Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas To You All!

May you all have a wonderful holiday.

Be Back After the Holidays!

Holiday Party

Went to a holiday party Saturday.

Each couple had to bring 2 bottles of wine and an appetizer large enough to feed their number guests. They gave us the final rsvp number a few days before.

I don't like these kinds of parties to be honest.
I feel if you can't afford to have a party then don't have a party.
But I also know that's my problem not the rest of the worlds. It's just me.

So I made my appetizer and brought different dipping goodies for it.
We also brought our obligatory 2 bottles of wine.
We walked there which is a nice way to go to a Christmas party.

We were also invited to another same night. That one we go to every year.
(I only bring a hostess gift there, they don't ask us to feed their guests. )
We thought we'd stop in at the party where we had to bring everything and then hop over to the other soiree.

We were having a perfectly nice time at the first party so we stayed there.
Besides we brought some really fine wine and we wanted to drink some of it. 
The food was good Rick told me. I couldn't eat a damn thing due to all of it was encased in dough or it was pasta or it was crackers etc. Gluten be damned!!  But I drank!!

We left around 11:15p and as we began our walk home we could hear the other party.
But we just weren't up for walking over there. 
We got home, walked the dog and crawled into bed.

I in no way felt I had too much to drink. Neither did Rick.
We sat and chatted for a bit before falling asleep. We were just tired.

But Sunday morning we were dragging. Not like we were hung over, more like we were old and feeling this. Rick made a joke that this was past our bedtime.  Probably more the case.

Yesterday ended up being a day of lying on the sofa catching up on shows from the week. We even watched an old movie favorite of ours, Bandits. Love Billy Bob Thornton in that movie.

I managed to make a few different types of cookies for my UPS driver, doggy day care folks and the like. Rick tasted everything and then moaned he ate too much.
Silly man.

Today I must get all my gifts out in the mail.
The cost of shipping is just double what you pay. That is how I plan the whole damn holiday.
Since no one we buy gifts for live here we must figure shipping as well.
Shipping ain't cheap but we do find the US Postal service to work best for us.
Faster, cheaper and so far over the last couple of years it has been better for us than UPS.

For this holiday season we are keeping our local post office busy.
I'll probably bring them some cookies too.

I'm counting down the days until this holiday is over.
Is it December 26th yet?

Privilage

I'm sure by now you have all heard about the 16 year old shit head named Ethan in Texas who was drunk driving and killed 4 people.
He was over 3x the legal limit of drunkenness.

But he was a white very wealthy kid in Texas. His father probably knew the damn judge.
Instead of any prison time he gets to go to a private rehab over looking the water.
The judge wanted to send him to rehab so he could develop into a productive citizen and not send him to jail.

His attorney put a psychologist on the stand who said this was "Affluenza."
This poor drunk kid didn't know right from wrong because he was rich.
He was blameless for driving drunk and causing the crash. 
This condition stems from having wealthy, privileged parents who never set limits for him.

Okay let me get this straight if you are a white rich kid you get off killing people because your parents didn't have the time to set limits for you. 
(Tell the Melendez Brothers that as they rot in jail)
The attorney and judge claim, "As a human being he knew no boundaries or right from wrong"

It is hard for my head not to explode as I type this.

So let's take that theory a bit further.
You live in Texas and you are a poor black kid. You parents work several jobs.
They don't have a lot of time to spend with their kid but for the opposite reason as the rich kid. He gets drunk with his friends and plows into several cars and kills everyone.  

What do you think the chances are that he gets off for "poorfluenza" ?
Do you think the jury and judge in Texas would let him off so that he could become a productive citizen as the judge stated was necessary?

Let's go a step further. It's a rich black kid and he did the same. Think he'd get off?
Sadly that affluenza wouldn't fly for this black kid and you damn well know it.
It's Texas for heaven's sake.

I would bet the farm that this kids parents paid off a lot of people.

The whole thing disgusts me.

When I was growing up I had more respectful fear of my father than any police officer etc.
If this happened to me being a white upper middle class kid my father would have let them throw the book at me. He would want me to learn a lesson. 

This kid learned a lesson all right - he can do whatever the @#$! he wants because he is white, rich, and lives in Texas where those 3 things are of utmost importance.

Another Snow Day and Flying Deer

You thought we only had flying monkeys land here in Loudoun County and then freeze on my patio. (wink wink....see yesterdays post)
Here is a sad true story of a flying deer.

A Snow day on my block - 

Note kids in pajama's. The young boy is shoving a carrot into the snowman's face.

 I chose this photo because the kids said they didn't want their pics online. 

How sophisticated kids are today or maybe I should say" have to be today."

They saw this pic and they were fine because you couldn't see their faces.

 I don't think he wanted a picture taken, ya think?

