and others were demoted. It's not a good thing when you know people who need the money and their hours are cut or when those who need a job lose it.

I am skeptical and think that businesses are using the "recession" as a scape goat. Many companies will go bankrupt just to get rid of their debt on the books or close and then start a new business under another name.

President Obama wants to give tax credits to companies that hire "new" employees. Well let me see how this works. I own business. I let go employees because of economy. I hire new employees. I get tax credit and pay new employees minimum wage. Ceo's still get perks. That sounds like a good deal to me if I owned a company.

I'm off tomorrow but work Sunday. I'm off the rest of the week until Saturday. Don't know what I'm doing during the week but I have my list ready and I hope I can do some scrapping. If I manage to get some scrap pages or other craft done I will post the photos on my new blog located at www.elliescraftroom.blogspot.com

I created the blog so I can post pictures of the crafts I make instead of posting them on my photo blog. I will continue to post pictures on my photo blog but they will be everyday pictures not craft items.

Break Over - Back to Work

Today I had to go back to work after being off for 5 days. Wow, what a mini vacation. It was a good break. On Thursday I had to take dh to the foot doctor because he's been having pain in his right foot. After that we headed out to see our grand baby and her mom. We played with the baby for a while and got to see her trying to take her first steps. I hear that she is now walking at 10 1/2 months.

I didn't do much around the house except clean the kitchen, the bathrooms, wash clothes and organize a few things in my craft room closet. I finished my vision board(s) which I posted photos on my www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com blog. I started working on a recipe book too. I have so many projects I don't know if I'll every get any of them finished. There is just not enough time in the day.

I also spent several hours trying to update my checkbook in my Microsoft Money. For some reason it wouldn't balance for three months but after going back through my statements and entering some other items I finally got it to balance. I wanted to make sure that I didn't go into 2009 with my finances in Money not balancing. I've been using Microsoft Money since the early 90's.

I'm off again tomorrow but work Thursday and Friday. Saturday we'll probably head out to Orlando to see our nephew on my dh's side and his wife who is visiting Florida from New York. Don't know yet, maybe they will come here.

As of today we have a new President which I wrote about in my www.elliesblogging.blogspot.com site. This is a new beginning for the country and many who envision that "he" will change it. I on the other hand look at the beginning of every year as a time of change and I usually start getting ready for it toward the end of the year by getting rid of the old and making room for the new.

January is almost over and it just begun. Next month my grand baby turns one and it seems like she was just born. Life goes by too fast. Even thought sometimes the days may feel like a drag or things may seem the same as always, there are many opportunities that we miss and unfortunately when we look back it's too late and all we can say is "I should of, I could of, I would of" done this if... So look at everyday as a new beginning and keep your priorities straight.

Wow! 6.4 Million Dollars!

I'm rich! That's right $6.4 million rich! How can that be? Well a Mrs. Susan Schultz that I never ever heard of in my entire life who is supposedly dying from cancer is donating all this money to me. Isn't that great? Here is the email I got from her:

Dearest One, My name is Mrs. Susan Schultz, I am 69 years old and I was diagnosed with cancer about 2 years ago, I am a dying woman and I have decided to donate the sum of $6.4 million dollars to you in the hope that you will use it for charity. Contact my lawyer with this email, he will explain better to you: Name: Peter Beeson Email: *****Tell him that I have WILLED $6.4M to you by quoting my personal reference number. I have also notified him that I am WILLING that amount to you for charity and a nominated cancer foundation of your choosing. Please use the funds judiciously. Thanks and remain blessed. Regards, Mrs. Susan Schultz

Okay how stupid do these people think I am? This is one of the many scams going around in emails just waiting for those innocent gullible people to click on the link for the email which I've deleted, just so they could sucker them in to some sort of ridiculous scam.

People these are scams! Do not click on any link and do not respond. Delete immediately!

Max Goes To The Vet Again & Travolta's Son Dies

Today I had a lot of errands to run but the first most important was taking my dog Max to the vet. For the past few weeks or so my dog had been excessively licking his paws. At first I assumed it was probably from him stepping on red ant hills in the yard so we put down ant killer. That seemed to help somewhat because he stopped the licking and his paws were getting better but then it started again so this time I figured maybe it was his food so I changed it but nothing.

It got so bad this weekend that he drew some blood and started limping. Poor doggie looked so sad yesterday. When my ds tried to check his paw on Sunday Max snapped at him but I was surprised he let me look at them and touch them to see if maybe he had something stuck in his paw but I couldn't find anything, they were just all swollen. I couldn't let him continue to chew himself up so I made an emergency vet visit.

Diagnosis - an "environmental allergy." What the hell is that? Well guess what? He's allergic to the yard! You're kidding me right? The vet gave him a shot of cortisone and prescribed some medication. It seems my dog Max may have to be on meds for the rest of his life for allergies. It's bad enough we spend nearly $300 a month on meds for my dh now we have get meds for the dog. Hopefully he will get better and become his perky self again.

I also secheduled an appointment with an attorney regarding our possible sinkhole. Since the insurance company denied our claim and stated we didn't have a sinkhole, the next step was to contact an attorney to make sure we don't really have one. We know that insurance companies are infamous for charging high rates, taking our premiums and denying claims so we have to protect our interest.

I have no idea whether or not we have a sink hole and I have no idea what to expect with this whole process. I do know that we need some legal advice on how we should or should not proceed if we decide to pursue the process.

