Freaky

Sometimes while searching the web (say using Google for instance) I will select the images option. I have been lucky to find some online pictures of my friends this way. It is really weird when it happens to you though. Sometimes people get to my site by the photos that are found thru Google images or photobucket images. The results have not been very exciting pictures (like my first attempt at knitting). However this past week someone came to my blog via Google images and it was by searching for the name of the photo. This particular photo was taken by a co-worker and I just uploaded the photo using the name he saved it under (Steph1). It is weird to see my own face looking back at me from search page #3 (and it is not even a good picture).

What determines if a photos if found by a search engine or not? Not all of my photos are found if I search on the name.

Well.....I have a feeling that I may be renaming my photos to just numbers in the future. It is just too freaky.

Are Pigs Flying?

I think either Hell has frozen over or Pigs are flying! A few times during the year (usually after busy season or a catastrophe), a couple of managers will walk around thanking everyone for the work they have done. Sometimes they give you a memento to show their Thanks; usually it is not worth much. During the years I have worked at my current job I have been given juggling balls, Squish balls, water balls (you soak them in water before throwing), a yo-yo (it was supposed to light up), a plastic calculator (did not work) and yadda yadda yadda……. Well, I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you. Basically we got items you can buy cheap and in large amounts. Each year, the Thank You's have been fewer and further between. Well today made up for ALL of those previously crappy toys.

Today I was given one of these……

Yep! That is an iPod Shuffle!! And it is all mine!!!! I cannot wait to use it. I was so excited when I opened it. I had to beg a couple of co-workers to open their box (they came in a brown shipping box). People thought it was just another lame toy. I would have never have purchased one of these on my own. Of course, now I have to buy a new computer as it only works on Windows XP….and do I have Windows XP? NOPE!!!

Well I can tell you all that it sure does look real purty sitting in its box.

WHOO HOO!!!!

What can I say? All is right in the world of reality T.V.!!!!!!!

Closed

Due to the season finale of Amazing Race this blog will be closed until tomorrow.
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GO UCHENNA AND JOYCE!!!!!!!!!!!

DOWN WITH ROB AND AMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I still be in the club?

I have a confession to make. I did nothing scrapbook related on National Scrapbook Day. Also, I did nothing scrapbook related the day before NSD or the day after. Should I go to time out?


.....I am so lame. :-(

Time sure flies

I cannot believe how fast the weekend flies by when all a person does is sleep. Just like when I was little and on a car trip. My mom would always tell me "take a nap and we will be closer to getting there'. I always thought it was because she wanted my brother and I to stop bugging them. :-) I have not been online or anywhere away from home really since Thursday of last week. I called in sick on Friday and slept most of the day away. Saturday I had to myself and again I found myself sleeping. Today I just slept in as I usually do on a Sunday but did not the entire day. Maybe because B was here. Well I know it was because of him being home that I did not sleep away the day. He would kill me if he knew that I did that. I don't know why there are days when all I would rather do is sleep. I guess sometimes the dreams are so much better than the real thing.

I did manage to get out of the house today. B and I went grocery shopping. We so did not plan this shopping trip and did spend a ton. It was nice though as we have not been shopping in quite a long time and needed everything. I am surprised that we did not buy any junk food except potato chips for our lunches. Oh and yes......a box of bullet pops. B went to see his Mom for Mother's day and I went to visit mine. Since B's parents moved so far out of town, it is not as convenient to just stop by and visit. I lucked out that my brother also stopped by while I was visiting my Mom. It was good to see the babies. The twins are sick and one has pneumonia (thanks to the doctor that said it was only a cold and nothing more). Thanks to the doctor's assistant who insisted there was something on the x-rays and found the pneumonia. I don't know how my sister-in-law does it. She sure does have her hands full.

As for reading, I hope to get back in the mood as I have tons of books checked out from the library. I just finished reading SecondHand Bride by Linda Lael Miller. This was the last in a trilogy. I really enjoyed the series and have checked out some other books by this author. I really like stories of pioneer women. I did luck out and got one of the first copies of Full Bloom by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes. I started this book yesterday and so far so good. Since this book is so popular I need to read it now as I will not be able to re-check it out for quite awhile (already 50 people have it reserved). I am just a few pages into the book and in typical Janet style I am laughing already. If it wasn't for B already being in bed I would be off this computer and reading it right now!

I so need to change my life...

I so do not want to be at work today. I think I have Spring Fever. Maybe I am just bored? I actually have a lot to do in my last 2 hours and I just don't want to do it. I am honestly thinking I would like to telecommute to work. There is a position for that available but I would be back to calling customers. But I would be home and could do that in my underwear if I wanted to. LOL! I think though that I would miss being around my co-workers. What would I have to talk about if all I did was stay at home on the computer all day long?

One of the main reasons that is keeping me from having a child is my job. My job is not kid friendly. I would stress way to much if my child were sick and I had to decide on staying home or getting fired. I am thinking if I worked from home I could start thinking of having a baby before it got too late. The majority of the people that telecommute in this position are SAHM's. Sounds like a good idea to me. Plus I would be sent out of state to train and be treated like a human being as this stay-at-home department is headed by the main CFO and has a larger budget. I have been talking with a co-worker that currently has this position. She stopped by work today and has given me a lot of good information on the position.

Do any of you telecommute to work? What do you find are the Pro's and Con's?

Blogging scrappers

Ever since I started my blog I searched for other scrapbookers out there who blogged. It is exciting to see more and more scrappers out there starting new blogs. I especially like it when they post their layouts. I have been part of many online message boards and layouts galleries like Scrapjazz and 2peas but with so many layouts posted I usually don't pay as close attention as when I have just one layout in front of me. I also find the personalization of the entries more interesting to me than just reading the message boards.

Oh Scrap!

My layouts are extremely simple (when I find the time to scrap that is). I really admire those that can make awesome layouts, such as this ONE I came across today. I love how it all fits together and how the letter overlaps the photo. Why am I so chicken to try that? And why if I were to try it - would I feel it not look as good?

Then there is my friend LAURA. She was pregnant with triplets and still found time to scrap! She has now had her triplets and she still finds time to scrap (oh and she is doing a separate album for each child!). It is just me, B and the 2 cats and I don't know if I will ever find the time to scrap and I am just working on our own album! LOL!

Thieves

Why is it when kids get caught in a lie they get all defensive and then keep glancing at you with daggers in their eyes?

I had meant to write last week about a young boy who came to my door and asked me if there was any garbage he could take out for .50 cents. Not having .50 cents I told him 'No'. Fast forward to the next week. Same little boy pounding on my door. This time he asked if there was any garbage he could take out for $1.00. Having actually no garbage this time. I again said 'No'. Now talk about a raise. I would love to have a raise of .50 cents from one week to another. :-)

Fast forward to Saturday. I watched as my neighbor walked by my window on her way to walk her dog. When she came back 2 little boys (not the one that has been coming to my door) were following her. I saw she gave them a bag of garbage which they promptly threw over the fence and took off with the money.

I went to my neighbor and told her what happened. She was not too happy and since you can be fined for 'wildcat dumping' I am sure she will not like it if she has a fine due to this bag being thrown on private property (it is fenced and we cannot get to it).

As I was getting my mail I happened to have these two little boys walk by me counting their money. I asked the one who I saw throw the bag over the fence if he was throwing garbage bags over the fence. Instead of asking me what I was talking about he said 'No. No I didn't. Not me!' (Yeah sure!) I told him that I saw him do it and he shut up really quick. As I was walking back to my apartment both boys kept stealing glances at me. In fact as I watched them walk thru the parking lot they kept looking at me like suspiciously. The youngest one even peaked around the dumpster at me (LOL!) I guess they thought I was going to run after them. I guess they thought that since the majority of the apartments in the back are empty that no one would see them throw the garbage over the fence.