 One of Izzy's favorite ponds. She chased a herring here this morning. I thought she was going into the water and I panicked. She stopped up to her "ankle" area thank goodness.

(Sorry for the darkness of photo, didn't use the right settings for snow.)

 Melting Ice....just in time for the next round we're getting tomorrow. :-)

Just 'cause my girl is so damn cute. 

Frozen Monkeys

I took a quick phone photo of my winter patio view yesterday after noon.

We were having freezing rain and snow.  Izzy's stuffed monkey was frozen to the patio.
I posted this photo on facebook and it read:

The weather outside is frightful....LOOK, a frozen monkey just lying there on my patio.

 

Someone actually wrote a comment that read,  "FOR REAL???? A MONKEY?????"

OH MY GOD. I laughed out loud when I saw that. I showed Rick. 
He said, "who is this person?"
I explained who it was. Never even met her in person - long long story.
Anyway he said, can she really be that dumb? Ah, apparently so. 
I had to then share with her that this was indeed a stuffed monkey of my dog's. 
It was not a real monkey.
She then called me bananas, because she really thought I meant a monkey.

Well let me tell you how that had my husband going all day.
He would just say random shit all afternoon. 
He was in the kitchen and I was upstairs and I heard him yell, **"look out flying monkeys in northern Virginia!

Then just throughout the day random proclamations would be shouted.

**"They just fell out of the sky Margaret, they're on our patio!"

**"Random monkeys on patio in Loudoun County, news at 11."

**"Wild monkeys on the loose in Loudoun....be on the look out.....freezing to concrete and decks."

**Squealing monkeys stuck to the ice ....be careful driving."

He was making me laugh all day. He was just shouting random shit. 
None of it was funny alone but the thought that someone thought there were real monkeys on my patio was so damn funny to us. 

Now in our defense it could have been the couple of hot toddy's we had.
But even this morning it cracks me up.
Seriously how can someone believe me?

Gift Giving.

I know this isn't popular.
I know I will get comments where no one will agree with me.
So be it - it's my blog and I am sharing anyway.

I hate gift lists, wish lists and registry's

I know people who hate gift cards. If being honest, those I do not mind at all.
If someone loves nothing more than to get high end cooking items why not a gift card to William Sonoma? Yes, a gift would rank much higher but this is at least better than someone handing you a list of what they want you to buy them. You at least put some thought into what type of gift card and to what store they would like. But that said, try buying a gift is my point.

Wedding, shower and other registry's I find offensive.
I hear you scream, "But what do I buy them then if they don't tell me what they want?"
"I don't know them all that well." Then why the hell are you buying them something if you don't know them?

To me and my spouse the idea of gift lists and registry's is just asking for someone to buy you something. It is not a well thought out gesture for a friend, loved one or family member.
To me it just that - reading someones list who is basically saying to you,  buy me something!!
Look they bought me what I asked for! They can take direction.

An example of this I will use my grandmother and me. 
I know how much she liked to read and how much she loved her "good" chocolate.  
She loved soft things and silky things to wear. She loved to dress well, smell nice and always wore her lipstick. Even in the nursing home God love her.
She loved her chocolate so much she kept a "stash" in her bedroom closet. 
I remember a day she said to Rick as he was in the hall by her room, "psst, Rick c'mon in here." 
Rick never being one to walk away from a woman asking him to enter her bedroom he immediately went into her room. He found her sitting on the edge of her bed choosing a piece of chocolate from a beautiful ornate box. She slide the box off her lap and handed it to Rick, "Have a chocolate" He took one and she said, "I have some chocolate covered pretzels in the closet too. Would you get those for me?  Do you like chocolate covered pretzels?" 
Rick's eyes lit up and he did indeed fetch those for her.
He brought them back to the bed and she said, "Well have some of those too, they are so very good" They both just sat there and enjoyed their chocolates and gigged like little kids. 
I have to tell you that is such a big memory for Rick of his time with my Grandmother.  
They bonded over their love of very good chocolates and he knew her hiding place. He liked that he knew where she kept them and I hadn't up to that point.
Every once in a while Grandma would call one of us in there and she'd share from her "stash"

Now because my grandmother loved candy and reading I bought her things pertaining to that a good many times. Why not a reading light for her to read at night? Why not something yummy from her favorite Chocolatier? I didn't need a list. I didn't need her to tell me what she wanted. She loved soft things. So a cashmere sweater one year or a soft throw would make her happy. It was the thoughtfulness that went into a gift.  It was knowing her and thinking of what she might like or even need. Although my Grandmother didn't need anything. Her favorite perfume in a powder perhaps or anything silky. My goodness this woman would not wear flannel. She loved a silky nightgown. She got funny gifts too. My father bought her a basket for her walker. You know the kind you put on a bicycle. 
My mom sewed these ugly flowers on it. And they gave her that as a surprise gift.
That was funny. 
They attached that to her walker and she could throw in her book she was reading and head on into another room. It ended up being something she didn't even know she wanted. Then she couldn't live without it. That was a thoughtful gift not on any damn list. And besides she laughed so hard when she got it she about peed her pants.