Last but not least let me say how truly saddened I am about the death of Jet Travolta. It is heartbreaking to hear when any child dies. It seems Jet, the son of John Tavolta & Kelly Preston had a seizure disorder which caused his death through a fall.

Let me say I know first hand what it's like living with someone who suffers from uncontrollable seizures. It's always a frightening experience to go through not knowing what will or can happen to the person suffering through a seizure especially if that person has to be left alone.

Seizures can be pretty violent and sometimes cause a person to turn blue if they can't get enough air. These individual need constant supervision because a simple fall can kill them if they hit their head. A simple activity can also cause them harm depending on what they are doing. Living with this sense of fear in the back of your mind does not make life easy for the caregiver knowing that a seizure can kill your loved one in an instant.

Seizures are not an easy thing to control and sometimes the medication does not provide help in controlling them. So I can truly sympathize with what the Travolta's have gone through living with someone who suffers from seizures because I live through it everyday. It's sad though that even with their wealth and the ability to have two caregivers watch over their son, it couldn't prevent his death.

I rather deal with my loved one and his seizure disorder than not have my loved one with me at all. My condolences to the Travolta family.

Sicko Ass Virus Problem Solved!

In my previous blog I mentioned that I got a stupid virus on my laptop. Needless to say I was livid and wanted to "kill" those idiots that got nothing better to do than create viruses and make peoples lives crazy. Okay "kill" is an extreme word and I don't mean it literally.

It took me several hours on the day it attached itself to my laptop and several hours the next day. But by 5:00 p.m. yesterday I had solved the problem without having to restore my laptop. Thank God!

What a way to spend New Years Day and our 22nd anniversary. Luckily we didn't have an special plans or anything.

After trying to go on several websites to solve the problem I realized that the virus would not allow me to get on to them because I didn't have a problem getting on the sites through my desktop. And when I tried to download virus deletion programs, it blocked me. Starting in soft mode didn't help either. I went into the msconfig menu and that didn't help. I tried to go to a previous restore point and nothing.

Somehow I managed to download the Malware Virus Remover program through another sites and was able to remove some of the virus files. Then I was able to run my Adware and Spybot programs and ran Malware again. I had to download Norton again because the virus removed some of the files to start Norton and it wouldn't do anything.

So after hours of Ad, Spy & Virus removals programs cleaning my system, it is finally working again. I still have to do a system scan and defragment but so far so good. I am so grateful I got it to work again without restoring because I haven't backed up my stuff in a while and was just thinking that a day before this happened.

Thank goodness I also had several days off to work on it now its back to work today.

P.S. I've posted some photos on my photo blog at http://www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com/

WARNING! THIS BLOG COULD OFFEND MOST!

What a way to start off the New Year! With a MotherF*%$#&@ virus on my laptop! I am so F#@$*&* pissed off. I don't even know how I got it. I posted the Happy New Year and then hit an update for iTune. I figured it was going to take a while so I went into the bedroom to watch a bit of t.v. and relax because I had been in my craft room with my continued chore of trying to get everything just the way I want it and even altered an old cork board.

After about almost an hour of watching t.v. I headed back into my craft room around 10 p.m. and there they were! Two icons on my desktop! One said "Best BDSM Porn" and the other one was "Gay Fetish Sex!" The virus is called "Virtumondo!" Beware of it!

The nerve of all those computer ass@%$^@ geeks who have nothing better to do than f$^% with other people's computers by downloading crap onto them! I am livid! Every time I deleted the icons, they came back. Every time I tried to run Norton, nothing happened. Every time I tried to run my Adware and Spybot programs, nothing! I could "KILL" those Motherf#$%^@*!

I worked on trying to remove it till 5 a.m. but nothing! Then I got up at 10 a.m. to start over and see what I can do. I am writing this from my desktop since thank goodness it is working, slow but working. I will keep you posted of any further developments.

PS I deleted yesterdays post with the Happy New Year just in case, anyway

Happy New Year to all!

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day dh and I were up by 9:30 a.m. even though I wanted to sleep. We opened our gifts, had breakfast and started to get ready to see my grandbaby and meet some of her mother's family. We were way off schedule because the phone kept ringing and at the last minute my brother stopped by with some gifts for the baby too. We headed out after 3 p.m. I also realized I left my camera so I had to back track and go pick it up. I couldn't miss not having pictures of her first Christmas.

I took several pictures and posted some on my site at http://www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com/

We met my grandbaby's great grandmother, great aunts and several other family members on her mother's side. We had a good time sharing her first Christmas. She is such a good baby. While most baby's cry and whine when they are tired, she doesn't but you can see how she wants to go to sleep but fights it. She doesn't want to miss any of the action but I got her to fall asleep in my arms. After the get together dh and I drove the baby's mom home and the baby spent the weekend at her great aunt's house. She was going to stay with me on Saturday but they had other family coming in and I know I will have plenty of other times to have her.

I had to work the day after Christmas and it was hectic. I was glad to have Saturday off but was still tired when I had to work today. I work tomorrow too but I'm off until Saturday. Hopefully I can start catching up on some rest because I feel worn out. I've been so tired it's unbelievable.

I purchased a foam board today so that I can revise my vision board. It's been a while since I've revised it and I wanted to do a new one. I'm still working on my scrap room trying to get everything just where I want it. There are so many other things I need to get done around the house too but I need time. If I don't get a couple of days off during the coming weeks I plan on taking a few days off.