I have since found garbage bags in front of the empty apartment next door (nasty ones too) and stashed by other buildings around the complex.

I cannot stand thieving liars. These little boys are not even in their teens. I would say their ages are 8 and 10. I just feel bad for the original little boy that was taking out garbage for money as he has nothing to do with these two little boys. I never even imagined that they would dump the garbage and take off with the money. I think that if they come to my door I will tell them either 'No' (and a few other things)or tell them they have to take the garbage to the dumpster first (while I watch) and then they can get their money. I am hesitant to say anything though as I don't trust these kids not to damage my property as they have already shown to be heading the way of the delinquent. Sad thing is.....their mom probably does not even care!

My brother and I would never have even thought to do something like this (my mom would have killed us). My nephews are even above doing this (my mom would kill them too!). I guess I just expect other kids to be as honest as my family is honest. Of course I don't know why I feel that way. That must be a sign that I am getting old.

UFO #1

I have joined the UFO CAL at Crochetville. It is about time that I finished all of these unfinished objects (UFO's).

My first UFO is an afghan that I was making strictly for US. I think I have found the pattern and now I just need to find my hook! The pattern is worked using two strands of yarn at a time. I have just the skeins showing in the picture to go and then this blanket is finished. I made one for my mom a few years ago for Christmas and I would have been done with ours back then too but I wanted ours to be a bit longer so I still have these two skeins to go. I know the afghan just blends right into my comforter in these pictures but I don't have anything light to put it on.

I don't know why I never finished it. I think one reason may be that it looks all nice and new in the plastic bag it sits in and once I am finished with it – it will be covered in cat hair (do you notice Cleo looking on). Also, I think since B wants something he can cover the sofa with he will be disappointed as this afghan is more lap sized and will probably not cover a person completely. It will be nice to finish though and I hope to maybe finish it tonight while watching T.V.

LO: Yum....

Page is 8.5 x 11

Supplies used:

Cardstock is Bazzill
Font and letter stickers are David Walker
Chalk
Buttons are Making Memories (I think)
Tomato I made myself

Something new to play with

See this? This is my new toy.

Just what I needed. Something else to use as a sig line. I don’t know why little things like this excite me. What can I say. Deep down I am just a nerd! :-)

If you want one too just go to Feedburner.


Let me start by saying that B and I are not fans of American Idol. When the show first started B used to work nights and I would only watch the audition shows. Well now that B is home at night, he has caught a few episodes here and there of this season’s show. Since my hubby is a rocker himself, he was excited to see someone like Constantine on the show. This morning as I am getting ready for work, B was downstairs watching the news. I heard enough to know that the topic was American Idol. I could not hear anything else but I knew exactly what happened when I heard a loud ‘what the F?’ coming from downstairs. LOL! Well I guess he won’t be so interested in watching the show anymore.

Strictly Scrapbooking

What size pages do you scrap?

small~ medium~ large

What kind of albums do you use?

Post Bound ~ 3-ring ~ strap hinge

Do you prefer textured cardstock or plain?

Lumpy or flat?


I mainly scrap 8.5 x 11 unless the photos are from a vacation trip. All vacations go in their own 12x12 album (or they will if I ever get to scrapping them). I did a 5x7 gift album once for my sister.

I use Dalee post bound albums.

I prefer to use textured cardstock (Bazzill all the way Baby!)It feels weird if I have to use smooth cardstock and I find that I rarely use it. Which is sad as I do have a stockpile of cardstock (smooth and textured) and the smooth stuff is not going anywhere.

Yeah I am lumpy (Hey! We are talking about scrap pages here!)But I would say I was a mid-weight lumpy scrapper as I don't like my pages too heavy.

Strictly knitting

What method of knitting do you prefer?

English or Continental?

What type of needles do you prefer to use?

Straight or Circular?

What kind of needles to you use?

Metal or Plastic or Wooden?

For me I guess I use the English method as I hold the yarn in my right hand. I would have though that since I learned to crochet first that I would prefer to hold the yarn in my left hand but I have never seen it done in person (yet) and I don't think my tension would be quite right. I have read though that the Continental method of knitting is much faster. I would love to be a fast knitter!

I have only used straight needles but at the suggestion of some local snb'er I bought a set of circulars this past weekend. I moved my shawl onto the circulars and I am liking that my shawl actually looks like something instead of just a lump of fiber. I can definitely see that I will have to make my shawl much larger than the pattern states. They do take some getting used to as the right needle likes to turn. I was thinking it was the plastic but the plastic is fine. I have also realized that I have a lot more leverage with the straight needles. I think I am getting the hang of using them though. I know that some people prefer to use strictly circulars when knitting. I do not know if I would be one of those knitters in the future but never say never! :-)

As for the kind of needles......I prefer the Bamboo. My first two sets (Christmas presents from dh) were metal. I thought that my inability to knit and enjoy it was due to me but I found that once I bought my first set of bamboo needles I loved knitting so much more! Yay Bamboo! So basically I am a Bamboo snob and that is what I got for my circulars as well!

LO: My Birthday 2004

Due to the issues I was having posting photos I realized that although I had links to this layout on my sidebar - I did not have an actual live link.

A very simple layout that still took me forever to do (have I mentioned before that I am the world's slowest scrapper?)

Size is 8.5 x 11

Supplies used:

Bazzill cardstock
SEI buttons (seasoned I think)
I made the tag myself and stitched on the layout using floss
Title is made with lettering stickers

Good-bye Grandma

May 25, 1912 - April 14, 2005

Today was the funeral.

This picture was taken back in 1978 or so. It is of both of my Grandmothers. My Grandmother on the right passed away when I was in high school. She was my Mom's mother and lived with us for many years while she was sick with Parkinson's. She died peacefully at home.

My Grandmother who just passed is on the right. She is my Dad's mother. She would have been 93 next month. She lived a very long life and survived two husbands and a son. Over 30 grandchildren, over 20 (I think) great-grandchildren and 3 great-great grandchildren. Have I mentioned before that I am from a huge family? :-) The sad thing is she had extreme Alzheimer's and did not remember us all.

The funeral was good. Well as good as a funeral can be. I was the last to arrive as I could not find a place to park. They all were waiting for me. Have I mentioned I love my family to pieces? I do not recall lots of crying and the mood was very good. I guess you could say it was a happy funeral. (Well not at the beginning as someone was vacuuming in the room next door). Our pastor spoke a short sermon. The grandsons were the pallbearers and I thought that was a very nice touch. Afterwards we all drove to the cemetery. After a short talk again by our pastor we left. I went home to change and then headed to my parents (where everything is always celebrated). Not everyone was able to go to my parents afterwards but there was still over 40 people there (minus the kids). Lots of good food and it was nice to visit. After a short time all the relatives from out of state headed home and it was just us local folks. My cousin who lives in New York City was able to make it so I had a nice time visiting with him. It has been years since I have seen him.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my blog about my Grandmother. That was a very kind thing for you to do. I really appreciated it.

Not posting much

Things have been busy around here this past week. Everything happened on the same day too. Friday.

My Grandmother passed away. She is the one that taught me how to crochet. I am the only one of her grandchildren that learned how. It is sad she is gone but in a way it was a blessing as she did not remember any of us. Tomorrow is her funeral.

I found out this information on Friday the 15th. Tax day. I was the only one working that day. Needless to say I was exhausted as I was doing the work of 4 people. The two guys who used to be on my team were asked to help but they ignored the email. When I was getting ready to leave - when everything was clear - one of them said he could now help out. Well hey! Where was he when I worked thru my lunch? When I worked past the end of my shift? I told him he was not needed. I know what he wanted. He is the one that will only help out on overtime. The nerve. Well....it is over and done with and I am the one that came out on top!

So today I am off of work. Tomorrow I am off of work. Wednesday I am off of work. I will see what is waiting for me on Thursday but right now I have other things to think about.