Someone you barely know sends you a shower invitation. You know she is having her first baby. Why is that so hard to figure out what she would need? She needs everything.
I just recently had that situation for my neighbor. I said - Phooey to that damn 'buy me all this from my list" and I went rogue. 
I bought her all these things for safety. Plugs for the outlets. Soft and safety things for the harsh corner of her glass coffee table, safety latches for her cabinets. I bought her a tub/bath for the baby to bathe in along with bathing items of wash clothes, towels and an adorable towel that looks like a dog that wraps around the baby. Did she ask for any of them? NO.
In fact she laughed at me when she got them and said, "You have to put the baby in this and then put him in a tub to wash him?"  Guess she thought you just threw the infant in the tub. Oh Lordy. (I didn't have kids and I even knew that.)  So fast forward to several months after said baby and guess who is thanking me now? Yep, she really did. I even got stories and pictures. It's now a funny joke to she and her hubby that they didn't know. So now the 4 of us have had a good couple of laughs over this.

The same goes for a wedding registry. As Rick likes to say, "do they have a list of what we HAVE to buy them or can we buy them what we want?" Oh this topic fries his arse.
The most recent non family wedding we were invited to had a link to their requests for gifts. It listed nothing  under $150. Okay not a big deal but after I made my purchase I wondered if there were any folks who perhaps couldn't do a $200 gift?  So do they go rogue and wing it and buy something for only $50? Does that bride then scoff? If so where is her appreciation? Is she getting married for the jewelry and gifts or to share her union/love with family and friends?  That was rhetorical because sadly I know the answer on that one.

I just believe that gift giving should be done because you want to.
It should be done thoughtfully.
I think it should be done to say thank you, I love you, you mean a great deal to me etc.
Not because someone hands you a list of gifts they want you to buy them.

A retired woman who lives across the street from me was going on and on about how she loves Xmas. She said she loves to receive gifts. Well who doesn't? 
She had just decorated her house inside and out. I stood there listening to her and smiling and was attempting to share in her joy. I may not have that joy but I wasn't telling her that. 

She continued on and on about how she made a list of what she wanted and made copies and was giving it out to all people who she thinks may buy her a gift. She said I hate getting gifts I don't like or need. I asked, "Are they really that bad? Can you just take them back?"
She said, "But if they just buy me all the things I want then I don't have to?" 
WOW.
I asked her about a gift she hated. She shared a story of her grandson that bought her a book she didn't like. She went on to tell me that he was so excited because he was so sure she would love it because  he remembered her talking about this author with his mom. It was the same author who wrote the books she read to her grandson or they read together when he was little. But now the author was doing grown up books.
She told me she never told him she took it back because it would hurt his feelings.  
Gee Ya think? You were smart enough to realize that yet you took it back anyway.
She said she bought something there that she wanted instead, not even a book.

Okay this is where I know it's just me 'cause my thought was, Then fuck you lady. Your grandson was excited because he thought you'd like it. So you didn't. It cost you nothing to thank him, hug him and put that fucking book on the damn shelf. It was a good memory for him, you reading to him. Maybe you could even try to read it. He's 14 for heaven's sake. You said he bought it with his own money. He tried to be thoughtful. Accept it in the way it was given. Soak that up most of all. Embrace the love. So what you don't think you'll like the book. But I said nothing and just stood there and smiled. My head was about to explode.

I know in my family we would have kept that damn book and not just me,  and it would be a joke years later. 
Once my sister who is now 40 bought me this horribly neon bright orange red sparkly nail polish. Not just sparkly but it had silver flecks in it. Very whorey, white trash. ..tee hee.
This was in the very early 80's. I had very short nails and didn't wear color - ever. 
Nor would I wear this color if I did wear color.  But I kept it. I kept if for 20 some yrs.  
Now we laugh about this because we see how funny this is. She was 5 or 6 at the time. My mom brought she and another sister to the dollar store for them to buy their gifts. They spent time looking at things and chose things that they thought were like the people they were buying for. All were a damn hoot. You saw their little minds working. 
The girls insisted that they could pick out their gifts to their sisters. My mom shared with me this trip to the store. She too found it funny and knew I was not about that neon orange red sparkly color.  My mom let them fly their freak flag for the gifts. My little sister loved the color so she thought I would too because it was pretty. She even said that to me when she gave it to me. She told me it was pretty like me.  Now, c'mon why wouldn't I keep it after that? 