Just Wanted To Wish Everyone A Very...

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I hope that everyone has a safe and blessed Christmas this season. May you all enjoy the true spirit of Christmas along with your family and friends. God Bless!

My Grandbaby & Some Blogging

On Wednesday I finally got to meet my new grand baby and her mommy. I was so excited to meet her and her mother. I couldn't control myself. Her mother was finally able to move to Florida and I am so happy about that. I hope that I can see them often even though they live a little more than an hour away.

I was able to meet both of them on Wednesday because I was off from work. So dh and I drove down to see them. She is nine months old and so full of energy. I forgot how much babies squirm. They wiggle, push and pull all over the place while you are trying to hold them trying to grab anything they can.

It was so funny how she made those cute little faces when she tasted something new and boy can she crawl. She is so fast it's unbelievable. She is so good too. In the four and half hours that we were around her she did not cry once except for a little whining in the car when we went shopping but a cookie took care of that. I took them shopping for a few things and even while shopping she was so good.

We were going to get her ears pierced but it didn't work out so we figure we will do it next time. She needs some pretty little earrings. I posted some pictures on my photo blog.

Today I posted two blogs here, a blog on my http://www.elliesblogging.blogspot.com/ regarding the Caylee Anthony case and two blogs on my http://www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com/ site. Go check them out and see the latest pictures that I have posted.

My New Scraproom & Christmas Cards

This month has been a hectic one. I've been so busy between work which has taken up most of my time, doing things around the house and getting ready for Christmas that I'm exhausted and feel as if I'm ready to collapse. I cannot wait till this year is over and the new one begins.

After the garage sale which you guys know was a flop, I started working on some Christmas cards. I managed to finish them and have posted a picture of them on my photo blog.

They are not fancy because I am new to this so this is my first year of making Christmas cards. I made them as simple as I could. I finally got to mail them out this morning before I left for work.

I wasn't feeling very well and was thinking of calling in sick but decided to drag myself to work but that didn't help so after about three hours I asked if I could go home. I guess the exhaustion wasn't helping either.

Several days after the garage sale I started changing my guest room into a scraproom. After all that work my scraproom is as complete as it's going to get for now. It just needs some decorations. I still need some stuff to do and I need to organize the closet but for now I'm done! I am just toooo tired to do anything else.

We even moved some of our bedroom furniture around a bit and I have had dh moving shelves, repairing holes and touching up paint. He has been such a great help especially getting things into my scraproom. He is just as exhausted as me.

If you want to see pictures of my scraproom and my Christmas cards you can go to my photo blog at http://www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com/

Garage Sale Over & I Must Be Crazy!

Well after weeks of looking for items to sell and getting everything ready so my friend and I could have our garage sale, you would have never guessed it, it was rainy and cold. Mind you they said a 20% chance of rain and 20% chance of rain here in Florida means "NO RAIN!"

So what the hell happened? Saturday morning right before we put our stuff out it started raining and people were coming even in the rain. The rain eventually stopped and the weather warmed up a bit but Sunday it was cold. Several people came by but we closed shop early because the weather wasn't suppose to be that cold. We made sure we tracked the weather but it just didn't fair well. We sold several items and made some cash but in my opinion it really wasn't worth the hassle or the work. Now I know why I always donated all my stuff to Good Will, the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul's.

After that dismal weekend I figured I would take it easy until my next day of work but oh, no! I decided I wanted to rearrange things again. You know me it's the end of the year and I want to change things around and get rid of stuff I don't need.

I've been wanting to move the guest room downstairs into the living room for a while where I moved my bookcases to and wanted to use our guest room as a craft room so for the past two days I've been on a mission.

Yesterday and today dh and I moved the guest bedroom furniture downstairs and you guessed it, the three bookcases with dozens of heavy books back upstairs into my office. It was only this past April that I moved those books downstairs but I felt I didn't want to leave them there.

We cleaned the rugs in the living room and guest room and will be cleaning more rugs soon especially the stairs. I am so sore. My back, feet and legs are killing me and tomorrow I have to stand all day at work for 8 hours.

I managed to get some furniture into the guest room which is now my new "craft" room. I still have plenty to do in there and need some more storage. I've been hoping to pick up some of those little cubicles but we will see how that goes. If I can get them where I work at 50% off then you know I will definitely get a few but for now I will deal with what I have.

It's Almost Time For That Garage Sale!

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is on it's way and before you know it, it will be another year. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Goodness gracious! I never knew planning for a garage sale would be so much work especially when you have a job and have to find time to get things done along with your regular household and everyday chores and errands. We had to do grocery shopping the other day at 11 p.m. because I worked all day and the next day was filled with things to do.

Due to the holidays I have been working six to eight hour days and it's not fun standing all day on your feet. By the time I go home all I want to do is shower, eat and plop down on a comfortable chair or bed. We still have three and a half weeks to go before the New Year and less work days.

I posted two birthday cards I made and a scrap page I made for my mother on my http://www.photosbysatinrose.blogspot.com/ page. I've been trying to make some Christmas cards and I managed to make two, wow just two, and I had to laugh because of the mistakes I made but they came out okay I suppose. Not bad for a beginner who doesn't know what she's doing. I need a scrapbook buddy so that we can learn from each other.