I am thinking of crocheting something small for my Grandmother's casket. A snowflake maybe? Knowing me I will make something but then be too chicken to put it in there. I am still trying to convince my husband to go. He hates going to funerals yet one of our first dates was my Grandfather's funeral so go figure out that one. He is not a big family person and I have a huge family. There will be people here from out of state and Mexico - my Grandmother's sisters. It will be good to see them as it has been years but B is not used to that. I don't expect him to be but hey! I hate going to family functions like this alone when all my cousins husbands and wives are there.

Well I am off to look at patterns to see what I can make quickly tonight. Oh and that reminds me....I need to go grocery shopping for what I am bringing tomorrow.

Snobby Scrapbookers

You may have noticed a link for a scrapping ring on my sidebar the past week and a half. It is no longer there.

For months I had been looking for other scrapbookers who blogged. There were none that I could find. I was going to start my own ring when I found out there were some recent ones already out there. I even filled out the info to join one. Well I must say I am disappointed in the snobby scrapbookers that are out there. Forgive me for not being a 2 peas snob! No where on the ring site info does it state that the person must be a friend of the ring owner or a 2 peas snob. I should have already known this. I post to 2 peas but not that often because of how rude they get on that site. I am so disappointed but I should not be surprised. I visited each of the blogs on this ring and commented on them - not a single response to my comments.

Now on the other hand I am part of a crochet ring and also a knitting ring. I must tell you that the people on these rings are the nicest people ever! I have not met online (other than an email list) a finer bunch of people. Even their message boards are the friendliest places.


Update (04/25/05): I am sorry if I appear to be the one that is being snobby. I did not mean to come off that way yet I think I did. Please ignore the above post. I was most definitely have a bad week.

Another Wednesday

Whoo hoo!!! I have received a call back for a 2nd interview for tomorrow! I am very excited about this and it is hard not to get my hopes up.

Today is going much better than it was this morning. My team now consists of just two people - Me and one other person. We are doing the work of 4 people. Because of the downsize I no longer work 4x10's and have to work on Fridays (my normal day off). Well the person working with me does not feel he has to work 5 days and has decided to not come in the past 2 Fridays. He told me he made plans again to not come in this Friday and I lost it. This Friday is the 15th. We work with Tax customers and it is going to be a busy day. I had to put my foot down. I am at my wits end with being the dumping ground for all the work around here. I am happy with what has been decided for that day. Hopefully I should not be the only one here to do the work.

Last night while watching Amazing Race I was able to work a couple of rows on the knitted shawl. I so hope this thing fits me as I am unable to tell while working on it. All the stitches are bunched up. I guess I could always add an additional round just to be on the safe side but then again I don't want it too big. The pattern is easy to follow but with all the yo's, increases and decreases the stitches get a little tight. Thank goodness for those occasional knit and purl rows!I love the softness of the Homespun yarn but I am not too happy with the way it is looking all fuzzy. I just have to remember that I am mainly making it to wear at work so I should not be too picky. I would show pictures but it just looks like a jumbled piece of fabric and who wants to see that right? Also, I am having problems posting photos to my blog at the moment.

Well you may not hear from me in awhile as I need to get my own taxes completed. Darn I sure hate that I procrastinate everything!

Yes. It is definitely Monday.

Today was going oh so well until I encountered the customer from hell. That is where she must be from as every email she has sent to me today has included this word! This customer is demanding I make personal changes to an account that she cannot verify is hers. She wants me to make the changes just because she said so. Why oh why won’t she go away? Does she not understand that legally I cannot do this? I so need some Advil. Why is it my fault she is waiting until the last minute to do her taxes?

On another note……I am still waiting to hear if I have made it to the second round of interviews. I got an email on Friday that I will find out either on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. I want to find out today! I really don’t think I made it so I want to get my feedback and get it over with.

I still need to work on my taxes. I have not even started. But I can tell you if I have a problem this week I am not going to be blaming it on anyone else!

I guess knitting got in the way this weekend, as I never turned on the computer so I would not be tempted to do my taxes. LOL! I am half-way finished with the shawl. I cannot really see how it is turning out as it is all bunched up on the needles. I sure hope it fits!

k1~p1~yo~ssk~k2tog?

Huh? Wha?? (aren't I just being clever today – LOL!) I have started on my shawl. I decided to knit instead of crochet and it is my first pattern that is not just knits and purls. So far, it does not look like anything but a big mess. Granted I am only on row 9 but heck…..the dropped stitch look with all the yo's is driving me nuts! I am sure it will look just fine if I continue at it but for now, it just looks like a big mess. I get real excited when I get to just knit a row (which is very few and far between). I think I will continue working on that today although I really should sit my butt down and start my taxes.

Visitors

I really hate when strangers use my bathroom. Especially when said strangers leave empty mini-bottles of liquor on the bathroom floor. Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Freezing in the desert

I have had it with how cold it is at work. Even though the thermostat is set to be warmer than usual - it is freezing in here! It seems to get that way when the temperature gets hotter outside. At least I am not the only one. Everyone seems to be freezing. It is going to be 90 degrees today and it is already starting to freeze up. I think I need something hot to drink.

So I decided that the fastest thing to make that would keep me warm enough to work would be a crocheted shawl (fingerless handwarmers are a close second). So after work I headed over to pick up some yarn. However I got distracted along the way (I sure hate when I do that). Since I had to be home by 7pm I needed to make my trip a quick one. However, I ended up stopping by Barnes and Noble (I think that is where I stopped) to look at knitting magazines. I was there a bit when I decided not to buy anything. Then I headed over to JoAnn's for some yarn. Unfortunately the JoAnn's I have to go to is on the FAR FAR East side as the other one does not carry much of a selection. Before going to the store I had picked out a couple of patterns (crochet and knit). I decided on a crochet pattern as I wanted to make this shawl quickly and if I knit it - I would not have it done until next winter. Since this JoAnn's is the only store in town (including Michaels) that carries wooden knitting needles, I grabbed a set. I found a few different yarns that I would like for other projects but for this basic shawl it took me forever to decide. The patterns I had called for Homespun so that is what I was going to use but the color selection was limited. I made my decision and since funds are tight - I put back the knitting needles. It was already 5 min to 7pm when I left and it takes me at least 20-25 min to get home. I had to stop at the bank on the way to make a deposit so that took some time too (especially since I had to go to multiple ATMs to find one that had deposit envelopes - darn bank!). I don't know why I am so slow when it comes to making decsions. I think I think too much.

So fast forward to home. Even though I missed the beginning I did get to see the majority of Lost ( I love that show). It pretty much turned out the way I expected. The season finale looks exciting and I am looking forward to next Wednesday night.

I started right in on the shawl using the Homespun and a size N hook. I have used the Homespun before but only with larger sized hooks. I know it is a difficult yarn to work with but Darn! I had problems right from the beginning. I could not see the stitches at all. I started over twice and then started looking for a new pattern. I am now kicking myself for not buying those size 13 knitting needles. I have to decide if I will just use a larger hook (maybe a P) or just knit the darn thing. I have decided I will make this decision on the weekend when B is at work and I have the whole place to myself.

Speaking of having the place to myself. I thought that it was kind of sad that B and I will not have a single day off at the same time but on the other hand I loved having the weekend to myself last week and I am looking forward to this week as well. Peace and Quiet here I come!

Is it Wednesday again? Already?

I cannot believe it is Wednesday already. Wasn't it just Wednesday? Even though Wednesday sneaked up on me I still feel like this week is dragging. Maybe it is the 5am wake-up time to go work out.

I am kind of lacking in the WIP department as all the projects I want to make are pretty pricey in the yarn department. In fact one outfit I want to make will cost me over $150.00. Soooooooooooooo.........at the moment I am stuck using the yarn I currently have.

