Manic Monday #131

If you could take more control of one aspect of your life, what would it be?
Again, I would not be living here and I wouldn’t be afraid to start my own business.

If you were to name the difference between the male soul and the female soul, what would it be?
I would say that there is not much of a difference.

You can discern a man’s (or woman’s) soul by his (or her) face, eyes, laugh, clothing and way of walking-Fr. Cornelius a Lapide, S.J.

If you had to admit the most selfish thing you do on a regular basis, what would you say it is?
My hubby makes me coffee every evening and has for 33 years and if I have to make coffee I become resentful. Now that’s selfish.

Let’s just say that I haven’t been the most pleasant person to be around for the past few day.  Let’s just say.

We are still experiencing thunder, lightning, rain and are under a flood watch even though Fay has passed.  We are suppose to have bad weather all through this week and into next.  Enough already!

Brian and Tom are at the boy scout meeting.  I love to see how excited Brian gets when he has those meetings.  The only time he interacts with children his age is at school or the scout meeting.  I am so happy that he can be with children his age.

We Can Exhale Now

First I want to thank all who checked in here to see how my family and I fared during Fay. 

We had a lot of wind and rain, but not enough rain to flood our area.  There was an evacuation in parts of our county because of the flood zone.  We aren’t in that flood zone.  We have a lot of tree branches and leaves down around our house.  Our concern was that a tree would fall onto the house.  The winds finally died down late in the afternoon.  Tomorrow we have a massive cleanup outside the house.  Hopefully, it will be dried enough to remove the leaves.  Right now they are wet and stick to the pavement. 

Carrie lost electricity and and was without running water.  Parts of her area were and still are flooded.  She, Nicky and Ronnie showed up here yesterday morning for Brian’s birthday and to take showers.  They stayed around until early last night.

Brian’s birthday was strange to say the least.  We did manage to make it as normal as possible.  He was happy and that is all that really mattered.  We got him a bike, helmet and some cars. 

Thankfully we are all safe and sound.  I am grateful that we didn’t suffer, but feel terrible about the ones that did.

The Hatches Are Still Battened

Fay has stalled and is moving at 2 mph. We have had rain all day. Now, the rain is getting heavier and we are still wondering what is going to happen. School is cancelled for tomorrow also. Some of the bridges in Jacksonville and St. Augustine are closed. We are waiting to hear about the bridge that links us to Florida. We have even got our battery operated skill saw ready to go just incase we have to move to the crawl space (like an attic, but not really) and cut a way out to the roof. This mess is going to continue right into the weekend.

Tomorrow is Brian’s birthday. Our plans will probably be altered, but we will still have a cake and presents for him.

I wish to thank those who participate in last nights poll.  The results of last nights poll-

During A Storm, I Mostly Fear The…

All Of The Above 3
Lightning 3
Winds 3
Flooding 0
Other answer… 0

I chose all of the above.  I am a chicken at heart.

Worn, Warned And Weathered Out

Schools are closed here tomorrow because of Tropical Storm Fay.   Brian is pretty happy about that.  So far, these are the warnings for this area-

Flood Warning
Flood Watch
Tropical Storm Warning
Tropical Storm Wind Warning

I managed to get all of our important papers together and Tom shopped for more flashlights and water.  I am thinking that we aren’t going to get it as bad as they predicted.  But, I could be wrong and we shouldn’t take a chance and let our guard down.

Storm Watching

We are under a hurricane watch.  It is suppose to get stormy here starting tomorrow late in the afternoon, and continue on to Thursday.  All this week, and into the weekend, we are going to have many storms.  The areas around us are under a flood watch until Saturday and tornadoes until Friday.  I should be preparing and getting important papers, etc. together.  I will wait until tomorrow.  

Moving on.  Brian went to his first Cub Scout meeting last night and enjoyed it very much.  His eight Birthday is this Friday and we may have to postpone some of the things that we planned for him because of this storm.  Nicky is doing great.  I saw him and Carrie today for a few hours.  I haven’t been taking any pictures and I am really feeling bad about that.  Hopefully, I will get back into taking pictures.  I guess most of us go through phases.

Manic Monday #130

Is there something you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?
It is the same old song and dance and the same old dream. I dream of moving back to New England. I haven’t done it because of finances, jobs, and the fact that we would have to unload a house first.