After the holidays I am thinking about using my guest room instead of my office for a scraproom. I will need to move the furniture from the guest room downstairs and then figure out what furniture I need for my new scraproom. This is just in the preliminary stages though and I am not sure if I will do it but most of the time when I get an idea in my head for some reason I want to try it out so we will see.

I think I'm finished with getting the garage sale items together and tomorrow is the big day. We will only do a two day sale. I can't wait till it's over. Whatever doesn't sell I will donate to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. I will take pictures of the setup if I remember. Dh and I are going to get the stuff into the garage tonight because it's been sitting in my living room. I will take a picture of that too so you could see the disaster.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a very special day. It's a day for giving thanks for everyone and everything that you have in your life and also for remembering those who have left us unwillingly.

I want to wish all of you who read my blog a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. May God continue to send abundant blessings into your life. Appreciate what you have and give thanks for it because it can all be gone in the blink of an eye.

I usually give thanks to my Lord everyday for everything no matter how small. If I'm eating I thank Him for my food and pray that He provide for those who don't have any. If I'm showering I thank Him for the hot water and pray for Him to give hot water to those that don't. I thank Him for my family everyday because they mean the world to me. But most of all I thank Him for allowing me to know Him and to live in this country - the land of the free and home of the brave and I pray that He can bring some peace across the world.

Thank you!

Exhausted!

Wow today I was off from work so I got up early, 10 a.m. is early for me, then I jumped right in to looking for more stuff to sell, putting summer clothes away, doing about 5 loads of laundry and some other stuff around the house. Friday I started pricing items and making an inventory list but I didn't get to finish and now I have more stuff.

I managed to get up into my attic again today and took down some more item. Tomorrow I will hit the garage attic again if I'm up to it or I will just finish pricing items. Lucky I managed to put the Christmas tree up last week and have some old Christmas things to sell at the garage sale. We also have to go through the shed to get some plywood out so we could make something to put the stuff on. Boy I never knew a garage sale was so much work! I hope I make some good mula!

After all the work dh and I did I headed to the office to pay some bills and it took me a while to balance the check book because I forgot to put in a few debit transactions. I hate debit cards. I just recently started using it for small things and I forget to put it in my checkbook. I usually charge it on my credit card for the points and then just write the check, that way when the bill comes I already have the check ready.

Well we'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm glad I have the next few days off from work but it surely doesn't feel like it to me. I am in pain.

What A Day!

I had no idea how much "stuff" I have to sell. I spent most of the day in the living room pricing items for the garage sale. I requested the days off from work and they were approved so the garage sale is a go for December 6th & 7th. I still have more pricing to do with the stuff in my living room, which is a room we never use, and I still have more stuff in the garage. I was off today so I chose to work on tagging the items. I think some of the prices will most likely fall off some of the stuff, who knows. I also placed an ad online with one of our local sites.

I have some clothes to sell, plenty of South Pole jeans that my son outgrew that's for sure. I have some kitchen items like a Juiceman Jr, cups, utensils, place mats and curtains. I have some computer items like an ergonomics keyboard, a scanner and some old software. Hair items like hot curlers, a curling iron and a straightening iron and miscellaneous items.

I will take pictures on that day once everything is set up. We now have to figure out how we are going to display all this stuff. I told my dh to figure something out since he is the "handyman" and he looks at me as if I'm crazy which sometimes you can say that about me.

I was standing all day going through the stuff and pricing and my dh was just there handing me stuff and starts to complain about his feet hurting because he's standing too much. I told him that's only a little to what I feel when I have to stand up at work for 4 to 8 hours. At the end of the night he tells me that he can now feel "sympathy" for me because he knows how I feel and I just had to laugh.

I work on Saturday but I'm off for the rest of the week, wow what a set up, just in time so I can get all this ready because on Thanksgiving we're heading out to my mom's in Orlando and I have to work the weekend of Black Friday and probably most of next week, hope not!

Also I can't wait till next month because I may finally get to see my grandbaby. I just hope it's not another false alarm. She turns 9 months on the 29th and I haven't met her yet so you know I will most likely be spoiling her, hopefully not too much though. They are hopefully moving down here from Pennsylvania and moving to Clearwater. That's still over an hour away from us but better than PA. I hope everything goes smoothly for them. I even told her she could come here with the baby since we have an empty guest room but I won't keep my hopes too high on that one but who knows.

P.S. My photo site is back online. I forgot I made it private for a while and forgot to put it back online. I posted some new photos from the last time.

So Much To Do So Little Time

As you can see I've changed my blog site a bit, not much just a few things. Some people weren't able to view my blog unless they were allowed access.

It's been almost two weeks since I blogged. I've been busy working because of the coming holidays and have been exhausted. It's probably only going to get worse as we get closer to Thanksgiving with extended hours. This coming week I work nights so I don't have to get up early because I always go to bed late. Unfortunately I have to work with someone who I feel is unprofessional. I don't like the way she treats the customers or the other employees but who am I to say anything as long as she doesn't mess with me which last week she tried but I messed back.

As I mentioned in my previous blog I ordered the Cricut and received it last Monday but haven't had a chance to play with it yet because of work and other things. I just took it out of the packaging and installed the cutting blade. I received four cartridges with it and am waiting for two more which are free from the Cricut website. It came with Plantin Schoolbook, Accent Essentials, Paper Pups and Stretch Your Imagination. The free cartridges are Printing 101 and My Community. I spent some time re-organizing stuff in my office to make room for my new toy.