No it wasn't on my list if I had had one. No it wasn't even something I would ever use. 
But it was thoughtful. She knew I loved pretty clothes, pretty makeup and I get how a little girl can go to this spot next. It was damn thoughtful.  Sure my mother knew damn well these were probably not suited for us. But this was how they saw us. I loved that damn ugly orange red nail polish for years. I finally threw it out after another move to another city and it was all hardened. But it made me smile. Ugly as hell but I loved it.

So remember this when you are gift giving or are accepting gifts this holiday season.
Try to think about the person. Don't just hand over a list and say, "This is what I want you to buy me. Give me your list" 
Allow someone to really buy you something they want to give you. 
Allow them the chance to say how much they think of you.
Embrace how they see you. 
Besides you may just get the gift you never knew you wanted. 
It may be just perfect, like my grandmother's walker basket and my nail polish.
My sister saw me loving neon sparkly orange red color on my short stubby nails. It still makes me laugh to this day. To me it was the most perfect thoughtful gift ever.

Stress & Obligation Month

Hi Kids.

I think I am taking a bit of a break from visiting you all here.
Not long...just a bit. Probably just a week or two.

You see for us the month of December is a month of  stress and obligation.

In fact I think the whole month should just change it's name to STRESS & OBLIGATION MONTH.

Money being what it is, or isn't, Stress & Obligation month gets a bit heavy around here.  
Hard to find the funny.

It has always felt like this for the two of us, however, we are living a new life as I have shared with you before. This just happens to make it all even worse.

So I'll be trolling your blogs and commenting, just not writing my own for a bit.

See ya'll soon.

Back to Work Monday

Yep, I'm still Sick. I'm so tired of being sick.
Because I am on Cipro and not getting a helluva lot better I called an ENT for an appointment. I see them on Wednesday.  My sinus's are still burning. 
I know, you didn't even ask and I shared. 
I just love spending $$$ on this stuff when I am knee deep in stress of Xmas.
I hate the holiday season with a passion. The stress and the money are a royal pain.

While I was lying on my sofa in my pj's, blowing my nose, coughing, wheezing, sneezing, feeling congested and all over awful I saw a few of items I am going to share.

1. I was watching a marathon of I LOVE LUCY. I adore that show. I have seen everyone of them millions of times each. But that doesn't stop me from watching them - ever. 
Lucy and Ethel were in the kitchen making butter and bread to show the men they could survive the "olden" days where the boys said they could do it better. While Lucy was making bread  she was transferring the dough as it would rise from one bowl to another larger bowl. These bowls were so nice. I have seen them at Williams Sonoma. They are so very expensive. I bet Lucy didn't know that she was holding what would one day would be considered a very high end bowl. My grandmother had a set of those bowls too. I so wish I had them today.

2. I read someone on facebook looking to her friends and readers to tell what they want to read on her blog. She had a survey for all to take to tell her what to write.  I used to read her blog before she stopped. I don't understand this survey. 
You see, I love ya'll but its my blog. I will write what I want to write about so while I'll miss you if you aren't interested so be it. Its my blog. I started to take the survey but found it too limited. I had to choose what topic I wanted to read. How about all of the above? I found this whole thing very odd. She shouldn't be limiting her imagination or her life to fit someone else's choices. 

3. Rick was on his tablet while I lay dripping from all holes in my head when he yelled, "OMG I THINK AMANDA IS PREGNANT. WHY WOULDN'T SHE TELL ME?"
(Amanda is his daughter)  I said, "What the hell are you talking about?" 
He tells me he is looking at her Amazon wish list trying to see what she'd like for Christmas. He says, "I saw a changing table on her list."
I sat up and said, "Let me see this."  Then I burst into uncontrollable laughter.
It read, "charging table" for your ipod, ipads, iphones, etc.  
OMG my husband makes fun of my hearing but honestly the dumb shit can't see now. 
No wonder he thinks I'm still cute.  Poor old man.

4. Lastly, while lying on the sofa I read a lot of blogs on my phone.
I don't have a tablet you see and I can't reach my PC in the office from my comfy spot on the sofa.   I used Rick's tablet last week and deleted his whole tablet and thankfully he had backup and spent 2 days putting that all back together. So I am no longer allowed to touch it. I don't think I blame him.  Anyway, while reading this I said out loud, "holy shit this is some sick shit"  Of course that makes my husband want to know all about what I am reading. I made him look at it because seriously this is sick shit.  The blog I read had a post about this story as well as the link, which I gladly share with you so you too can be grossed out.  This was by a so called artist from Melbourne Australia. How does one define art?
I don't think this is it. At least it isn't in my little world.