So that brings me to my current WIP. The Classic Man's Scarf. B asked me how I know it is a Classic Man's Scarf and I told him, it is because the book calls it that (so take that smart alec hubby!) I checked out a bunch of pattern books from the library and this pattern was in one of them. Here is my progress so far. B says it looks poofy. (Gotta love him)

argh.....................

I sure did have a tough time waking up this morning. I don't know why as I even slept later than yesterday. I sure hope I don't have this problem tomorrow as I need to wake up and work out at 5:30am.

I know I have said it before but work is super busy. Tax day is approaching and my case load just keeps getting bigger. I think I may be staying late tonight. That is if the headache I feel coming on does not get any worse.

As for the interview yesterday. It did not go well. The interview went fine but the position is not for me. Now I am just waiting to see if I get called back on the scheduling position (which I really want) and if not then there is one more position opening in that department that I will go for.

As for Norton - did I mention they suck? As I expected I did NOT receive the callback I was promised. If they ever do decide to call me back they will definitely receive an earful!

So that's it with me. I never said my life was exciting. Although sometimes I really imagine it is. :-)

Busy Busy

Just a quick update today. I am busy busy due to tax season. I am the only person changing account information for every single department. I hope the customers are not too upset at the wait.

I was a good girl this morning and woke up early to make it to Curves at 5:30am. Yep that is AM! I am not a morning gal. Talk about surprising my mom. It is only the first day but so far, I am loving the 8-5 schedule. I have a feeling that I will need to work late each day this week but tonight is out as I have to hurry home to wait for 2nd tier support to call me for my Norton Anti-virus that is NOT working and to fix other issues with my computer caused by their terrible technical support. I will not even start to go into how long I waited or had to deal with, as I don’t want to get ticked off again today. How many times do you have to tell a person that you do NOT have Windows XP! Outsourcing sucks!

I do have another interview today so I am all gussied up! It is the first interview for the 2nd position I applied for. The weird thing is, everyone else that applied for this position have their interviews on Thursday. I am the only one that has an interview today. That really makes me nervous.

I have an announcement to make

It is official! I have completed my first knitting project. Last night I finished up the ribbed scarf. I am so proud of myself. It sure took me long enough though. I will share the finished product soon.

Last night I frogged the garter stitch scarf I was making for B. I found a different pattern that I liked better that used just one of the colors. The yarn I am using is worsted weight. I decided to use size 10 knitting needles. The only size 10's I have are metal. I am NOT liking the metal at all!!!! I used wood needles for my ribbed scarf and those are so much easier on my hands. My results using these metal needles are not making me happy. I know that since the needles are larger than what the yarn calls for the result will be more of an open weave but it is hard to keep the yarn on the darn needles. The yarn just slides all over and I am having trouble keeping my tension. I am trying to decide if I should go buy some more wooden needles or just start over using my 10.5 wooden needles. I am still also trying to decide if I want more of a solid weave or not.

Today my glasses broke so posting will be limited as I am blind as a bat. B tried to glue them together but since they are metal and very thin, I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can make it to the eye doctor tomorrow. The bad thing is I will have to go to my interview on Monday with glue on my lens. Oh well. If they like me, they like me for me and not my glasses.

Picacho Peak

The pictures are from our mini-hike to Picacho Peak on Easter Sunday. It was nice to get out of the house and actually go somewhere different. Usually when B wants to hike we go to Reddington (when there is water) and Reddington is just brown. J It was nice to see the flowers but there were so little and we only saw a few poppies. When I was maybe 10 years old, my entire family (the whole lot of them) went to Picacho for a holiday (Mother’s Day/Easter – cannot remember). All I remember is that there were flowers EVERYWHERE! We have so many pictures of my cousins and me and other family members posing in the flowers. The bad thing about these photos is that they were taken with a Polaroid and are now fading. So, when I think of Picacho I remember that time. This year was advertised as one of the best ever due to the extra rain we have had this year. I would have to disagree.

Thursday

Yes. It is Thursday. Which for at least this week is my Friday. I am so going to miss having my Fridays off of work. Good-bye 3-day weekends. L Well it was a good run. Good schedules do not last forever and I am extremely lucky that I have had mine as long as I have.

….well it looks like I am the only one (out of 4) that has come into work today. That should make things interesting.

WIP~WIP~WIP

Hey! It is still Wednesday. I finally get to post my WIP's on the correct date. LOL! Better late then never. I had to finish my chores before I could post. :-)

I really don't have anything much to show. Here is my ribbed scarf. Yes I know it is gonna be summer next week (well here anyways) but I just have not been able to find the time to work on it. Plus since I know I cannot buy any new yarn right now I don't want to finish it and have nothing left to do (not that - that would happen as I have many many old WIPs that I have been working on for years). As you can see it is almost done. Give me about an hour where I can sit still and it would be complete.

Now here are many WIP's. In this here picture you have TAXES that are dying to get done, about 3-4 semi-finished scrapbook pages just sitting there and a bag that does have a skein of yarn for another scarf. Oh and the huge WIP.......just cleaning up the darn thing. My desk is a disaster area!

Now this picture is a bit different. This is not yet a WIP but I sure would like it to be. I had planned to start this doily last week using the pink, green and white thread that I used on my flower bookmark. However, the pattern calls for shaded pinks and I am thinking the shaded pinks maybe prettier. I want to go to the craft store just to see first if I can find the shaded pink color and if so, see if I like it. If not then I will use what I already have.

Well that is it for the update. Time to go and look thru all the knitting and crochet books I checked out at the library. There are some really neat looking patterns that I am excited to try.

One down. Hopefully more to come.

The interview is over. Well this one is at least. I find out next week if I will have a second interview or if I will just get feedback on how I did.

I think I did okay. I never know how to answer the questions that are asked. There were 4 people in the interview with 3 asking the questions. Each person will ask a question and then they write down what you say. The questions they asked for this interview are different than any I have had in any prior interview. It does help when you know the people doing the interview - which I did as I have worked with them before. Three of them are the current schedulers, the other person used to work in the position.

Now on to the 2nd position I applied for which is just an analyst. I have an interview for that position on Monday. This interview will just be with one person as far as I know and does not involve multiple interviews as the scheduling position. I find this weird as both positions are in the same department with the same people (not more than 10). In fact both positions seem to overlap. Well they currently do but with the new setup I don't know if there will be stricter lines between the two.

Now I am back to work and trying to get caught up. I had everything pretty much caught up before the interview but a lot of requests came in during that time and also during my lunch hour. Tax season sure is not fun!

Business Attire

Yep. That is what I am wearing. My pants have creases!! Why am I excited you ask? It is rare to find someone in business attire at my place of employment. Work is so casual, new hires are told that dressing up is not that common. If someone is dressed up, you know they are having an interview. Everyone gets a chuckle when a new hire comes in all dressed up for an interview. Because of this attitude, when a current employee dresses up they do get teased about it. Jeans and T-shirts are the norm.

My interview is today. So far, the day is going very slowly. I have not seemed to do much work today. I am not too nervous. Two of the girls giving the interview are scrapbookers so that has to count for something right? I sure hope so because I really do not have the ‘gayness’. Let me explain. At my workplace, it would be safe to say that about 90% of my co-workers are gay. The standing theory is that if you want to be promoted you need to be gay. There are 2 scheduling positions open and I have a friend that is also interviewing today. I told him he needed to share his ‘gayness’ with me so we both are hired.

Two of my co-workers have come back from their Japan trip. It is so funny listening to the stories of what they experienced. I guess in Japan if you are a guy (not Japanese) you have to protect your ‘package’. Especially if you are over 6 feet and black. This poor guy was dodging people as they tried to grab him. The way he is telling us what happened is so hilarious. He has the best story telling ability. He had this happen 3 times the same night.

And I cannot even talk about Amazing Race with the cube-mate as he TIVO’d it and did not watch it. He is so pro-Rob and Amber. I needed him to watch it so I could gripe about them!
Has anyone noticed that Blogger is now adding numbers to the link for each post? What is that for I wonder? Is sure does make for a long link.