I have also been collecting things around the house that I want to get rid of because a friend and I plan on having a garage sale. I've never done one so who knows what will happen. I have all my stuff downstairs in the living room which is mostly empty except for my book cases, two desks, an old computer (might sell that one but need to take out the hard drive) and an old t.v. (going to sell one of those too, a floor model). Now I have to sort and price everything and I have no idea what to price things. I will try to get a picture of all my stuff and post it on my photo blog.

The same week I received my Cricut, I had several 50% off coupons from my local arts & craft store and picked up a few necessary items for my scrap booking and card making adventures. I took the stamping class on the 7th that had to be rescheduled and made three cards. I will try to get a picture of these posted on my photo blog along with all the goodies I have and my new Cricut.

It's back to work tomorrow. I was off today and just hung out in my office going through some scrapbook magazines and tearing out pages that I felt I wanted to save.

I also managed to install my Family Tree Maker 2009 and it took long. I have a total of 414 individual, 133 families, 60 sources, 740 multimedia, 607 records, 115 marriages, 6 generations and 98 surnames. Boy that's a lot of stuff. It seems so much easier to correct errors because you can see many items at once. I think I'm going to like this program more than my Family Tree Maker 2005.

Busy Days Off With One More To Go

Sunday when I got out of work after closing my ds and I went grocery shopping. Yesterday I had to take dh for his doctors appointment and we both had dentist appointments too. After our appointments I paid some bills and did a bit of genealogy research. I upgraded my genealogy software program. I still have a lot of information that I need to update. I have names and dates of my family and my dh's family but some are missing and some may be wrong. Eventually I will get the information but everything takes time. I've been at this for many years.

Today I was suppose to go to my stamping class at 4 p.m. but unfortunately it was canceled and have to reschedule so I decided to start the purging of my unnecessary paperwork. I got rid of two bag and updated some files with new labels. I usually start around this time every year but last year I started a bit late and didn't get to it until early this year but I hope I could finish up early this year. I like to finish before the year ends in order to start the new year off to a fresh.

I ordered my Cricut Expressions. It was on sale and I believe I got a good deal. It's a bundled package and includes four cartridges plus a set of inks. I think I will enjoy playing with it. I organized a few things in my office so that I could have more room on my desk when I scrap. I still have to figure out where I want to put the CE when I receive it. Tomorrow I will see what else I could do.

I had three straight days off and have to go back to work Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I'm hoping they don't schedule me for Sunday too. I have to check my schedule online tomorrow. I hope I don't get weird hours. I don't like mornings, I'd rather do late afternoon or close. This week I had afternoon and closing hours and I was so happy. I'm always up late so I like to sleep in. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Busy Day All The Way

Today I started the day off at 10 a.m. after going to bed at 4 a.m. last night and not sleeping well the night before. I started off with giving our doggie Max a bath. I dread giving him a bath because he's big and soooo much hair! After his bath I had to clean the bathroom. I had hair in the tub, on the floor and even the walls, what a mess! I was surprised he was a good dog while I was bathing him, he usually can't stay still.

After cleaning the main bath I cleaned the master bath. Then we vacuumed the rooms upstairs, dusted and changed the sheets. I collected our laundry and dh took it downstairs while I vacuumed the stairs. Once downstairs I started the laundry and then trimmed the dogs nails. This is always a challenge with my dog because he just doesn't stay still, he seems as if he has ants up his butt.

I finished vacuuming the rooms downstairs and cleaned the half bath. I washed the dishes, wiped down the cabinets, cleaned the refrigerator, toaster oven and microwave. I finished up the 3rd load of laundry and ended with the kitchen floor. I made dinner and after dinner I fed the dog and headed upstairs to fold laundry. I took care of some paperwork that has to go out tomorrow and turned on my laptop then I headed into the bathroom to dye my hair. Boy was it grey and I really don't like it. I was going to wait to do my hair a few days before Thanksgiving but I had to get that grey right out of my hair.

After all that work I'm exhausted. Tomorrow I'm going to a bead demo at work, a make and take, and then I'm heading out to sign up for a stamping class. Still thinking about that Cricut Expressions. It's my last day off then I head back to work on Sunday but have another three days off after that.

Yesterday my son received a new phone he ordered and he's been all hyped about it. It resembles an iphone but definitely does a lot more for less money. It's pretty cool. It has GPS, text messaging, internet access, you can download different applications for free, it's touch screen, hidden keypad and its really cool. I would get one if I used my phone a lot but I just have one of those pay as you go since I just use my phone for emergencies.

Catching Up

Today I'm off. The past two weeks have been tiring because I've been working more hours and it wears me out standing all day. My Carpal tunnel has also been acting up with the consistent hand movements at work. This week I worked Monday and Wednesday only thank God, but yesterday on Wednesday I was asked to stay an extra two and a half hours because someone called in sick. Last week I helped train two new hires on the register too.

On Wednesday while I was on lunch I saw the event coordinator at work giving a card making demo and demonstrating the Cricut Expressions. Ever since I've been thinking about it. I told my dh that I would like to buy it and he didn't hesitate to tell me to get it but I'm the one hesitating. It's $399, not a bad price. The cartridges are $89 each. I know I could get it on sale and the cartridges too. It's the size of a printer and makes lots of interesting die cuts depending on the cartridges you have. I might get it but at this point I'm still not sure because I scrapbook but I'm not too into it yet because I don't know much. I want to start making cards too.

