A Memorial Monday.

So, I actually arose from bed early enough to write in my journal, and it felt great! Unfortunately, the day went downhill from there. Minutes after I was done I received a phone call. My phone does not ring at 5 am, so I knew it wasn't good. Thank gods it was only Jason (my partner at work, or as I like to call him; my work husband) telling me he was sick and not coming in. Okay. Guess I'd rather know as soon as possible. The dilemma: I cannot enter the work place alone. It is corporate rules. They like to say it's for safety, but really it's because they don't want me stealing anything. SO, now I have to wake up Boss Maria and find out if anyone else was scheduled in at the same time Jason and I were. I don't have online access to anyone else’s schedule, so I have no way of knowing this. Thank god the answer was yes. Unfortunately, by the time I was done with the calls and getting dressed for work, I didn't have time for breakfast. So, hungry Silly gets behind the wheel of the car and drives an hour, thankful no one else is on the road due to holiday-ness. I end up having time to swing thru Burger Thing (which I hate but it's the only 24 hour drive thru close to work) and pick up a yummy sausage biscuit meal deal. Oh, but they are out of tater tots, so am I okay with fries? Well...I guess. Oh, and we are not only going to give you burned tasting coffee, but the completely wrong order, too. However, you won't know this cuz you need to be somewhere fast, and don't have time to check the order until you get far, far away and cannot do anything about it. Oh, but here's some extra sugar and creamer for the burned coffee, though. We find that helps with the whole burnt flavor thing.Ugh.I get to work to find some uncaring truck driver has blocked all the safe employee parking spaces with his big fat rig, so I have to park my car in the criminal zone. Break-ins have occurred here. I don't like my little Kiwi parked there. Not much I can do about it, though. I have managed to arrive at work just in time to let the people in with enough time to get to the time clock. Oh, wait. I left my keys at home in my other jacket. Crap! Now I have to call poor Kay, get her out of bed to come down and let us in. She has to give me her key to the store before heading back home because the spare set we keep in the office doesn't actually work on any of the building's outter wall doors, including the one to the compactor. Great. I can, however, get into the office and cash office, so if I wanted to steal some money or a really crappy computer, I could. I just couldn't get OUT of the building with it. Whatever.There are no work lists left for me, giving me or my team any direction, and all of the freight that we didn't get put out from last Wednesdays truck is still in the back, waiting. Funny how getting it out in one day never seems to work like it's supposed to according to the brains at corporate headquaters in Area 51. Anyhow.. we start in on that. After we open, I spend the rest of the day answering questions, helping customers and battling tears because I am helpless without my keys and getting nowhere with the freight. I am also getting angry because I am tired of the truck crew not busting a move and getting it done the day it comes in. Oh, and I am feeling postal because of all the days of missed meds I have had lately. Oh, and the boyfriend break up. And stress dreams. Did I mention those? No? My bad. Sorry.Enter lunch. Yummy lunch. Forgot the silverware. I search for stray plastic utensils everywhere. Nothing. Thus, lunch with fingers. Makes it hard to escape into Sudoku for half an hour when you have lunch fingers.Enter rest of day. Crazy. That sums it up. People with 3-day weekends love to shop at Michaels. For three days, apparently. Heard lots of "I was here yesterday, and you still had---" Really? Would you like a job application? I mean, if you are here that much anyways, might as well put ya ta werk. Seriously.
Needless to say, I had the opportunity to stay extra hours because Jason was never replaced. No one would come in on Memorial Day. Go figure. Did I pick up extra hours? No WAY! I flew out of there as fast as my tired little feet would carry me (which is pretty darn fast when properly motivated) and pointed Kiwi for the homestead. I plowed thru my list of 'have tos', laced it with a few episodes of 'Bones' and a huuuuuge plate of nachos. Now I shall snuggle with pug in my bed and hope tomorrow is, um, better.Oh, and I did put my work keys into the correct jacket, just so ya know.

my front garden

an awe moment

swappy goodness

This is my latest creation for a bookmark swap. My swap partner loves bookmarks, so what better than a book mark of bookmarks, drawn to look like things listed on her "Likes" list in her profile.

Loki at the Beach

Some cute puppy pictures. I don't think Loki has been so exhausted in his life! Almost every time we went back to the hotel room, he would throw himself down and fall asleep instantly.

Weekend at the beach

Went to the beach two weekends ago. It was my last trip with a boyfriend. I am back in the realm of single again. My choice. Healthy choice. I was having a moment of weakness yesterday, but life always has a way of reminding you why you made your choices, good or bad as they might have been.

However, I did have a good time at the beach. It was Loki's first visit, and he figured out how to dig, chase birds and get wet in the ocean in a very short time! Quick learning curve that little guy has. Of course I have a few pictures to share, as always. Seems I am rarely without my camera now. I really love it! I think the hardest part is coming home and trying not to post every picture I take. However, I will be posting pics of the beach trip, starting now!

Updatey goodness.

Well, I have another weekend before me. I will be doing a few more garden things today, and I should be done. Putting the fence up, getting the compost bin in, a quick weeding, and planting a tomato. Other things will be done, but doing this gets me caught up on home stuff. Then I can sit down with my list and refocus myself.