Nervous but excited

I am nervous. I passed all the requirements and have an interview for one of the positions I applied for. My interview is at 1pm tomorrow. This particular position is for a Scheduling Analyst. I would be doing the scheduling for 100's of people in the call center. This is the position (out of the two I applied for) that has the most requirements and only a few people are trained do it in the building (currently 3 I have been told).

Good Morning

After searching online I was able to find a fix for my photo posting problem. It appears that Hello/ Blogger changes the name of the photo when you use their system. So I just had to tweak the HTML to fix. Well I could do that or use a photo with just a one word name. LOL!

Last night we watched the movie Taxi. It was okay as there were some parts that did make me laugh but B feel asleep so I guess it was just an okay movie. While watching I worked on my garter scarf. One of these days I will finish. J Actually I am almost finished with it and will probably complete it tonight. I am looking forward to posting my works-in-progress update on Wednesday, as I will have pictures now.

Tonight is Amazing Race and it looks to be a good one - lots of blood and drama. How sad is it that my days (well evenings that is) are based on what is on the television. At least I am not as bad as B. He turns on the TV as soon as he wakes up and it is constantly on even if he is not watching. It freaks him out. LOL! How weird is that? I would rather read a good book.

Did you see that I changed my profile picture? Yep that’s me!

The Twins - 9 months

Anna

Andy

It is so hard to believe how fast they are growing. It cracks me up how they look nothing alike. My brother sure is going to have his hands full for a very very long time.

Hello Sucks!

Hello sucks!!!!

Blogger sucks!!!!

Enough said!!!!!


Update: Ummmm Blogger and Hello still suck.

Okay. I have been searching online and it appears I am not the only one having the same issue with photos not posting. I guess I could use my Photobucket account but I am too lazy. LOL! I was able to find thru one forum some steps to fix the issue so I will be trying those soon. So, if you see some weird things going on………that is what is happening.

….well maybe not all me as Blogger seems to be doing weird stuff today. I will no longer discuss how long it took me to post this tiny update.


Cough Drops - 1
Soda – 1 (reg) 1 (diet and it was free!) = 2
Coffee – 1
Advil for headache – 2
Water - 1

Happy day after Easter

I have been loving my time away from the computer while at home. Working non-stop in front of the computer all day is starting to take its toll. I have been skipping lunch since I have so much to do. I don’t want to stop my momentum so I just keep working. I usually go home early then. Like today I am thinking may be a skip lunch sort of day. B started a different job today and if I leave early, I will get home before him. Yippee!!!

I am feeling more tired today than usual. Maybe because I got out of the house this weekend because I know that I went to bed much earlier last night. Instead of 4-5 hours, I got 6-7. I did not want to wake up. This is not a good thing as I am planning to meet my mom to work out at 5:30am when my schedule changes next month. That will be really hard for me. I am so not a morning person. I am determined to do it though.

Today B started his new job. It is kind of funny how it all came about. He has been out of work for a bit and never got any calls for interviews etc. Well last week was the jackpot. He had an interview at a retail construction store and went in for background testing. While waiting for the response for that, he was hired at a fire-sprinkler place. It is still construction based and that worries me, as I don’t want him to be laid off again. That same day he got a call from another company to have him come work for them. He had to turn them down. What a weird feeling to have everyone want you. J Last week the retail store called and since they want to start him off at more money, he is going with them. It will be nice for him to have a job inside again. It will be nice to have money again. I can buy yarn. LOL! I so hate being the sole-supporter. Darn it!

My Dad is buying a fixer-upper house. On Saturday, I went to see it. It sure does need a lot of work. He wants B and me to move in when our lease is up in June. I admit it would be nice to be in a house and even though this is not part of what we planned, I am thinking about it. I am not quite sure though as I just don’t get a really good feeling about the house. I cannot picture what my Dad wants to do with it so I am just going to wait and see. I am sure it will look great when he is finished.

For Easter, we went to the in-laws. We drove out to Picacho Peak (pictures coming soon) to see the poppies. Unfortunately, there were not that many in attendance. I guess we went a week too late. After a very short mini hike (basically from the car to the side of the road) we got back in the car for the drive home. My in-laws had never been there (neither had B). My mother-in-law wore flip-flops so we did not go very far. We then went back to their place to have dinner and watch a couple of movies.

On the cold front. I am feeling much better. Just a sore throat and the choking continue but I am sure it is short lived.

I have been having such problems trying to post to Blogger recently. I am unable to get my photos uploaded and the site appears to be down a bunch. So I really am not slacking, it is more like giving up. Instead of trying over and over to post, I just stop after the first couple of tries.


Cough Drops - 1
Soda – 1
Coffee – 1
Advil for headache - 2

All by myself

It is so nice to have the house to myself. With B being out of work for a bit he was always here. I mean I love the guy but a girl needs some alone time. I always looked forward to having the place to myself. Bummer thing is…..it won't last long. Now that B is back working, my schedule is changing. I will no longer be working 4x10's with Friday, Saturday and Sundays off. I am so bummed! I currently work on a specialized team with only four members. Two of the guys have new positions that start April 1st. The other guy has an interview on Tuesday for another department (but he does different stuff than I do anyways). So that just leaves me. Since I will be the only one doing the job of four people I have to be there every day. At least I can decide on my own schedule. I am thinking 8-5 sounds good! Now my specialist team is actually being disbanded as the work we do actually belongs to other departments and we are trying to get these departments to do their own work. I do not know how long I have in my current position. I have had this position for a year now (Exactly 1 year on April 1st). I was one of the first members of the team when it was first created. Once the team is gone I go back to the phones which I am not looking forward too as it is for a new program. Don't get me wrong, I can do the work and have been doing it for 5 ½ years but it is getting old. I currently handle online customer issues via email and also work as help desk when needed for the rest of the department. Luckily the main managers are allowing us to know apply for different positions. Management had at first refused to let any of us leave our main department (phone support) so a lot of open positions that I would have liked are now gone. There are two positions that are currently opened that I would love to have. They are salaried positions so that means I would be chained to work but I am willing to do that for more pay and a promotion. My current manager is turning in my resumes and interest forms for me today. I believe interviews start next week. Wish me luck.

So back to having my day off….. I actually woke up at a decent hour but stayed in bed to finish reading a book I checked out. The book was Paradise County by Karen Robard. I liked it and it was the first book I have read by this author. I may have to check out some more of her books. It was nice to sit in bed reading as I have gotten away from it lately. Now I am getting ready to do tons of laundry but got sidetracked by walking by the computer.

As for my cold. It is still here. It is extremely hard to swallow and clear my throat but I just know I am on the mend. I hope to start a new project tonight……..

Sick & Tired of being Sick & Tired

Today has not started out well.

I am so tired of being sick. I cannot sleep. I cannot eat. I have no appetite and so I have to make myself eat, as the only thing I have in my stomach is medicine. I am constantly nauseous. What I do eat makes me choke. Damn it! This is just a cold! I just keep telling myself that everyone else who has been sick has gone thru this. B is mad at me for being sick and it does not help. I have had this thing exactly 1 week and 2 days. B keeps saying that 2 weeks is too long to be sick. I have not been sick 2 weeks. Sickness does not run on a business day schedule! Just because he had this thing and it was over in 3 days, he has to make me feel even worse about it. So, even though it is hard I try not to cough or blow my nose so that he does not get irritated. However, now that my voice is gone it doesn’t matter if I do any of those things. I so want this crud to go away.

