Mark your calendars

Friday, June 5 from 6pm to 10pm at Screen Ink, Lincoln Nebraksa.  We’d love to get as many people to this show.  My son and his friend have put it together.  The show is called The Freestyle 50, 38 artists in the Lincoln/Omaha area have done their art work on 50 skateboard decks.  “Freestyle” because there is no limitation to the art project.  I’m extremely proud of my son for his vision, and thankful to his friend, Jeremy and GF, Ashley, for motivating him into something that could be the lion in his life.   

Those of you in the midwest, that are within driving distance to Lincoln, NE.  I hope you can make it.   More information here.

What day is it?

I’ve gone from working 2 days, then 3 and now 4.  Today I was supposed to go to Auburn, CA to file a mechanic’s lien, however, yesterday afternoon, the customer paid, so all I had to do was a lien waiver and mail it out.  Instead of wandering to Auburn, hubby and I had to work, which is a good thing, but a strange thing, since we’ve been working so few days a week lately.  I’m now working  Friday and Monday because our salesman is going to Stanford for medical tests.    I get to work the rest next week, because the office manager and her husband/co-owner of the company is going to Texas for their son’s graduation.  I’m just hoping I have the staminia to work five days in a row.  lol … it’s been awhile.

I have to admit work is picking up, but not anywhere near the volume it usually is.  We’re still making it week to week and the salesman has had quite a few window quotes this week.  Unfortunately, everyone under the sun is also bidding on the same project.  So, depending on how hard one wants to fight and how low you wanna go, is the one that get’s the job.  But in order to stay in business, you can’t go lower than your cost.  It’s become such a dog eat dog world in the construction business right now. 

I know quite of few contractors, our customers, that have nothing … nothing … nothing going on.  No future projects, no future prospects.  I feel for them, because I know they’ve probably had to lay off their crew.  And still try put food on their table and keep the roof over their head. 

I hope what everyone’s saying is right.  That things are starting to turn around and get better.  It will be an interesting year.

Duck duck goose?

While sitting along the creek in the park, these little guys waddled past us to get into the water.  I had to take a picture of this one.

Its body was black and white and its head was black, white with a little mallard green.  So I’m assuming it was male since he’s hanging with the other males.  My guess is they are teenagers in the duck family.  But what the heck was it that came along and fertilized it’s egg?  

When we lived in Vegas, one of the offices I worked at had a pond in the center of the complex.  We had a mallard duck family living there.  Every year when the eggs hatched, the little fuzzy babies would wander around.  If we left the back door open, the family would wander through our hallway quacking away.  Between our office and the dentist office next door, they were well fed ducks.  It was our stress reliever, considering we worked for an escrow/title company and worked late hours many many years ago.

Day of Wander

We were going to wander today and enjoy the weather, however, as we were getting into the truck, hubby reminded me that we need to change the studded winter tires for the summer tires before we drive into California on Thursday.  So, the day of wandering was changed to a day of waiting.  We brought our other tires for the tire place to change them over, plus we decided to get the oil changed and the truck lubed, etc. 

Well, it turns out two of our summer tires were bad and they wouldn’t put them back on the truck, so we had to buy two new tires.  Three hours and $400 later, we were ready to wander … lol … so we wandered to the grocery store and then home.  I’m now ready to stay home the rest of the weekend.  It costs way to much to leave. 

We did get to sit outside at the park for over an hour.   So I suppose the day wasn’t a total loss.  Just a monetary one.  Hope your weekend’s going well, I’ll be sitting at home playing Bejeweled 2.

Memorial Day Weekend

The official holiday to kick off summer fun.  Yesterday we had midwest weather, severe thunder storms.  It  actually looked like a black wall cloud and if we were still in Lincoln, NE., we would have gone to the basement and turned on the radio.  One never knows what is in a wall cloud.  It is so dense that even the instruments can’t tell.

However, being in the west, the wall cloud produced  great contrasts between light and dark as well as a double rainbow.  No, I didn’t take pictures, since we were driving, so you’ll just have to take my word for it!

I’ve worked most of this week, Tues thru Fri.  Hubby has worked these same days also.  This was the last week we drive to Reno to get to Incline … woohoo!!!  My poor truck, the added miles are making it groan.  Better get it lubed and oil changed soon.