5. I got these new treats for Izzy. They are made in the USA and they are chicken jerky. The last ones were recalled due to dogs dying and they were made in China. Big deal that was all over the news. So when I saw these I grabbed them. They have smoked paprika in them and the smell is pretty strong. But I think Izzy had too many. I gave her one. Then Rick did and I didn't know it. Then I gave her another. Poor Izzy had smelly farts and then she got diarrhea. Oh my goodness she was running to the door constantly for a few hours. We had some left over diarrhea medication for her and immediately put it in some cheese to get it down her. Finally at 10pm she was settled down. This morning she was a bit slow moving. Rick was downstairs first and said, "She's not even eating this morning" 
I walked over to the island to make my coffee and I see Izzy's bowl on the island full of food. 
I say to Rick, "How do you expect her to eat her food  if you leave her bowl on the kitchen island?"
He begins to laugh. "OMG what the hell is wrong with me lately? I noticed she didn't go to her bowl and figured she wasn't feeling well."
So we started this morning off with a good laugh.
Rick has been dealing with his gout as I mentioned last week. 
Because of his gout he hasn't been drinking. 
I think his goofiness all week is due to the lack of alcohol. His poor body is all confused. 

Chatty Cathy has been Silenced

So I have laryngitis.
But you think I'm gonna stop talking now?
Ha, that's why I have a blog silly. I can talk without you hearing me.

I am feeling a bit better, thank you for asking. 
But not great by any means.
That means a Thanksgiving in my PJ's and eating ice chips.
YIPEE.
I am not a thanksgiving food's biggest fan so that doesn't bother me.
But feeling this way sure does.

While I lie on the sofa staring listlessly at the television a few of these things have come to my mind over this holiday.

1. I LOATHE a parade. Always have &  always will. The fascination of people walking down the street never ceases to amaze me. As a kid I didn't enjoy it either. I didn't get it.  Still don't.  No Macy's day parade for me. No siree.

2. I LOATHE football as much as a parade. So I am thankful for all the movie stations and on demand that will allow me to watch tv while I blow my nose, cough, sneeze and have general malaise.

3. I am thankful for all the drugs I have on my coffee table right now. None seem to be working all that well I'm still a mess. But I admit this drug induced fog is more pleasant than most days.

4. I am thankful for a day off from having to talk and be so damn nice to people. 

5. I am so very thankful it is not snowing here. We do not have to shovel all this rain!

6. I am thankful for my friends and family who keep in touch via email and phone calls and texts. I heard from my niece last night. Damn she's so cute. It was so nice to hear from her.

7. I will be boycotting Christmas again this year. I will go to sleep on the 1st of Dec and wake up on my anniversary the 31st.  

8. I am thankful that wine is not gluten and mixes well with cough syrup.  (just kidding, kind of)

9.  People's sexiest man alive, Adam Levine is cute in a girlish man wearing skinny jeans kind of way. But not in a manly studly sexiest man alive way.  Jeez. Men don't (should never)  wear skinny jeans. There is no debating this people.   Besides men should weigh more than the women they date/live with/marry/harass/boink...Men should never ever borrow your clothes. You can borrow their clothes,  but it should never be the other way around. 

10. I hate being asked to play games on facebook so stop asking me!!  C'mon seriously if you know me you know I am not a video game playing old broad. 

11. Husband needs to learn I am never wrong, sometimes less right, but never ever wrong. He would suffer so much less if he would come to gripes with this fact.

12. I am looking forward to seeing Garth Brooks special on Friday. I know, I am not a big country music fan but I like Garth Brooks. Go figure. 

13. I'm thankful for all of you who come by and see me now and then here at Straight Up No Chaser. Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate your comments as well as you taking time out of your day by stopping by my little piece of the world. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, just like you want it to be!!

DIY Project That Went Amok

In my tiny little foyer there was a hall/coat tree.
It held everything and more.

In the bottom which opened it held umbrella's, sidewalk salt for winter, doggy poop bags, shamwow for when the dog comes in wet, boots, trakkers for ice etc.
The coats and caps were all over the hooks. It always looked messy all the time.
It only made it look like I didn't have enough closet space - and I don't!

The hall closet is so damn small that it only holds a couple of coats. 
It also has weird angles in the closet so that cuts into space as well.

So when going out to walk the dog you could just grab your coat and go with this hall tree. Convenient but messy looking. The convenience outweighed the mess for 12 years. 
Then I just couldn't take it anymore. But I'm also broke so I couldn't buy anything nice either.

So what's a gal to do?
After I painted all the downstairs doors and put on new door knobs and hinges I put in racks on the inside of the doors. Those held a great deal of things that were in the bottom of the hall tree. I then cleaned out the teeny tiny little closet and got as many coats in there as I could without stuffing them.  Now I just needed something for the foyer that held all our stuff and still looked less messy.  Hard to be creative when broke and one lives in a small place. (actually 2200 sq ft isn't really all that small but it's small on storage for sure!)

I sat down and determined what I needed up there. Someplace for our keys.
Quick access to our hats, scarves, gloves, trakkers and dog things.  
So I bought a cheap piece of IKEA furniture unfinished. I painted it black and I decoupaged maps on the front of the drawers. I removed the door handles that came with the dresser and put on glass knobs.

