Lazy Indian Summer Sunday.

Friday we hired the new Big Guy.  I can no longer refer to Rick as the Big Guy.
Holy shit this kid is huge. Not fat, just big. He makes Rick look like a shrimp.
He is far taller than Rick, far broader than Rick and his hands are quite large.
When I shook his hand I felt so petite and dainty it made me laugh.

I have to admit this all scares me. We are growing and with that is added expenses, new vehicles for new employees and good pay to keep employees. What if it slows down again?
I like to eat people, this shit scares the dickens out of me.

Trying to think positive here but suddenly, new employee, new insurances for him, new vehicle, new vehicle payment, new expenses going out but hopefully double the income coming in.  Only time will tell.
As the saying goes, In difficulty lies opportunity.  I'm betting on it here.

Sunday was a beautiful Indian Summer type of day. We took Izzy to a local little lake.  It is called Lake Audobon in Reston Virigina.  It's a man made lake that was built in 1979.  It's cute, it's small, about 44 acres I believe it said on the sign. Close in proximity to us and perfect for Izzy to get some swimming exercise in.  As usual she swam non stop for over 2 hours. She gets in the car and collapses. She came home, peed about 3 times from the car to the house and then fell promptly to sleep. Dog tired and happy.  Doesn't get much better than that on any day for her! 

At one point I was sitting on a park bench watching Izzy swim and I kept hearing acorns fall from the trees. It sounded like it was a hail storm. I moved from the bench to the waters edge to be away from the falling acorns. Then it got quiet again so I sat back down. Rick and I were sitting there watching Izzy having a ball when an acorn hit my collar bone and made the loudest smack sound. Before I could even yelp Rick goes, "Oh my God that hit bone didn't it?" Now I'm wincing and holding my right collar bone while Rick is laughing.  Oh my goodness did this ever hurt. Rick said, "oooh, you are going to have a bruise!"

I do not have a bruise but my oh my does it hurt to touch. I am surprised at how sore I am even today. I can't believe a friggin' acorn could hurt so much.  It's funny as hell, like the time a bird took a shit on my head while I was walking, but only funny later while telling that story. I wasn't laughing yesterday because it was stinging too much then.

Izzy was in water heaven. She had to be on a leash there and she was pulling us to get to the path because she knew the spot she was going to. We couldn't walk fast enough for her.
She stands at waters edge and jumps back and forth and her tail is wagging so fast it's crazy. I wish I had gotten some video. She's nutso.

Here are some of the town homes on the lake. 

Saw a lot of these folks on their boards. This looks like fun to me but somehow I think I'd be in the water in no time. But I would still like to try it sometime. Probably make for some good laughs for my husband.

This family in this kayak was having a helluva time. They were clunking oars and laughing like crazy but basically going in circles.

This is what she did for hours on end. 

This was her favorite location to jump in the water. 

Old men on benches. (Bench with falling acorns.)

Now she's looking for fish. She's chasing them like she does cats.

The leaves are just beginning to turn here. It smells so great!

This tree was burned and charred inside. I suppose some numbnuts tried to burn a fire inside. There were also cigarette butts in there. People suck.

This funky thing was put together so I went over to sit on it. It was a great chair. 

Looks silly but it works.

This was just one of the trails you could walk and have acorns hurt you.

This guy wouldn't stop buzzing around our dog. C'mon it's a big lake. At one point Izzy had her toy in her mouth and was coming back to shore but kept looking at him over her shoulder. I think she was giving him the stink eye, telling him she was here first, get lost!

This below is our sign that she has had enough. She doesn't drop it at waters edge for us to throw again. When she walks out of the water with it in her mouth and walks past us we  know she's had enough for the day! 

Randomness

TGIF.  Truly. 
We are doing a 2nd interview with Mr. Big Arms. I can't wait to meet him. We have to address a couple of issues and if he answers them in a way we can live with then he's hired!  
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Last night was such a great night for me.
The man who I have watched play my favorite sport since he was a kid completed his tenure in fine fashion. Sure I am greedy enough to wish it was the 7th game of the World Series but this too was a movie quality ending.

I love baseball. I know all the women reading just don't get it.
Watching a great double / triple play is like ballet to me. It's that pretty.

I couldn't get to sleep after the game. I watched the commentaries and interviews on various channels. I watched it from a NY city channel as well as the sports channels. Even the haters were nice.