So on top of this cold I ended up falling this morning. This is the 2nd time. This time I took 5 steps out the door and down I went. You know that feeling when you trip and think that you are going to catch yourself? I had that feeling the entire time and it was not until I was down on my butt that I realized I was not going to catch myself. I did not trip. My ankle refused to work. Just like the last time I fell. This time was different though. Last time my foot was asleep and when I went to step on it – it would not hold my weight. My ankle was like Jello (all wobbly) and my foot would not move. This time, my foot was not asleep. I had been up for a couple of hours, standing and climbing stairs before I left for work. Everything I was carrying went flying. I have a basket I have been taking to work with my 50% sale items and all those nail polishes went flying. I am so lucky nothing broke – just a little scratched.

So here I sit. I am now starting to feel what body parts hit the ground (hopefully the redness won’t turn into huge bruises) and trying not to let this cruddy cold kill me.

At least today, there are 2 other guys working with me. I am not working alone like yesterday.

Well that’s it for whiney ‘ole me.

Remember me?

I'm back.

Thanks Julie and Natalie for the well wishes when I was away.

This cold is killing me!! I don't think it will ever go away. I slept most of the weekend! I did nothing crafty as I was not in the mood to do a thing! I went back to work yesterday but it just exhausted me. Well it does not help that I am doing all of my work and the work of 1.5 other people. The main part of my cold is gone now but the coughing has started. I know I am getting better but it sure does hurt. My voice is about gone and the guys at work are getting a kick out of hearing me try to talk.

At work one guy is on vacation in Japan and another got a different position. So it is only me and one other person. Well guess who decided he did not want to come in tomorrow? Guess who will be working on her own? I am so behind I am stressing!!!!!!

Then last night I found info online on a friend from high school. Well we hung around the same group of friends. I could not tell you if she would even remember who I am. I was excited to find the info and when I was showing the guys at work I came across another site that excited me but I can see it is going to bug me too. Last December a bunch of people (different ages, different schools) got together for a party. At least I can say I knew about the party so I am not totally out of the loop. However the person that told me about the party forgot to give me the webpage to get the info. I was also told about the party from another source and still did not get the info. Yeah, you can say I am partly to blame for the slackiness (how do you like that word) but now that I found pictures of the party I so wish I was able to attend. Maybe next year - or maybe not as I don't believe anyone that I remember, remembers me. How sad is that? So then my main point about writing about this is that I am so toally disgusted with myself after seeing pictures of everyone! Everyone looks absolutely gorgeous! Argh! I guess I better get busy and start working on myself! Makes me feel better that I did not go to the party. Whew!

Now isn't this the bummer post?

Okay. Enough griping. I am going to try again to see if blogger will let me post some pics because it really is starting to get to me that it won't!!! I hope to have some updated project content soon!

Under the weather

I managed to leave work for home a bit early yesterday and went straight to bed. I slept until it was time for Amazing Race. No matter how I sick am I cannot miss that show. I was hoping that the girls did not get eliminated as the one ate all that meat when the men gave up. Of course they really screwed up by missing the turn. The show is interesting this time as they are not giving out the non-eliminations as early in the show as usual. That is from what I remember from previous shows but I may be wrong as I keep forgetting this was only the 3rd episode. LOL! After watching that I swigged back some Nyquil and went to bed. The Nyquil helps but I never get that good nights rest as for some reason I always wake up every hour when I take the stuff.

I am now at work and my brain is all Nyquil fuddled. There is just two of us here today (just me doing my stuff - the other guy has a separate queue he work in). So I am doing the work of three today as one started his vacation today and the other has the day off. I am thinking about taking tomorrow as a vacation day and sleeping thru the weekend.

It is so cold in this building I can hardly move my fingers. I am not sure if it is the building or just me. :-( I am finding it really hard to concentrate today.

As for my co-workers dog, he was not even sick. Just a little sad that his owner is going away for a bit. All that drama yesterday morning for nothing.

bleh....

I am sick.

Last night it started with just a little sore throat but a big swollen throat. This morning my throat is on fire! I am really hoping I can leave work early today as I am not allowed to take any time off of work. So far I seem to be okay as long as I do not talk. So my plan is to drink hot tea all day. The sad thing is, I am really hungry and cannot eat anything. I think it does not make it any better that B is home sick with the same thing (thanks honey). I wanna stay home too! Plus tomorrow I will be the only one working.

.....well scratch only working a half-day. The guy next to me that is leaving for Japan (tomorrow) for the next 3 weeks is going to take the day off to take his dog to the vet. I am not against animals but this guy lives with multiple roommates that refuse to do anything (including work). Considering this guy does not have a car and his roommate is going to have to pick him up anyways to take the dog to the vet.......it just bugs me - why can't the roommate take the dog? I cannot be too upset as my co-worker is asking himself the same thing.

I am so selfish.

So far so good

This morning has turned out to be good so far. I was able to drag myself from bed and realized that I really could not call in to work. So I got my butt into gear and got ready for work. It is a good thing I did as we are short 2 people today. Monday's are very busy anyway but today will be super busy I am sure.

I bought breakfast at the cafe here at work and got a middle-of-the-road coffee out of the coffee maker and not the machine. Of course I had to pick myself a nice leaky cup to use. I am not a big coffee drinker but lately I have been having a cup in the mornings when I am at work. We have three stages of coffee here at my workplace. We have the low grade coffee that you can get out of the coffee machine (what I normally get). Then there is the middle-of-the-road that is out of a coffee maker dispenser. Which is too far to walk so I don't get it too often. Then there is coffee you pay for. We have a coffee cart for those that really like their coffee. Since I am poor I rarely buy it but even so it is also far away (right next to the free coffee maker). The building I work in is huge and it takes my entire 15 minute break to walk down to the cafe area to get food and coffee. The coffee machine on the other hand is right by my cubicle. You do the math.

Well break is over. Time to get back to work.

It has been awhile

Talk about boring. I have a blog and I don't write to it. Sorry to all of you that visit and there is nothing new posted. I cannot believe it has been a week since I last posted.

Work has been so busy that I just don't even try to post during the week days anymore and on the weekend I try to stay away from the computer (since I work on one all day long). I have actually been trying to post some recent layouts but Picasa/Hello does not seem to want to work. One of these days I will have pics again.

I had a very nice relaxing weekend where I did nothing (well I did complete a 2 page layout). B told me not to even clean and so I took him at his word (you don't have to tell me twice - LOL!) It has been very warm this weekend (in the mid-80's) and since the A/C has not been turned on we can only open the windows in our apartment. It was quite warm this weekend so that also put me in the mood to do nothing productive.

Friday I went to the scrapbook store to spend a gift certificate I got for my birthday. I am usually pretty good and not buying duplicates but I bought something I already had. I have so much that I do not know why I still shop for supplies. In fact this item I bought was not even stashed away some place but sitting on top of my desk when I got home. I guess I really wanted it. LOL!

I have been wanting to update the site and I just seem to run out of steam when I get ready to start.

I want to make an oval doily. Does anyone know of a good site that has one?

Well I am off to bed. I will try to post updated layouts this week. Good Night.

Just another Monday

I had a busy weekend at home.

I cleaned out my bedroom. The only problem I have with it being cleaned out is that it now echoes. I am thinking that is why I had trouble sleeping this weekend. Now my closet....you don't want to look in there. Especially now that a lot of stuff that was in the bedroom in now in there.

B cleaned out our hall closet. I had done it before but did not do anything with his stuff except box it. So he went thru his boxes and then thru mine. Urgh! He told me when he started that he would ask me before throwing anything out. I am a huge packrat and stuff just holds sentimental value for me. I have to go thru a huge thing to throw something out. I tried not to stress over him cleaning out the closet and since he asked me if he could do it first I was relaxed about it. It started out nice enough with him asking me a few times if he could throw something out. Then it happened......he came downstairs with a bag of garbage with a pair of candle holders that my uncle made us for our wedding. I told him he did not ask if it was okay to throw them out. His response was that since it was given to both of us that he did not have to ask me. Uh... NO. You would think after as many years that we have known each other that this was not a good move. He then proceeded to tell me they were broken. I told him that I wanted to keep them and they meant a lot as they were made for us. He then took them back upstairs and like the pain in the rear he is - he threw them down. Of course now they probably are a bit more broken. LOL! They are pretty durable actually. They are made of rod iron and have decorative leaves. It is the leaves that bend and one has broken off. I glanced in the closet and it looks great (he was able to move and stack stuff I was unable to). I can now fit my vacuum back in the closet. I must say though I did not check to see if the candle holders are in there.