A former employee opened her own mini scrapbook store and I plan on taking a stamping class there next week. I'm going to stop by her store on Saturday after I go to the beading demo at work and make a bracelet. I figure if I could take a few classes at the local scrap stores on different scrapbook and card making ideas and then I could eventually buy the Cricuit because I will have an excuse to use it.

I mentioned that I'd like to sell some stuff at a garage sale to one of the girls at work but I told her I didn't know the first thing about it. She said that we could do one together so I think I'm going to start putting things in the empty room downstairs for the sale. I guess I would eventually price it and then put the stuff out for sale. She's doing the same thing and we will most likely have it at my house but no definite plans yet.

This week the Tampa Bay Rays lost. It was sad to see them lose but they made it this far so kudos to them and congrats to the Phillies.

The election is almost over and I can't wait. I have election overload. This thing has dragged on so long. If I'm tired I could only imagine how tired the candidates are. Four more days and its finally done with. I can't wait and I truly hope McCain wins because I don't trust Obama's radical connections and I don't agree with his policies are on taxes, health care and some other issues. I've been busy doing research on his connections and writing blogs on my www.elliesblogging.blogspot.com site.

Today I went to a genealogy class I had scheduled at the Library. I needed to be there at 10 a.m. and didn't get any sleep last night because my stomach was bothering me. I'm glad I didn't have to go to work.

It's coming down to the wire. Today is the last day for my ds former friend to pay him for the Jonas Brothers concert tickets. It seems like she is not going to pay him because he tells me that she ignores him. If she doesn't pay up, well let's just say "karma" is a bitch and it's going to come bite her in the ass!

Tampa Bay Rays Going to the World Series - Congratulations!

We knew they "had" to pull it off. After so many years and so many losses it was their time. Thank you for shedding that "Devil" in the team name. I believe that is what was holding this team back from success and I believe they will take it all the way to become the winners of the 2008 World Championship Series. Good luck! I love my Yankees but I'm also a Floridian so I have to root for the home team. Go Tampa Bay Rays!

My three days off are almost over, one more day and then it's back to work on Tuesday where I will be training some new cashiers. I've been taking it easy and relaxing, like always. On Saturday I finally completed some scrapbook layouts that I had been working on and uploaded them to the scrapbook site.

Today I decided to go through one of my file boxes to see what was outdated and what I could dispose of. I had several files to go through but I wonder if I'm the only person that saves so much stuff. I have a file for each of us with several folders in it and they all have so much stuff or junk which ever way you look at it.

I can't believe I have every single report cards from my kids, mind you my oldest is 32. Can you believe it? I don't! I have certificates they received from school and some of their childhood art. How could I dispose of this when there is so much emotional tie to it or should I just continue to save it?

I saved paper cards they made for Mother's Day, Birthdays and even Christmas when they were young. I found a few paper cards written to my dh from three of his kids and a note from his oldest to her mom. Don't know how he ended up with that one. I wish my mother would have saved some of my stuff when I was young. All of it got lost through moving so many times. This might be the reason why I hold on to everything even though I throw out a lot of stuff too.

I even found my stamp collection that I forgot I had. I forgot I had so many stamps. I organized some but will have to finish the job tomorrow.

Weekly Happenings

It looks like the individual who went to the Jonas concert with my son is not paying him. My son asked me to charge the tickets on my credit card for him and his friend. He said that she promised to pay him back but to this day has only paid $60 and still owes $200. He has sent her several text messages and even confronted her at work but she just gave him the cold shoulder. So today I sent her an email on her MySpace site. I was civil and asked her to pay in full by the end of the month.

This is why I don't like to lend money to anyone especially family. I am not worried about it because if she doesn't pay she will have to live with herself. As you know I strongly believe in Karma and know she will have to face what's coming. However I will also assist in that Karma through a little magic of my own. White magic of course. So if by the end of this month she has not paid my plans for her will surely have been made.

Anyway, I've been working since Sunday and Thursday I finally have one day off but then it's back to work on Friday for another full day. However, I checked my schedule today and know that I have the weekend off. Thank goodness because I am worn out. With the Holidays upon us people are doing more shopping. The seasonal crew has been hired and start next week.

Next week is also employee appreciation week which means we get 50% off on our "total purchase" of non-sale items but we get the discount on clearance items too. I don't know what I want to buy (I really shouldn't be buying anything) if I buy anything thing at all. Most likely I will.

I want to get some more scrap pages done. I finished a few but haven't had time to upload them, maybe I will get a chance to upload them tomorrow. I will probably scrap more of our vacation photos.

I hope to put some more items on eBay too. Out of the few items I posted, one sold and has already been shipped out. Better than nothing that's for sure.

An Easy Day

Today was an easy day. I was off from work and got up early because the alarm was apparently embedded in my brain since I've had to get up early for work this week. After breakfast I spent most of the day catching up on items that were on my "to do" list which was mostly paperwork.

I even got around to putting some items up for sale on eBay. Nothing major just some little trinkets to see how it goes. I have more items I want to list but I have to go through them. We will see how this goes and then I'll see what else I want to list.

I posted a picture of all the journals I have in my box on my photo blog along with the article and a photo of the accident my dh had in 1994. Transcribing all those journals into my computer Journal is definitely going to take some time.