I don't agree with Keith Olberman's long winded rant from the other night about Derek Jeter. I get why he was sick of it all season, because even a gal like me felt that way at times. But I truly believe that like Micky Mantle, or any of the greats, this man is there too. And when I am sitting in my rocker when I'm 85 I'll tell the young 'ens how I watched him play many many times in the great stadiums. 

The next three games are really nothing, but it is in Boston, so seeing how they behave will be interesting. I think they will rise to the occasion. Or am I still dreaming?
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In 2 weeks we are heading to Tampa for a family reunion of sorts. I say sorts because it is not the full family but the cousins. 
Typically in a large Italian American family your cousins are like siblings. Hell I never had other friends until I moved to the suburbs and left my cousins behind.  Then as we got older and we all began to move away for career opportunities we would gather over Thanksgiving.
Every Friday after Thanksgiving we would get together at someones home. Generally someone who was still living in our hometown. Keys were handed at the door and the eating, drinking and laughing began.  Once when at my apartment there were several who "fell asleep" (passed out?) where ever they were. We covered them in a blanket, made sure they didn't have access to their keys and locked up and went to bed. In the morning after coffee and breakfast we'd send them on their way. It was always so much fun.

Well that is what this will be in 2 weeks. We are all so much older now and the cousins will have their kids there as well as their kids kids. Yep some are grandparents. We are coming from Washington State, Massachusetts and everything in between to meet in Tampa/ St Pete at our cousin Bob's house. My Uncle Angelo's children have all ended up in that area with the exception of 1 of the 5. I adore Bobby as I call him. We spoke to one another a week or so ago and just laughed our asses off on the phone for 40 minutes. I just can't wait to see him. 

Rick and I have gotten a beach front hotel room and I can't wait to stick my toes in the sand on Friday. Saturday the party will begin and Sunday I am meeting my old boss for dinner, drinks and more laughs. We will head home on Monday and I am sure we will need to come home just to dry out and diet from the looks of our itinerary. But what fun.
Ah, but I must wait 2 more weeks.
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I saw this card this morning and it made me laugh. 
It also made me think of my son in law. 

Have a great weekend everybody!

Monday Rambling Tid Bits

By now you've all heard about the man who jumped the fence at the White House and got pretty darn close.
This made Rick and I chuckle because for him to get through each and every check point was unbelievable.
The first day they knew he was coming, he had an appointment, they had his license plate number etc.
When he got to the first post this big man to quote Rick, "went bat shit crazy on my ass"  He said he had no record of him coming so he told him to move his truck and leave NOW. He grabbed Rick. Now knowing Rick the way I do when I heard this story I gasped at that because Rick doesn't take kindly to people being that aggressive to him and not allowing him to talk. 
Thankfully at that point another man with guns came running down the drive yelling it was okay.  And then the next checkpoint. And it went on like this for 3 post stop areas.

Rick suggested that perhaps that first man who was so damn mean and aggressive with Rick should be monitoring the fence. The guy that jumped didn't stand a chance with that big boy.
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Our company left today at 1:00 p.m.
I'm exhausted.
I am taking the rest of the week off from cooking, baking and waiting on folks.
I need a break.
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Rick's daughter called me Saturday morning crying. Her husband has been "naughty"
Boy did the shine come off our new son in law. 
They have been married a whole 15 months.
She has been dealing with his health issues. (heart) 
I keep checking in on her because I worry about her holding up being the caregiver to him and his 3 sons. 
He is 37, she is 34. She said that he has been a different person since this whole heart thing started.  Living risky, always wanting to go out, drinking a lot, foolishness as she called it.
Because there is a cardiology psychologist as part of his team she suggested that perhaps they should talk to him. He said there was nothing wrong. She told me she called to see if she could go alone because she was so concerned about this new behavior.

I found it interesting that they have a psychiatrist or psychologist as part of the heart team. So maybe this isn't strange behavior but behavior that can sometimes happen after these type episodes. So I really understood what she was thinking. But they want them both to go not just her. He won't go. She did not tell him she tried to go alone either because she knew that would be feeding fuel to the fire.

The day he had his pace maker and defib installed into his chest he went straight home, changed his clothes and said, "C'mon let's go out."  She said, "Really I would prefer for us to just chill  tonight and I'll make dinner and we can open a bottle of wine and just hang out since the kids are at their moms"  He said, "I'm going out with or without you." 
He has been starting fights like this and with even more trivial matter. 
The whole MO of a cheater.  