Now each drawer is assigned it's duty. 
Example is the top left drawer is all Izzy all the time. Her chuck -it, her poop bags, her sham wow, etc. The top right is all Rick. I put in canvas boxes and divided things for Rick. 
Anything I can do to organize it for Rick is a helpful thing for me. (wink wink)
I continued down the dresser. It holds all things and more. 
I was loving the storage aspect of this.  The look well....not so much.

The bowl on the top made by my step daughter holds our keys. We have a beautiufully hand carved box that I bought at the Issaquah Salmon Day Festival that holds our sunglasses. 
We have a beautiful vase made of several different woods endemic to Jamaica. The picture above the dresser is a pen and ink drawing of the Flagship Niagara from the battle of Lake Erie.  There is even a funny wire piece of art you may be able to see in the pic. We got this piece at an art show because it made us laugh. It is of a man and a woman in a canoe and they have run themselves onto a rock.  Since this has happened to Rick and I we fell in love with this piece and had to buy it.  We have a very funny story that went with it and we couldn't leave without buying it. For the life of us we can't recall what city we bought this though. 
Bottom line is this was all done to house things from our travels and where we've lived as well as the maps to tie it all in.  And holding all our stuff neatly was a bonus.

It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, in fact I don't like it much. But it will do for now. 
It's better than all those coats and hats all strewn about in my foyer. I just thought it was awful to see that hot mess when you walked into my home. I admit I miss it already because of the convenience but I don't miss the mess.

I did this all for $149. Not bad huh? I had the maps. I had the decoupage things necessary. So all I bought was the dresser, paint, and the knobs. 

My new life of living on a budget sucks but I am finding ways to be creative. 
Not loving it but one does what one has to do.  It won't be there for 12 yrs like the other furniture but for the time being it will be okay.

I put the hall tree in the dining room and proceeded to try to sell it. Oh my. 
Craig's List is every nut job known to man kind. Then I did our community's face book page and people didn't show up when they said they would.  It was all a royal pain in the arse. Finally I called a friend and said, "You want it? Come and get it  - just get it out of my house by Thanksgiving and it's free!" Finally got rid of it this past weekend. 
I knew she would like "free. " She's a frugal gal.

So this is my DIY that went amok. It is far neater though and I do like neat better than cluttered. But it's not what I wanted it to be. 

 Now if only we would stop taking off our shoes and leaving them here that too would look better. But the dog can stay, she's cute.

 These are the two items on the top left corner of the hall table/dresser- my blogger buddy Jenny made these. I have a few of her pieces. Most are very colorful these just happen to both be dark.But I love what they say.  Go check out her site. She has some great works.

Fun Times at the ER

Oh the fun weekend we have had at our house.

If you plan to visit may I suggest a hazmat suit.
Or just stay away for your own good.

I have been fighting this "thing" for a month.
I really thought it was allergies.
But Friday it was so bad that I just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up.
However I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop coughing.
If I lay down it is so much worse. So no sleep for me.

My body hurts all over.
My head feels like a basketball, my eyes are tearing all the time, my ears hurt, my neck hurts, the headache is mind numbing, my throat is so sore that I think the proper term is raw and if that isn't enough my eyes are puffy and  my teeth hurt. WTH?

But been plugging through. Sudafed helps but I don't want to take it because it does counter act my thyroid medication. So I haven't been taking it a lot. Besides it only takes the edge off it doesn't make me feel great.

Last week Rick said his toe was hurting him. I said, "is it the gout pain? should you start your regimen now?"  He said, "No I don't think that its gout this time. It feels different this time."
You see he has gout in his big toe on his right foot. When he gets the tingling feeling start he begins this regimen 1 tsp of baking soda and water every 1/2 hour. Also he begins eating cherries. Oh he eats cherries. He also spends a lot of time in the bathroom. But it stops the gout from coming on full blown and within 24-48 hrs it is gone.

I suggested he start the regimen just in case it is gout. We have cherries frozen just for this occasion. He said no. Guess who has a full blown painful case of gout. It is so bad he can't get his foot into a shoe.  It is so bad this time for the first time of his life it has moved up his leg to make his ankle double in size. Walking is pure torture. He has never had it this bad before because he does his regimen.

Rick is a bad patient. Oh my is he a pain in the ass when he has pain or feels badly. I feel terrible but I don't act like he does. I think this is a man/woman thing. We feel like shit and keep on truckin'. I still do laundry, work, walk the dog, cook, clean up etc. He whines. He moans. He whines some more. Honestly men are such babies. I do realize that gout is a real MF as his doctor termed it.
But honestly he's a pain in the ass with a hang nail.