It's cold and drizzling out, but I have all the drapes open and am flooding myself with wonderful bright outdoor light. Smudge is snoozing on my bed, enjoying the soft and warm. I have a new pot of coffee brewing, and quiet music playing in the background. I will spend my morning catching up on my friends posts as well as mine. I will gather my notes for the huge mural I am painting for a friend and review them. Tomorrow I meet up with a coworker that has experience painting stage sets. I will split the money from this endeavor with him. I am sure he has a lot of useful information in his head I could benefit from. I think it will be a mutually satisfying joint effort! I'll head home next weekend to get supplies and lay the base coats down. Then I will plan another weekend visit for when my painting partner can join me. I am excited to see if we can get this banged out quickly and well. Like the challenge.

I promise!

I promise I'll get to posting some pictures and updates this weekend. I am just getting my groove back, and there are some other things I need to take care of. I figure I'll save the fun for a weekend reward.

Besides, I need to make lunch, and Pug wants some playing with before I head to work. Le sigh! Work is both overwhelming and amazingly good right now. I am learning so much that it's overwhelming and confusing at best. I love it, though. I am slowly getting used to the idea that I am in charge and it's okay to act that way. I also have discovered that Maria is mot afraid of being wrong, and admits that occasionally she gives you the wrong answer or contradicts herself. It's nice to have a real boss this way.

Anyhow, I need to get going so I can head into work.

I had such a good weekend. I needed the time alone, and accomplished many tasks and played around as well. By Sunday afternoon I was missing my man, so I headed into town and spent the evening with him. My weekend felt full and well balanced. Monday I went to the Fire Station right after work and hung out with Mary Lou. I helped her fill the planter with flowers and then attended the monthly 'Helping Circle' meeting.

I haven' spent time with Mary Lou since I stayed in her place for a few weeks last year. It was nice to chit chat and play in the dirt. I found this guy on the walkway behind some things, and moved him to a tree. He was as big as half my hand, and very sleepy. I could feel his feet gripping tightly to my skin.

So beautiful! Also found a bright green tree frog, and on my way home I passed a horned owl sitting on a low, open branch. Would have loved to find a place to pull over and look at him for a while. They are such beautiful creatures.

Hard to believe my week is half over. Where does the time go?

Such an absolutely gorgeous and beautiful sunny day!

Yesterday was partly sunny with occasional showers. I had a wonderful time crafting at the fire station. I had a productive evening at home. I pulled weeds at Ruth's, vacuumed and reorganized my little space, started a garage sale box, petted many a kitty, aired out my house, did a little deep cleaning in the bathroom, and watched a bunch of 'Farscape' episodes while doing dishes and other things. I finished and packed my Mothers Day prezzie to mail Monday. It is late, but it is awesome! I am now going to turn on some music and futz around home. I am waiting for Mary Lou to show up. She is giving me a bicycle she has that is brand new! It just needs to be cleaned up and oiled, and probably taken in to have a once over by a professional. I will now have a bike to ride the paved Banks/Vernonia trail with! Yeah!!!!!

Well, I am off to get my laundry and get my behind outside.

It's official!

okay, I am officially a crazy cat lady. Willma from the Fcco filled my trunk with catfood for Ruth, who spends $200 plus a month feeding the strays and ferals we are getting fixed. I was grinning so hard when I delivered the food to Ruth! Pug thinks the door to heaven is through my cars' trunk!

I went to bed last night to the roll of thunder. It was right overhead, and each beautiful musical short lasted about 23 second. I opened all my windows and laid down on the bed and just listened. It's been a long time since I let myself be still. I think I am afraid to be still right now. Every time I am, I think of Michael and my stupidity and get all angry and hatey. Last night the thunder kept all that at bay. It was good.
Today I will scrap book at the firestation with the ladies, plant flowers in the flower boxes there, and do whatever I want. I have a loooong list, but I am going to go with the gut and see where it takes me. Who knows, maybe we will have another thunder storm.

Cinco de I-don't-remember- much.

Had an annoying day Wednesday, so went out and celebrated at a local Mexican restaurant. I am such a light weight when it comes to drinking. I am proud of that because it means I don't overindulge. It only took 2 Cadillac margaritas on a full belly during a 2.5 hour dinner to make me super happy. So, off for a nice sobering walk I went, where I had many adventures, such as trespassing on metro property (there were ducks, I couldn't help it!), crawling under fences, and take tons of super-happy person shots of me and the people/stuff around me. Enjoy!

Dinner

Dessert

all followed by silly pictures taken by a very happy photographer.

My garden is in!

The beautiful weather this weekend allowed for some garden planting. I planted collard greens, bib lettuce, kolrabi, carrots, corn and onions. Once I get a fence up I can plant a tomatoe. When the corn is 4" tall, I'll plant beans and a zuchini squash.

And now for the silly pictures!

Camera videos

I have been taking short videos with my super-duper Christmas gift camera Dave and Beth gave me this year. I tried to edit one, and found only one program that would open it. Then half way through the opening of/converting of, I was informed that I did not have enough memory.

Looks like this girl will be cleaning up her computer next.

In other computer related news, my computer printer is not getting any power. I quickly checked connections, but a thorough "lookin' at" will have to wait until tomorrow.