I had a great time scrapping this weekend. I managed to finish 5 pages and hope to have them up soon. It feels great to have some type of project completed. Now if I can only keep the momentum going.

Oh and this morning while B was taking his shower the tub was leaking thru the ceiling into the kitchen. Just what we need. Now we have to see if we can get a maintenance guy to come and fix it while we are home as we don't want anyone in our place when we are gone.

Well I better get back to work. I am the only one here today (out of our group of 4) and I have a lot I need to do.

FO: Thread Flower Bookmark

It is official. I have completed my 2nd thread project and my 1st project using a color other than ecru.

Here is the bookmark that I made for my Mom. I would have made her more than one but for some reason I could not get past the first row. She loves it and has been showing it off. Now that sure does make me feel good.

Thanks to Heather for pointing me to the direction of the pattern.

I thought it was about time to post something with crochet content. *Ü*

MVD SUCKS!!!!!

Because of their incompetence and unwillingness to admit they were at fault I received my first ticket yesterday!!

After working thru my lunch, I left a little early from work. There was an accident on the way home so I had to drive out of my way. Due to this accident there were a lot of cops on the street. I was in the left turn lane with a cop behind me. As soon as the light turned green he had on his lights. As he walked up to me, I had my payment receipt ready and explained to him that the car is actually registered and that my dad and husband had been at DMV all day (5 hours!!). He told me it did not matter. He stated that he could see the car was registered but that it was forbidden for highway use. Now tell me how can you have a car registered and yet you are not allowed to drive it? He ticketed me and then proceeded to tell me that I could go to traffic school or pay the fine (yeah right - which is what I told him). He seems to think the judge will not let me off of this ticket. I did not know what to make of this guy as he was nice and then he would say things that were not - like he felt I was lying. He told me that even though the car was registered, the previous owner (of the tags - not the car) got a refund. Due to the new stupid law of keeping the plate with the person and not the car, we had to go thru this. The cop then proceeded to tell me which way he was driving. He then told me not to tell him which way I was driving. He stated that if he got behind me (or if any cop got behind me) I would be given another ticket. He then proceeded to drive across the street and park his car and watch me. So I had to stand out in the cold until B came to give me the new tags.

So now to B's story at the MVD. The idiot rep told him that if we wanted this resolved we would have to pay an additional fee. So even though we paid $150.00 to register our vehicle, we would have to pay a $70.00 fee and then pay the $150.00 again. This was a MVD mistake and they are causing us to lose money and to be in court twice now this month! I need to take a letter to the judge about what we have been thru. It has to be from MVD but MVD will not admit to their mistake. I am so ready to get rid of this car. B does not know how but my dad was able to get us all of our money back (I hope he did not pay the fee which would be just like him).

Now onto today........ I again worked thru lunch but with how busy it is I will be here way past the end of my shift. So far I have been here over 10.5 hours. I don't want to miss Amazing Race tonight but I also have errands to run. Well back to work I go.

....oh and did I mention that MVD sucks??????

Something sounds fishy

I bought my car last year on 01/28/04 and it was registered on that date. I am used to car registrations lasting one year so I was expecting to renew this month (Feb). Well about 2 weeks ago B is pulled over for expired tags. It appears we were only registered for 6 months and the registration expired in November. I understand that Motor Vehicles is not guaranteed to send us a renewal notice but since I was expecting the tags not to expire until a year later, I never noticed what was actually on the plates. The registration goes to my Dad’s office so I was waiting for him to call me to pick up my mail. The renewal notice was never sent to us, with my Dad having surgery, and in the hospital at that time, our minds were on other things. We were okay with missing the registration and B went online on Feb. 7th to renew. On our receipt, it states we will receive the new tags in 5 business days. It is now the 28th of February and we have no tags. I called my cousin who works for MVD and she said we would have to go down and pick up the tags. B and my Dad went down to MVD today and they were told that they could not get our tags, as our car was not registered due to ‘someone’ requesting a refund on the 17th of Feb. They could not tell us who this person was but they do have our money! Talk about something not sounding right. I am wondering if the previous owner has anything to do with this since we never got the original renewal letter to begin with. However, the state does show our address as the mailing address.

How fishy does this sound?

Post that used to be part of Good Afternoon

Why is it when I would like to buy something for me I always think twice and never buy it, but when I am buying for others I am all gung-ho?

For example….. As I have written about before, I joined the Thread CAL at Crochetville. I have completed one thread project and wanted to buy colored thread to work on more projects. Each time I went to the store, I would look at the colors but never buy any. I decided to make my mom some pretty flower bookmarks for her birthday that I found on Heather’s site. I WOULD HAVE A LINK TO HEATHERS SITE RIGHT HERE BUT FOR THE PAST HOUR BLOGGER WOULD DELETE ANYTHING AFTER THE LINK! To do this I would need colored thread. So last night I went to JoAnn’s to check out the colors. I could not decide on what colors to get (the pink was too pink) when I walked down an aisle (just cause) and found the prettiest light pink DMC thread (it was cheaper too). When I checked out, I was expecting to pay $2.50 per roll and ended up only paying $1.49 for the DMC (I got pink and white). I had to force myself not to go back and get the pretty light blue. I am hoping the price will be the same next time I head out there (30 min drive). I started making my first flower last night and finished it. Now I just need to block it and start on the second one. Once I am finished I can use the colored thread for me – without a guilty conscience.

BLOGGER HAS TICKED ME OFF. I AM SUCH AN IDIOT TO SPEND MY ENTIRE LUNCH HOUR TRYING TO POST ONE STUPID POST. IS ANYONE ELSE HAVING A PROBLEM WITH BLOGGER ACCEPTING WHAT YOU TYPE?

Heather's site link is - http://truelovetreasures.blogspot.com/

Post that used to be called Good Afternoon

Adagio Teas

I received my sample from Adagio Teas. I was sent the Herbal Sampler. I am so excited to have this tea. Last night I had yummy Spearmint. Doesn’t it just look yummy?

B laughs at me because I keep opening the tins just to smell the tea. Mint is one of my favorite flavors and this tea did not disappoint. I cannot wait until I save my pennies for the teacup they sell on their site. I want to get the starter set so I can get the tea cup thingy and have some teas that maybe B will like. He is very picky and just likes plain black tea with no flavorings what-so-ever.

Work

Work will be busy due to one of our group of four being on vacation in Hong Kong for 2 weeks. Then when he gets back another one in our group of four is leaving for Japan for 2 weeks. Then there is me. I am stuck here and need to cover for when they are gone. The one guy that started his vacation today had arranged to have someone cover for him but it appears that the higher powers that be do not like that idea and it is up to me to administer (which I don’t mind) and handle (which I don’t) these particular cases in addition to what I already do. So needless to say I just found out I will be having to come in to work on my days off (Friday) and have to cancel a doctor appointment I made back in December and hope that I can be seen sometime soon in the future. I really don’t like when work makes me rearrange my personal life on such short notice and I really don’t like when they expect me to just go with the flow and cancel everything.

Blogger

I would write more but this darn site is ticking me off. Each time I go to preview or save my post it deletes everything and I have to start over! URGH! Lunch is almost over and I now have no time to work on my knitting that I brought with me. I just want to get away from my desk for a few minutes. Is that too much to ask?

Blogger does not like me

Just a test post to see if what I actually write is what shows up on my post.