Just finished watching the debate and there wasn't much said, just more of the same old talking points from both candidates. Why is it that they don't tell us "How" they are going to do everything they say? Oh well this one's for my other blog.

It's back to work on Wednesday and Thursday. I hope the day goes smoothly. I'm not thrilled about working tomorrow for certain reasons but I will make the best of it. Tomorrow I will find out what my schedule for next week is. Hopefully I'll get a couple of days off in a row again.

Memories, Oh So Many, Many Memories

Today I decided to copy some journal entries into my Journal program; entries that I had in misc notebooks. It brought back a lot of memories.

Memories of my broken toe in July 93 when my dh's daughter came to visit and we couldn't take her to Sea World the next day because of it. The night before we were suppose to go to Sea World I had reached for a gallon of apple juice in a glass bottle and it slipped out of my hand and fell on my foot. The next day when we were suppose to go to Sea World I couldn't walk because my foot was swollen. We went to the hospital and was told that the toe on my left foot next to my baby toe was broken but they couldn't do anything for it. They gave me crutches and told me to stay off my foot. I felt so bad for dh's daughter that we couldn't go to Sea World that day but a week later we took her to Busch Gardens even though it was painful for me to walk.

Memories of the miscarriage I suffered in September 93, a painful loss because it would be the last time I would be pregnant.

Memories of my husband's near fatal accident in 94 when he drove into a neighbors garage, totaled the car and was taken to the hospital by helicopter. He suffered a seizure. It was the last day he drove since his license was taken away. I remember he use to complain about the seat belt all the time because it would automatically strap you in when you closed the door. At times he wanted to disconnect it but I would argue for him not to. Well that seat belt saved his life but killed my car but better the car than him. I will look for the pictures and post some on my photo blog.

My stepfather's passing in 04 and my mother-in-law in 07. Last month my dh had a dream about my stepfather and I had a dream about his former mother-in-law on the same night. I don't know why I dreamed about her because I don't even know her or never even met her. When dh has a dream and remembers I put it in my dream journal too.

Memories of 06 when we attended the EWI Real Estate Wealth Retreat in Orlando with Robert Allen that lasted a week. Then there was the four day weekend at the Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar with T. Harv Eker in Fort Lauderdale. These seminars reminded me of 95 when I went to Orlando on my own to attend a three day Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within seminar where I walked on burning coals. This was my first seminar and I enjoyed them all. I know I attended a few more but didn't find those entries yet.

Memories in 05 when I went to the hospital and didn't come out for a week because I had a severe infection in my body and was scolded by the doctors for not coming in earlier. They said a few more days and it could have been fatal. Memories of the vacation we took after my ordeal so I could recoup.

So many, many memories, good and bad, happy and sad. I couldn't believe how many entries I had to log. My hands were killing me by the time I was done. It surely didn't help my Carpal tunnel syndrome. I have plenty of journals that I need to transcribe into my computer Journal going back to the late 70's. You will see them in my box when I post the picture on my photo blog. It could take months to transcribe. I even found some notes to put into my psychic journal from incidents I had back then.

It's back to work on Sunday.

Important Matters Taken Care Of

Today I had another day off and caught up on some important items that needed to be done. I typed several letters and mailed them out to State officials regarding an important matter that needs to be resolved and I sent out several emails too. Now I have to wait to see if any action is taken or if I have to proceed to the next level or authority. I spent most of the morning verifying and researching information so that I knew who I needed to contact.

I also managed to upload some recent pictures from our vacation and some others I hadn't uploaded into my Family Tree Maker genealogy program. I'm going to purchase the 2009 version because I have the 2005 version but I want to upgrade it. I have been stuck on finding information beyond my grandparents and can't find much on them. I have some info on my dh's side but I don't know how accurate it is and don't have much info beyond his children.

I plan on attending a Genealogy class toward the end of this month so hopefully I will get some good sites that I could go on to do some more research and get some background information.

Legal Business & Debate Night

Today I was off from work, thank God! Dh and I had to go to Tampa to meet with our Attorney and update some legal documents. This years meeting was different as last years and I felt it was more informative. After getting all of the legal mumbo jumbo out of the way we headed back home where I paid some bills, made dinner and got some things out of the way before the debate.

I was a bit nervous about how Sara Palin was going to do but I was impressed. I think she did a good job and was happy with her performance. I thought Biden did pretty good too but the lies or facts what ever you want to call them were wrong.

I don't know where this election is headed but this Country is in such deep manure we have to get out of it soon! Everyone needs to get ready and prepare for what's coming. We are heading toward a recession! After all the talk from the Media pundits saying we were already in a recession and knowing that it wasn't true, I do believe it is coming now.

Credit is going to tighten, inflation is going to continue to go up and people need to start saving cash and stop living on credit. We got ourselves in this crap because this Country lives on credit. Everyone is always encouraging spending but you don't see them encouraging us to save.

A Lousy Wednesday With A Surprise

Today I got a call from a friend's mother. My dh received the phone call because I was at work. She told my husband that none of us should make contact with her daughter. I wondered if her daughter knew that she had called our home. I would just say that it is fine.

This is where a blog can be useful. I will not contact you because I don't want trouble as I'm sure you don't but I cannot control whether you want to keep contact with us. If you post on your MySpace blog I can read them and possibly comment on my blog. I can only say "I understand."

There was another important call that came in that day but this one for my dh. He was thrilled to have received the call and I was thrilled for him.