Saturday I suggested since our doctor is on vacation to go to urgent care or the new ER a few blocks from our home. He said, "no, I'm dealing with this"  No mister you aren't and it's starting to kill me.
But I say nothing and hope it gets better so he doesn't end up in the ER because I hurt him.

Sunday he wakes to it being larger and worse. He is fragile and I take advantage of him and tell him to go to the ER. He does just that. No arguments, he just goes. Finally.
They gave him a couple of shots and an assortment of medications and sent him home.

He came home to a coughing wife who he so kindly told, "You look horrible."
Thanks honey, let me step on your foot.

As the day went on the coughing was worse. I decided to eat some frozen grapes because I was hungry and everything else hurt. The cold grapes sounded good. I actually 'burned' the roof of my mouth from the frozen grapes. Great! So now everything hurt to eat  - my throat and the roof of my mouth. I smashed ice and just sucked on ice. yipee.

At one point I was coughing and hacking so much that Rick told me to go the ER. I said, "I am not an emergency I'll call the dr.'s office tomorrow."  He nagged until I went.
I have strep throat, sinusitis, and of course this cough. Great.
I have antiboditics and cough medicine that the dr. tells me will knock me out and stop the coughing.
That actually sounds good about now.

I left the dr's and headed to Walgreens. I sat there and waited for all my Rx's when a family came in for a flu shot. The pharmacist told him it would be 15 minutes because he had to fill some rx's first.
They said okay. The mom sat down and pulled out her phone. She never took her eyes off her phone.
Her 3 bratty loud sons took over the whole pharmacy area. They were on the floor with cars, throwing them across the floor and causing others to have to stop or walk over them. At one point they had their car go into an aisle as an older woman was walking. If the person she was with had not grabbed her arm she would have fallen. The mother never looked up or away from her phone.The father had yelled at them once and one of the kids kicked him. He got up and left. I never saw him again. The mom never looked up from her phone.
When the one child hit me the third time I told him that this was not the place to play with his cars. He stuck his tongue out at me.  These kids proceeded to knock over a display in the waiting area, the mother never looked away from her phone. They climbed over it and threw their cars into the mess they made. They just took over and were brats.

Finally my name was called and I went to check out. The woman checking me out made a comment about the brats. I said, "Oh I think they are what we call birth control." She said, "I'd like to go over and rip that phone out of their mothers hand"  I laughed and said, "I would pay to see that!"
She and I laughed and I walked over the brats and left the store.

I told Rick this story when I got home and he said, 'well perhaps the karma will be that mom will get what you have" That made me laugh. But I think it's worse for her if her kids have it, she may have to put down her damn phone and be a mom.
______________________________

Since I wrote the above post I now have laryngitis. Lovely for a person who answers the phones all day. Rick left an office voicemail stating I had this and to email me at the following.....so no rest for the self employed.

Late Nite

We in our household are the only people who have never read or seen the Hunger Games.
But we have seen this girl on interviews and we both just think she's a spit fire.
I adore her. Rick made a comment and I yelled, "she's younger than your daughter old man."
He even went, "Eww"
She keeps Letterman on his toes and makes him laugh. 
Most bore him to death and you can see the difference in him with her. 

I also covet that hair cut!!

 
She's great here with Jon Stewart too.

The Daily Show
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Say It Ain't So!

As  I type this I read where the FCC is contemplating relaxing their cell phone usage on planes.  OMG that is such an horrific idea to me. Relaxing this law will make flying all the more unbearable to me and I believe most people.

Do you know why I didn't fly to NYC weekly for work, but took the train instead? 
FOR QUIET AND CALM!!  It took the same amount of time so why not arrive calm and not angry with people who behave like those with no social manners?

I don't like to see the under dressed and stupid in the airport. 
Shoes? Why do I have to take my shoes off?  they whine (Been living in a cave Barbie?)
I don't want to see your boyfriends underpants below his ass or try to figure out why 1/2 the plane is in pajamas in public. (your flight attendant notices and treats you accordingly and don't think for a minute they don't!) No, not fun for this cranky old broad.

As I have bemoaned many times here that I don't give a shit about your conversation about your mother in law, your dating life, your sex life or your shitty boss. I used to have to listen to this crap all the time even on a train. People would talk louder while in a tunnel for heaven's sake. I heard it all and I hated every damn minute of it. 

Then Amtrak came up with the Quiet Car - NO CELL PHONES OR LOUD GAMES ETC.
Even talking loudly would get your booted from the car. Angels sang. Peggy did a happy dance. It was wonderful!!  It was so popular when they allowed us to board you would see grown men and women in suits RUNNING to get a seat on this car.