If you could make any fictional character come to life, which one would it be?
Umm!  Ahh!  Hmm!  (brain cramp inserted here)

If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be and how long would it take you to spend the $10,000?
Any place where I could buy a good mattress and some comfortable furniture.

Name three things you wanted as a child but never got.
A baby doll with all the things a baby would need.
A pair of roller skates.
A pedal car-

Keepsakes Or Future Potential?

 “Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Today we took everything out of our small garage, put it all in the driveway, got rid of a tiny amount of things, swept out the garage and put the junk back into the garage moved some things from the garage to the sheds. To me this isn’t getting down and doing it right. I would just love to, while Tom is working, hire a pick-up truck and just start tossing things away. I hate clutter. When my surroundings are cluttered, I am unable to function mentally. I know that some will say that I am being ridiculous. Anyhow, it was so hot and humid we sweated terribly. When I came in I took a cold shower and I just could not cool down. My heart was racing, my face was bright red, and I was dizzy.  Tom gave me an aspirin just incase I was about to have a stroke or a heart attack.  I am not supposed to take any aspirins what so ever.  All the while, and in between, I was doing laundry and the dryer didn’t help with it throwing off heat.  The washer and dryer are in the garage.

Why do most of us keep things and find that our spaces are getting smaller and smaller?  Homes are being built bigger and more storage companies are in businiess.  What in the world do we think we are going to do with all these things?  How can one live life amid turmoil and clutter?   How long do we think we are going to live that we will use everything we have stored in bins, closets, shed, attic…?  How long indeed.

It was a very busy and tiring weekend.  I cannot wait for winter to come here.  I would say, “I can’t wait for autumn, but it is almost as hot in the autumn as it is in the summer here.  Give me that winter chill.  I will open the windows, take in the crispness of the air, close my eyes and feel renewed.

The Sappy Homemaker

I took advantage of Tom having the day off from work today.  I had him help me with taking down the blinds and curtains so I could wash them.  I took the blinds out to the patio and washed them there.  While I was waiting for the blinds to drip dry, I washed the shower curtains and bleached down the front stoop.  I got a lot done in a short time.  It goes fast when you have help.

I used to spend a lot more time on my house than I do now.  Maybe it is because I am loosing interest. 

Some Small Talk

I awoken this morning with a headache, neck ache and nausea. As the day progressed, I started to feel better. I got absolutely nothing done around the house today.

We had leftover lasagna for supper and Tom and I made chocolate covered strawberries for Brian.  Brian saw some chocolate covered strawberries at the supermarket the other day, in the bakery section, and wanted to buy some. At $3.00 a piece, I said no way in hades will I buy them. We will make them. I bought some baker’s melting chocolate and Tom bought the strawberries to make them at home. I can’t imagine that anyone would buy a strawberry with some chocolate on them for $3.00 a piece. Online you can get them for about $5.00 a piece including shipping and handling. UGH!

Now for a Friday meme-

That’s My Answer

Would you rather go out to dinner and a movie, or dancing and to a bar?  I would rather go dancing and to a bar.  I do not like to go to the movies.  The last movie I saw, in a theater, was “Nixon”-I can’t even remember why I would have gone to that one-and before that it was “E.T.” and before that “Jaws”.  Maybe I will just skip the dancing and go directly to the bar.  Wheeeeee!

“Gray Haired Granny Freaks Need Not Apply”

Brian joined Cub Scouts Tuesday night. I must say that it is quite expensive. His uniform alone will cost $123.00 plus shipping and tax. Then he has to purchase all his camping equipment. The list goes on and on.

I have been looking for employment without success. Two months ago I applied at Walgreens and CVS and haven’t heard back. The problem with applying for jobs is that they aren’t hiring. I have been looking for jobs with the Dept. of Navy, but there again, there aren’t any ‘hot job’ openings. Well, there are two hot jobs-Mechanical Engineer and Physician (Family Medicine). Too bad I wasn’t qualified for either one of those positions. Before I moved here I was a Marine Machinist Helper for the Dept of the Navy (DON). Even if there were an opening for a Marine Machinst, I think I am a little too old to don a hard hat and steel toed shoes again. The rest of the jobs with the DON are ‘Open Continious’. Meaning that if a job is open and if you applied for that job your Resumix will be taken into consideration.

There was a job here in my area for a motel housekeeper.  Here is the job description-

Salary $6.55 to $6.75 based on qualifications and experience. Housekeeper to clean guest rooms, common areas and laundry. Must be available to work weekends and holidays. Permanent Full Time First Shift Job.