They were at a friends house with a group of friends and son in law was trying to put some phone photos on the TV to show everyone. But instead his texts came up.  
The last text was from a woman sitting right next to Rick's daughter. 
It said to son in law, "I wish we could just be alone"
Daughter saw this and walked out and he followed.
You can only imagine what ensued after that.

He denied it all. (Oh please) Then the woman who was sitting next to daughter and who just text her hubby at that moment called daughter on the phone.  
She said, "Oh it's just flirty texts" 
Daughter said, "how dumb do you think I am?"
Cheating Woman says, "Please don't tell my husband." 
Daughter said, "We'll see" and hung up on her.
She said she wanted her to sweat. She said she feels likes it is the only control she has of late and that made me laugh. I so understood.

Daughter and son in law had huge fight and she said she needed to be away for a couple of days to think this through - she couldn't talk or look at him right now. 
So she is staying at a friends. She is a basket case. Who can blame her?!
So that was a fun call. My heart aches for her. I don't have a good feeling about this outcome. 
Her father is not happy to say the least. Son in Law should be damn thankful he doesn't live close by. Rick could squish him like a bug.

Whatever happens we told her we are here to support her. 
What we didn't tell her is how hard it will be for us should she forgive him.  
The shine is off her knight in shining armor to us only.  
But if she forgives him we have to accept that and move on. 
It's not our marriage.  It is between them. 

But gee is it wrong to want to smack him around just a bit?

Interviews and Cranky Hubby

My husband is cranky right now. 
Dear Lord let this job be over soon is all I can say because cranky really isn't strong enough of a word to describe him right now.

Rick was walking the dog and this man said something to him about Izzy's build.
Now Izzy has been on a diet and has even lost a great deal of weight for her. 
She is only a couple of pounds from where the vet wants her. Finally.
She will never ever look like a skinny American Field Lab....it's not what she is.
But back to my hubby.

He comes in the house and tells me that Henry's owner (we know no one by their first names, only their dogs) patted Izzy and said, "you better lay off the treats there girl"

Apparently he has said this to Izzy before when Rick  has seen him. 
Rick told me he patted the fat mans belly and said, "hey you better lay off the treats there buddy"  
Rick thought it was funny and drove home the point that the man deserved.
The man didn't find that funny.
Neither do I !  And we all know I will pay the price for this.

My friend and neighbor Lisa just said the same thing to Izzy a couple days ago and I wasn't the least bit upset for Pete's sake! 
People don't know the difference between the different labs. They aren't vets, so it's not their fault. But apparently this made Rick a bit testy last night.  He's been working 7 days a week and he's a bit cranky as I said earlier in the week. 
And he can be such a hot head. But now that he did that I hate to think what will happen when I see that guy again. I too, don't know his name. I see his wife more than him but it will still be awful.  I'm sure he'll/she'll say something to me and I'll have to deal with this instead of Rick. Awkward!
Oh I wasn't happy with my hubby, oh so not happy. 

For those of  you who don't know the 2 types of labs here is some info.
I copied this off a Lab site I read - 

Types Of Labrador Retrievers is not referring to the standard accepted by the different kennel unions, only to the types of this breed that are out there.

There are two different types of Lab. For now let's just look at what is incorrectly referred to as the "English type" and the "American type".

The country of origin has very little to do with it. What is really at issue here is what the dog has been bred for.

An "English" dog has been bred as a show dog and the standard for this dog is the same in England as it is in America. This dog has a stockier build than its counterpart.

It has a broader head, a more square muzzle and a very thick tail. It is on the shorter side of the standard laid out by the kennel clubs around the world (still within the limits) but it tends to be fairly heavy, weighing up to 85+ pounds.

The temperament of the "English" also differs slightly from the "American". They tend to be slightly more laid-back and sedate, not quite as lively. (this is so my dog!)

The next of the types Of Labrador Retrievers that we can look at is the "American".

These dogs were bred for field trials, and this quite obviously requires a more agile and energetic dog than the "English".  They have been bred for speed and endurance in the field which means longer in the leg and slimmer in body.

American Field Lab below - leaner 

English lab below -

She's kind of built like her human mom - short, short limbs, barrel chest and smaller lower half. :-)

I think Izzy's chest is a bit smaller but you get the gist.