Because this car was the first one to fill up, you had to run to get a seat on the quiet car. 
We'd make our stops in Philly and people would moan that there were no seats in the Quiet Car. I never made eye contact because honestly I would have felt terrible. 
I felt their pain but wasn't giving up my seat.  
I loved that I was the first city on and leaving NY I was the first city on.
So I always RAN for the Quiet Car....in heels. I'd do whatever it took.  To me it was priceless. 
I would have paid more for a seat in that car. You could still use your laptop/tablet, just use your ear buds. Simple. No one else was polluting my space with their drama.

You don't know how loud everyone on the phone can be until you are sitting there on a train car and listening to all the chatter, yelling, laughing etc. It's not fun. Because the minority was you who wasn't on a phone. The rest all thought this was call everyone they knew time.

So now the wise people at the FCC think having everyone packed in like sardines, the drunks, people with screaming children, the fat guy next to you clipping his toenails isn't bad enough.   Oh now let's make flying a real treat. Let's add phone conversation to the mix .
Oh yeah smart idea FCC. 

You know the flight attendants will just end up being referees. 
I can't imagine a single sane flight attendant thinking this is a good idea.
There is no way in hell they will need their current uniforms. 
They should just wear black and white strip shirts and have whistles because they will be doing nothing but stopping the yelling at one another and preventing punches being thrown and women screaming at one another. You know someone will ask nicely, to please keep it down and the next thing you know a bad behavior only seen on reality shows will ensue.

Honestly if you can't keep off your damn phone while in the air then you have more problems that a lay person can help you with. Get a shrink and try to figure out why this is so difficult for you. Why can't you have a few hours of silence? Watch a movie on your tablet or the plane, read a book, look out the window. Just live in the moment. And if you can't live in the moment tell every one on facebook what the hell you're doing since you need to be connected. It's at least quiet.

I predict this is going to change the way we travel, but not in a good way.

Flashback Friday (2009)

 The landscape is changing 'round here.

Rick's buddy is moving to another town.

They met walking their perspective dogs. Honestly that seems to be how we meet most people. They aren't going far but won't be just a block away.

You see Joe no longer has the dog. The dog was their baby. Now their human baby arrived and a 2nd within less than a year later and now this dog was not happy. So ole Winston was given to a loving home and Rick sees less of Joe now. He is busy, busy, busy. Kids kids kids. No more walks with Rick. My poor big man.

Over time he has helped Rick with some international law and tax information that we have needed. International he tells us is a red flag for being audited. They see overseas monies being transferred into your account and BAM – you’re in an audit.  Great. But we needed to know all he has been telling us so while we don’t like it, it is necessary to know. He's a great friend.

Joe owns his own accounting firm, cpa, whatever. 

He is the man with the answers as Rick  likes to say.

These young people are the nicest people you'd ever want to meet.

Rick is sad that they are moving but certainly understands.

With their growing family they need a bigger home. So off to the burbs they go. Even further SW than we are. They will be missed around here! Especially by Rick.

So in honor of Joe and Rick here is my Friday Flashback from 2009. I heard all this while sitting at my desk which faces the front window of the house. They were underneath my window on the side walk having this crazy conversation that just made me giggle and of course write it down so I could share it with everyone.

Wow 6 years ago already... how time flies!

__________________________________________

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2009

Bromance a Brewin'

My husband has met this man while walking the dog. His dog is the cutest dog named Winston. Winston sort of reminds me of Ernst Borgnine. Like this one….

Big macho men no less. Both big in stature, over 6’2” and over 200lbs. 
Neither have that metro sexual look like this.

My husband is walking Izzy in his crocs that look like a pair of slip on canvas loafers.
These are the shoes.



The exchange goes like this.....
Winston’s owner says, “hey those are great shoes.”

Rick says, “Yep they are so comfortable too, can you believe these are Crocs?" 

"Get out, really? "

"Yea, I know I thought Crocs only came in those ugly plastic kids shoe.""Me too. Where did you buy these? "

"Online. Actually my wife got them for me – she knew I would love the croc insert and she was right. She loves her croc flip flops and they sent her a coupon via email. These are not like wearing shoes at all man."

"Do they come in other colors?"

"Oh yea, other colors and styles. They have a lot of shoes that aren’t those ugly plastic things."

"I have to check into those. Online you say?"

"Yep online - just google it. Like I said my wife did it." 

"We should get together some time over a couple of beers."

"Yea that sounds great! "

"Great and then maybe you can tell me where you got your hair cut."

Okay the last line I just made up, because seriously this whole thing is so funny to me.

But the rest of this is the real deal - I mean seriously who could make this shit up?

I met his (child bride) wife while this was going on.

She seems very nice but very young. She is a school counselor.

She looks like she is still in high school herself. 

So looks like we’ll be getting together the 4 of us to throw back a few and to discuss my husband shoes.

Which I might add I bought without him knowing and made him try them on.

Now I can’t get them off him! Gee maybe Crocs could have him do a commercial for them.

Oh this whole thing just makes me smile.