One of my continious problems are, we only have one vehicle and Tom uses it for his job. I am just sick about all of this. I really don’t want to clean motel rooms for 8 hours a day. The jobs around here are scarce. And with prices sky rocketing out of sight, it is vital that I find some work.  Oh, what a life!  

I will make my visits tomorrow.  I am just really tired since Brian returned back to school.  I have to get up at 5:00 a.m. and with the stress that I am feeling and getting up so early and going to bed late, it is taking a toll on me.

Buttermilk Dressing and Manic Monday

Yesterday I made grilled chicken sandwiches on sandwich rolls with tomato and lettuce. The boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets were on sale.  I like ranch dressing on my grilled chicken and discovered that I was out of ranch dressing. So, I got busy and made up a quick Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. Recipe can be found here.  It just so happened that I had buttermilk on hand for some cooking that I am planning on this week.  I like to cook with buttermilk.   

Brian wants to join the Cub Scouts.  Tom and he will sign up at the school tomorrow night.  Brian is really excited about that.

How would your friend describe you to someone who has never seen you?  She is a grandmother that rarely leaves her house.  She is tough when she has to be, but cries easily.  She had a soft spot for children and animals that are abused.   She is a loner who rarely trust people on the outside.  

Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who, and why?  I trust that my husband and family will protect me out of love.

If you died or went missing, who would miss you?  My husband, my daughter, my grandsons and my sister.

No One Said This Would Be Easy

Hey, I am back from the bowels of depression and self-pity and I am feeling much more ambitious then I have these past few weeks.  This ambition could be short-lived, but I will take it, short lived or not, rather than shutting down completely. I would like to think of myself as a strong woman who can pull out of any pitfalls that may come our way. I would like to think that no matter how meager our means are that I will frugally help us to survive. I do know and I do realize that when I shut down the whole family suffers. I saw it on their faces and heard it in their words when they gingerly approached me for advice or out of concern for me. However, those were the times that I just didn’t give a darn. I can’t control how high the food prices go or how much we are throwing into our gas tank so Tom can get back and forth to work. These things I can’t control. I can shut down or I can get strong and help my family pull through these tough times.  Maybe tomorrow I won’t be so strong.

A Page Fill-ah

Saturday Six

1. Do you prefer a hotter climate or a colder climate? :: Cold climate.

2. If you could live anywhere on the planet and money wasn’t an object, which area would you choose? :: Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

3. Do you prefer walking, riding a bike, driving or flying when you are going somewhere? :: I would love to get back into bike riding.

4. Take the quiz: What planet do you come from?  ::  Uranus?  (Can you guess what I am thinking?)

 

5. What is the biggest change you have made to help the environment? ::  Mmm. 

6. If scientists discovered signs of life on another planet, would you worry about your safety if that material was brought to Earth for study? :: No.

Hopeful

Okay.  I don’t have much to say.  Today I saw Carrie and Nicky.  They popped in later this morning.  Nicky is doing great.  My sister called.  I helped Brian with his homework. 

Hopefully, tomorrow I will have more to say if for my sanity only.

Is This It?

I haven’t been doing any baking or cooking per se.  Just the daily routine of making supper, or rather throwing something together to eat with what I have in the freezer.  Today I made meatloaf.   I defrosted the hamburger and ground pork and noticed that I didn’t have enough ketchup.  I use ketchup in my meatloaf recipe.  So, I made some ketchup.  It tasted different to say the least.  As for baking, I have completely omitted it from my days.  I hope to get back to it really soon.

 

I have also omitted cleaning my house and maintaining the yard.  As of now, I more or less have given up.  These homemaking duties can be done on a shoe string, but trying doing these things without funds.  It is no fun, to say the least.  I know I will probably feel different tomorrow or next week.  I have given up and sacrificed so very much for the good of the family.  There is nothing left to give or sacrifice.  It is what it is. 

 

I have been crocheting with the leftover yarn I have.  But every time I attempt a project, I have to forgo it because I lack the yarn to finish. 

 

Again, this is going to be a very long year as well as a very long life of wondering, hoping, waiting, pondering, coaxing, cajoling, obliging.  I have been spending my days in a state of sarcasm toward my other half.  I don’t know if I have much more inside before I explode or implode.  Whichever comes first. 

 

So, that is how I spend my days.  In a state of confusion and anger.  Oh, joy!