It strikes me how these calls were totally opposite from each other and it surprises me how the universe works.

The day at work was no thrill either. It was the longest day ever since I started working there. The day was just a drag due to certain circumstances. I just had to make the best of it which wasn't easy.

I don't understand how some individuals could be so miserable, constantly complain, belittle others, disrespect you and then ask you for a favor. Unbelievable! The best part of all of it is you get to say "no."

Karma At It's Finest

So funny I had to laugh at my foolishness. Today I had to work. During work I had a customer come to my counter to check out. She pulled out her 40% coupon and handed to me apologizing profusely because it was torn in two and crumpled. I looked at the coupon dumbfounded wondering how I would be able to scan it as she explained that "her dog chewed her coupon" and she took it out of his mouth.

I started joking with her saying, oh you're one of those who use to tell their teacher that her dog ate her homework. Her husband was telling me how he had to hold the dog while she pulled the paper out of his mouth. We all started laughing. I pulled out one of my other coupons and scanned it and then stapled her torn coupon together.

After work I picked up dh and my son to go check out the new Kohl store's soft opening. They had a lot of really nice things. Their grand opening is on October 1st when I will most likely go and do some shopping.

Once we got home I realized I was starving because I was running on two slices of toast for breakfast and it was now after 9 p.m. My dh and son had already eaten so I pulled out some broccoli and cheese bites from the freezer along with some mini pizza slices and put them on a plate on the counter. I briefly stepped outside to have a smoke with dh oblivious to what I was doing and when I came back inside I looked for my food. I didn't notice it on the counter so checked the microwave and when I noticed it wasn't I turned back to the counter and noticed the plate with crumbs. I then turned to "the dog" and said "Oh no you didn't!" and he immediately ran to his corner and coward near it. I knew then that he "ate my food" and karma was at play.

There was no way I could get angry at him when I knew it was my own fault for leaving my food near the counter. I kept telling him "no you didn't" and he would give me that look of I know I did something wrong but I don't know what. It was so funny I had to laugh at him for eating my food and for me leaving it by the counter and making fun of the lady who had her coupon chewed up by her dog.

It's Back to Work Tomorrow

Goodness where did my three days off go? They went by in a blip. I know Monday I ran some errands but I barely remember yesterday and today, well lets just say it's over. All I really did today was try to sort through my vacation pictures and printed some to scrap.

I made Cornish hens and rice with beans for dinner since we were all home today. I even washed the dishes after dinner. Usually my son is at work so he eats out or brings something home to eat. When I work during the day my dh cooks for me and cleans ups afterwards. It's like I really don't have to do anything anymore except spend time on the computer. My dh is so supportive and I am so grateful to have him.

Tomorrow it's back to work for another four days straight which means that nothing much will get done around here when I get home because I just want to eat, relax and get online but I hope to get some scrap pages done this week.

A Three Day Break

Finally three days off after working five days straight. It wasn't easy going back to work after being on vacation for 10 days. I really enjoyed my vacation and wish it could be like that every day but of course this is reality.

Today I had to run an important errand which took me to Clermont, a drive of an hour and a half. I took care of some bills last night so I didn't have to worry about it today but tomorrow I have plenty of things I want to catch up on. I hope I can accomplish what I have on my list for these three days that I'm off but of course something always comes up or gets in the way.

I had accidentally deleted my "tasks" from my PDA two days ago. I couldn't believe I had done it. I was dumbfounded but thank God I found them in one of my Outlook deleted files so I was able to restore them and synchronize the data with my PDA. I was so happy to find them because I had a lot of info in my lists. I updated some of my to do lists, created new ones and backed up the info.

It's getting close to the end of the year when I usually update my files in my file cabinets and purge a lot of old stuff and I am not looking forward to it but it must be done.

Work - No Work

Today I got up early because according to my schedule, which I got off of the employee website, I had to be at work at 11 a.m. Once I got to work I checked the written schedule and noticed that I was "not" on the schedule for Tuesday. So now I was confused. I went to the front desk and checked to see if I was on the schedule there, again no. I went back to the break room and got on the computer to check and lo and behold I was right, it did say that I was scheduled to work but since I was told that the written schedule takes priority, I went home.

I didn't mind going home, I just didn't like the fact that I had to get up early for nothing. Once I got back home I went upstairs, changed and started doing some cleaning. I dusted, changed the sheets and vacuumed all the rooms upstairs. I did the stairs and vacuumed the downstairs too. I washed the sheets, mopped the kitchen floor and made dinner then it was back upstairs to check my emails and watch t.v.

Tomorrow I know I'm on the work schedule but I don't have to go in till late in the afternoon.

Home Sweet Home Again

Our last vacation day was Saturday. We left the resort before 10 a.m., visited with my son and headed home. We arrived home at 7 p.m. on the dot. After bringing our luggage into the house, dh, youngest son and I went to do some grocery shopping because there was nothing in the house to eat. My son had eaten what was left which wasn't much.

Once we got back home we ate and then it was upstairs to do some unpacking. I got all of the unpacking done and piled all laundry that had to be done on the floor.

On Monday I did all the laundry and took care of the bills that were due. I keep track of all the finances on Money and it took me several hours to go through everything. We had dinner at around 6 p.m. after all the laundry and the bills were done and watched t.v. afterwards.

I had to iron my work clothes because I have to go to work tomorrow.