LO: 6th Anniversary

One page layout - 8.5 x 11

Supplies used:

• Bazzill cardstock
• Patterned paper – From the big stack from Provo Craft (don't remember the name)
• MM rub-on letters
• MM heart brad
• Bazzill brads "June Berry"
• Fiber
• I made the tag using Scrapagerz tag template
• Computer font for journaling – "CK Script"

LO: Carving Pumpkins 2003

Page size is 8.5x11 - Two pages stitched together in scan. The page really is not crooked but looks that way due to the scan.

Supplies used:

• Cardstock - Bazzill (gotta love the monochromatic packs - I can use any color and they match!)
• Patterned paper - Provo Craft - one of the big stacks I think
• Black embroidery thread
• Tag I made myself
• Computer font - Scrap Serif the I printed in gray and wrote using Micron Pen
• Jolee's stickers

What would you do? I need help with a customer.

I need help with a customer. I am hoping you all can help me.

I have a home-based business. I have a new customer that wanted to purchase an item from me at the end of December. I got the product in stock that last week of December and she asked me to call her the first week of January after the holiday to arrange drop off. I did call her but had to leave messages for her, as she was not in. Each day I brought her product with me to work hoping to be able to drop it off. The 2nd week of January, I was home sick. She called me on a Saturday and DH told her I was in bed (way to go honey)! He said she was not too nice but I think this is just her and not the fact that I was in bed. She told DH that she wanted to know why I had not called her. I immediately called her back and told her that I had called her and left messages and told her who I left messages with. I found this weird as all other times I have called my phone number has appeared on her caller-id and she has always called back to find out who is calling her (she is new and does not recognize my name). She then mentioned that she had not been getting all of her messages. She then proceeded to tell me she still wanted the original product and also would be ordering something else but that she was going out of town and would call me when she got back. She clearly mentioned that she did NOT want me to call her. So here is my dilemma. It is now the end of February. I have not heard from this lady. I want to know if she still wants her original product or if I can sell it to someone else.

My problem is knowing how to contact her. Should I call her? Should I send her a card? What should I say? Should I mention that someone else is interested in the product (even though there is no one)? Should I mention that I was concerned she had tried to call me but due to issues with my phone, she did not get thru (again not true)? What is a nice way to contact this customer and get across to her that I still have her product? I don’t want to sound pushy. But yet it would be nice to get her the product she ordered.

Thanks.

Mid-day review

It is now afternoon. This day is going slowly but not as slowly as last week. Lunch was not too exciting except for the 20 minutes where I got to work on my ribbed scarf. I do not know why it is taking me forever to finish this scarf. It is rarely cold enough to need one here in Arizona but lately we have had tons of winter storms, which one would think would motivate me to finish but I have been in a slump to work on anything lately.

I want to start working on some summer tunics/sweaters. Anyone have any ideas of something I can make? Luckily, with being in such a large building, it is usually kept cool. Well it is kept cool when I keep going to the thermostat and changing it from heat to cool. I do not know who keeps changing it but someone always manages to turn this place into a furnace in the afternoons. I would rather it be cold in here and not hot.

I am feeling pretty good today. I am wearing the new clothes my mom bought me for my birthday so I fell all pretty and grown-up. Leave it to my mom to choose colors I would never choose for myself. I love what she picked though and need to go back and find another pair of the pants she got me. Hey! When I find a pair that fits AND is comfy for everyday wear I need to stock up!

So basically, I am reading up on my favorite blogs (and some new ones) and trying to work in between (shhhhh don't tell anyone). I have 4 hours to go until I get to go home.

I am so boring

I did absolutely nothing this past weekend but sit on my butt. B played his video game (Mercenaries) and I just lounged about. I did not even do anything crafty. I totally forgot about my yarn projects and although I tried to scrapbook, I just could not get any ideas down that I liked. I stayed away from the computer and either read or napped. I must be getting old as I find myself sleeping more often. My mom naps – not me. Napping is for babies and old people. My mom is old – not me. Well I guess I am getting up there in years and the napping time sounds so good now. LOL!

On Friday, B went to the movies with a friend to see a movie he wanted to see and I stayed home and watched a chick flick (yeah me time!). I watched First Daughter. I liked it but thought it was the same as Chasing Liberty. I did nothing on any of my projects.

Saturday was stormy with lightning, thunder and hail. Even though I have a surge protector, I always unplug everything having to do with my computer. I don’t know why I do that. I am such a scaredy cat.

B and I also watched Napoleon Dynamite and The Village. I was disappointed in Napoleon Dynamite and surprised B sat thru it. As for The Village……All I can say is that I loved it! B hates M. Night Shyamalan movies (except for Unbreakable) and so I watched it first by myself. I am so happy that I did. B has a habit of commenting during movies (at home only) that ticks me off. So I am glad I got to see the movie on my own so that I could enjoy it. I watched it again when he went out on Sunday for a couple of hours.

So now, it is Monday and it is back to the grind. I brought my knitting with me to work and I hope to work on it during my lunch break. Eventually I will finish one of my many projects. The guys I work with know that I taught myself to knit. Now whenever I wear a sweater they always ask me if I made it. One of these days, I hope to be able to say yes. I do find it funny though as they will usually bring up the subject and ask me about my progress.

Such is my boring life.

I miss the sun

I was able to go home an hour early yesterday. It was just an hour but what a difference an hour makes. The sun was still up and I had energy to do stuff (not that I did anything). I never see the sun. When I leave for work it is dark and when I get to work the sun is just coming up but you cannot see it yet – just the lightening of the sky. I work indoors all day without a window nearby. Since I am not a smoker I do not go outside during the day. I know that is not a good excuse but I very rarely take breaks and if I go outside, I feel as if I am slacking. When I leave work the sun is down and the sky gets darker as I drive home. When I get home, it is dark. When it is dark, I do not feel like I have much time to do much of anything so I basically just wind down. Working these long days is the only reason I do not like working 4 x 10’s. Other than that little reason I love my schedule. I work Monday – Thursday and have a 3 day weekend. Of course, I seem to spend one of those days just catching up on sleep. Today there is no sun. It is very overcast. It sure has been raining a lot lately. I am not used to all this water but I will take it when I can get it, as it will soon start to be in the 100’s. Moreover, when it gets that hot I find myself begging for it to rain.

YUMMY!

Last night B made King Crab legs for dinner (he is now feeling better). They were the best and not just because we got them for $8.99 a pound!!!! Guess what I am having for dinner tonight? Yep! They were so cheap B got 2 pounds. I am still surprised that we had leftovers though they are one of our favorite things to eat.

It is slow again at work today. Since it is my “Friday” I am hoping I can go home early again. Only problem with that is I really need the money so I need to work the hours.

Too early for spring fever?

B is not feeling well. He has not felt well for the past 2 days. I think he has the flu. I sure hope not because he sure does get grouchy when he is sick and I really don't want to catch what he has. Not because I don't want to be sick (although that is a good reason) but because I will have to take care of myself. What is it with men that when they get sick they expect to be mothered but when the woman is sick we have to fend for ourselves?

I wonder if I should go home early today. I wonder how I will work that out. I mean I already took Monday off of work and I always have Friday off. How sad is it that I cannot even work a full 3 days a week? Maybe I have spring fever or is it too early for that? There is nothing left for me to do here and I am bored. Of course you will never hear me admit that.

As for my projects......I have not worked very much on them so pictures are definitely not necessary.

Tea for two

Tea for two? No way. Just tea for me.

I love tea and cannot get enough. In fact B does not like me to buy tea as he says I have enough - he is not a tea lover and will only drink basic black. *Ü* I don't think he understands that I drink different teas depending on what mood I am in. One of my new favorites is Rooibos tea. Usually with vanilla and honey. Very yummy. I like me the red teas!

Lately, I have been seeing the Adagio tea buttons on different websites. While reading Julie's blog today, I know now what the buttons are for. I have no problem advertising for tea. Hmmmmmmmmmm I think I need to go and make me some tea now.