Today the sky is clear and we really should just get out there and wander.  LOL … yeah, I know I say this, and here sits my butt … *sigh*

You all have a great three day weekend!  For those of you traveling, have a safe trip.  For those of you that are hiking … enjoy and be safe.  For those that are having BBQs, have an extra something tasty for me!

Wow, great night of class

We had class tonight and the teacher/pastor shared a story that made me think, made me cry and was so powerful, I am still blown away.  Those of us who are believers and have had situations in our lives where we were deeply embarrassed, hurt, humiliated, crushed, broken … Pray for the insight as you think of the worst of the worst situation, then ask Jesus into that situation.    Just in listening to how Jesus healed his pain and helped him forgive was so very powerful.  

I’m not real good at thinking about the pain of old brokeness, however, I am going to try, only because I would like to get to the point of truly being healed and free.   The chapter we read this past week was such an eye opener.  It revealed how much growth we’ve been through since starting this class.  With each chapter, we had spiritual bashing.  But what an awakening.   The book is “How People Grow.”  If you are interested, get the book, it really is a great tool for those of us visiting this world, with a greater destination ahead.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUBBY!

Today is my hubby’s birthday.  As he puts it, he’s no longer 50!  lol … he says he’s going backwards instead of forward.  Well, mentally he may be right. 

Then

Now

It’s kinda wierd to think we are one of those baby boomers they talk about.  Mentally we’re still in our 20’s, but the body lets us know differently.

So Happy Birthday, Hubby.  I hope you have a wonderful day, even though I won’t be home until after 8pm.  Maybe we can do something this weekend, especially since it’s a holiday weekend.

Hope you all have a good hump day.  It sure is warm where we are.  I hope your weekend weather is pleasant.

I Love Lucy

Remember those “I Love Lucy” shows?  Well, I was her yesterday.  While taking things out of the cat room and cleaning them up, I decided to take some boxes to the garage.  Well, going out the garage door, I missed a step, down I went and the door slammed.  Trying to figure out what the heck happened, I picked myself up and went to turn the knob, l o c k e d … dang … I had no key, no phone, no watch,  luckily I had clothes on.  I wandered to the sprinkler timer to check the time.  It was 11am.  Dang!

Hubby was working at the lake and I wasn’t expecting him home until 1-2pm.  So I managed to sweep up the garage floor.  Luckily I had just put the dog outside, prior to locking myself out of the house.  I opened the side door and called the dog into the garage and there we sat waiting for hubby to come home.  I found one of those folding chairs in the garage so I had something comfortable to sit on.   I could hear my cell phone ringing and I knew it was hubby by the ringtone.  Finally he drove up after 2pm.  He stepped out of the truck and said, “That explains why you didn’t answer the phone.  How long have you been locked out?”  

Note to selves … make a duplicate key and hide it in the garage for those “I Love Lucy” moments. 

Thank you, God, I didn’t break a bone or two.  The bruises that started to form are gone today.   How is that possible?  I usually bruise and the bruises would be in full bloom today and last a week.  The only thing I can attribute it to is the MonaVie.  When I got back into the house, I drank another serving and finished cleaning the cat room.  I’m a bit sore today, but my hand is not multi shades of blue and green and the bruise that was forming on my leg is gone.  Just a small bump where I hit it.  I knew this product was great, however, the longer I’m on it, the more I am amazed.

Busy week

Has it really been five days since I’ve posted?  Where has the time gone?  I guess it has been an busy week for me.  Driving the long way around to get to work has really taken a toll on me.  It is so much later than normal when I get home.  Tuesday, hubby and I were trying to rush back home, so I could eat and drive back to Reno with one of my friends for  a meeting.  Well, you know how the harder you try to go faster, the slower you go?  Hubby ended up dropping me off at the Peppermill so I could meet my friend for the MonaVie meeting. 

It actually worked out, I was able to save us seats in the front row.  The speaker was great!!  I’m really glad we decided to go at the last minute.  So needless to say, my friend and I didn’t get home until after 11pm.   I couldn’t go to sleep until almost 1 am and I was toast the next day.  I’ve been out of my nutritional beverage and was starting to feel sluggish again.  I can’t wait until my shipment is here, so I can get back to drinking.

Thursday night was our class.  There were only four of us, plus the teacher.  I wasn’t sure if I would like not having the group of 8-10, but it turned out that it was less intimidating being smaller than it normally is.   It turned out to be a good discussion night about grief.  Pretty interesting stuff.

I also had to work half a day on Thursday, plus it was our monthly doc visit.  We are doing well.  Hubby’s lung function has been the best he’s had in a long time.  Thank you MonaVie!  

Friday morning we had to put our tank of a cat down.  You all have seen pics of my kitty … she was a female version of Garfield.  In the past month, she had lost alot of weight.  She was so light.  Plus her nose started bleeding and she was having mini-seizures.  The doc wanted to talk us into doing a blood test, to see what was wrong and then putting her on meds and daily injections.  You know, we loved this dang cat, but, all said and done, it is still a cat.  We didn’t want to put her through all that.  Plus it’s bad enough we have to poke our own fingers everyday, I’m not sure I was up to poking the cat twice a day and forcing meds down her throat.  We were already braced to put her down, so we told them to just do it. 

The saddest thing was the dog.  He whimpered as he ran all through the house looking for her.  Then he ran into the garage and jumped into the truck, because he could still smell her, but couldn’t find her.  Last night was hard for him, since he watched hubby take her things to the trash.  He was definately a mopey dog.  It’s wierd not having her around.  She was a really good kitty until she got sick. 

The pantry was her room.  All we would keep in there were cleaning supplies and boxes, no food.  So my task today is go in there and clean the shelves, get rid of the boxes and get it sanitized so we can use it for what it was intended for … food.   LOL, geesh, what would it be like to actually have a real walk in pantry?  I guess I’ll find out this weekend.

Since I have to work next Thursday and Friday.  I’m taking Monday off to save the company my day’s pay.  Things are really tight where I work, so it will be interesting to see how long the company can hang in. 

Other than that, we are hanging in also.  I hope you all have a great weekend.  Talk at ya later.

Mother’s Day

How was your mom’s day? 

Mine was very uneventful.  All three of our children called, which was the highlight of my day.  The rest of the day I was on the computer, playing Bejeweled, while watching movies. 

Moms, don’t you just love it when your child says, “Mom, I’m an adult and can make my own decisions about …”  To which I replied, “I am still your mother and I’m entitled to worry!”   I know my children are adults and I know they make their own decisions all the time.   It will be interesting when my grandchildren are adults and say the same back to their parents.  Wherever I am at that time, I’ll be grinning!

Not that we as grandparents aren’t grinning already.  It is pretty fun to watch our children be parents.  It’s interesting to hear the words come out of their mouths.  Hubby and I don’t say anything, but we sit back and smile, while thinking … where have we heard that before? 

I used to wonder why my mom would sit and crochet and cry.  Not a full blown sob, but I’d catch her, as I would pass through the room, sniffing and dabbing at her eyes.  I never asked her what was wrong, as we didn’t have that kind of relationship.  But now I understand.  When your house has children, then they grow & leave, you find yourself alone.  In those alone and quiet times you do alot of thinking about alot of stuff. 

Now that I’m getting older, unfortunately the hormones are starting to deplete and the emotions are closer to the surface than I like.   I can start with the sniffing, then sob, and back to sniffing.  Which was the case today.  As I write this, my eyes are more lubricated than they need to be. 

Ladies, don’t you just love all we go through as a female?  I’ll be glad when the change is finally over!  There’s gotta be a song in there somewhere about hot flashes and tears.  Can’t you just hear the steele guitar playing?  As long as they add a fiddle to that.  Which reminds me of one of Steve Martin’s routines about the banjo.  You can’t be sad when you hear a banjo.  LOL … so true! 

I had recorded the Dove Awards and watched it tonight.  Stephen Curtis Champman performed his song, “Cinderella.”  This past year they had a tragedy in their family.  He dedicated his performance and song to his daughter, Maria, who is now in Heaven.  How does one recover from that?  They have their faith.  They have their belief system that pulls them through.  Being a Christian doesn’t mean you’ll have a tragedy free life.  It just means that when you go through whatever you go through, you know that you are not alone.  You have the most powerful source inside you guiding you, loving you, and carrying you.

So in closing, I hope all you moms had a great day.  For those of you children who haven’t talked to your moms for whatever reason … make the call.  Even if it’s a short, Happy Mother’s Day.  There’s still a few minutes just do it.