I can't wait until my hubby is done with this damn job. It is making him such a cranky bastard. I couldn't live with him if this job goes on much longer. I'm sure we'd have no friends either with him snapping at neighbors who we don't even know.   

He interviewed a man Thursday night that I think may be a winner. Rick has another interview Monday night. I believe he will know after the Monday interview who is coming on board. I think it will be the 1st one. But it's his decision of course. It will be interesting to see if I'm right. I've talked to them on the phone and they think I'm just some dumb gal in the office. The 2nd one asked for tips on how to dress for the interview. He was so cute. "I realize, he says, that I don't need a suit for this job do you think it'd be okay if I wore dockers and a nice shirt?"  He was cute. He's a young one. the 1st interview was a man of 38. He did dress nicely. Rick saw him walking in to meet him and he was limping and Rick thought, oh no, I can't hire someone like that to go up and down steps all day. But here the guy had just twisted his ankle at the gym on the treadmill. Whew. They had a good laugh about that one. Hey, he hasn't laughed in a bit so good for this man getting him to at least laugh. I hear this man is really built. Arms the size of my thighs. That is what Rick said anyway. 

I'll let ya know. I'm sure if he's built like Rick says I'll have to snap a photo for  you girls.

Celiac and Boob Update

Last night I sat and read a book from cover to cover.
It is called Jennifer's Way. It is by Jennifer Esposito. Yes the actress turned bakery owner.

Once I began this book I couldn't put it down.
It was my life story. She is a sister from another mister.
There were chapters that made me cry. She went through the hell I went through.
From doctor to doctor and no answers. 

I know it's become a fad to not eat gluten and even those nuts who are doing that are really still eating gluten because they aren't taking it out completely or seriously. (like all foods with maltodextrin or generic drugs or licorice or soy sauce etc) and why would they? They don't have to. I don't blame them. But they have ruined it for those of us with this disease. Late night host make the jokes about it and it drives me mad.

Why anyone would do this if it wasn't necessary makes it hard to wrap my head around.
I do it because if I don't I am physically ill, I need to be near a bathroom, I have severe stomach pains and a plethora of other symptoms too long to name. 

Originally my doctor thought I just had a gluten intolerance. Then I had more testing a year later and we found that wasn't the case. The best way for me to explain this to you is you know that the magnesium issue I have talked about here....it's because of celiac.
Your gut controls so many things in your body that it boggles my mind.

You small intestine is like a shag rug for lack of a better explanation. It has all this villi and eating gluten makes your shag rug a berber...flat. 
All this villi is responsible for making vitamin D3 and serotonin. Who knew that happy serotonin is made in your small intestine and not your brain right?  (hence the depression)
This villi that covers your small intestine absorbs nutrients. 
If you have celiac that villi is attacked by the gluten you've eaten so it becomes flat and you can no longer absorb nutrients. 
You can eat and eat but you are technically malnourished. I take a boat load of supplements which I am so low in that it's scary, B vitamins, vitamin D and magnesium to name a few.
There are so many nerve problems, allergies. brain fog, anxiety, memory loss and  insomnia etc. So while people think you aren't really sick, your body is telling you otherwise.

I won't bore you with even more things I've lived through the years but it was so damn nice to read this book and see someone who the public adores go through this. Lucky for her being an actress she had the insurance and money to deal with all that comes with this. That at times has been difficult for me. But whatever her profession it didn't help get diagnosed for many many years. Like me, it appears since she was very young, before teenage years and everyone just thought these were her idiosyncrasies. I heard the same exact things. 

Last night I sat up reading until I finished the book. I felt for the first time that someone understood it. Someone got it. It made me feel good.

And now for the boob update. 
I have to have a mammogram but I can't until after October 25th due to insurance. 
You can only have 1 within 11-12 months from your last one to be covered.
So I must wait until late October before I can have this done. 
To be safe I should probably wait until November 25th though. 
I had my last one 11/25/13. So I will wait for a couple of months and have my damn boobs squished in a vice then and we'll see what is causing all the fuss.  In the mean time I will just enjoy Izzy being my shadow.  I do enjoy it and I enjoy how much Rick hates it.

And lastly, I'm sad for Scotland. I really thought this time they would be able to be independent. The nurse in my dr.'s office is from Scotland. I asked her yesterday how she would vote for this and she said and I quote, "I'd vote bloody YES for God's sake" 
I know she's disappointed.  I told her I feared it would be people voting along the lines of the devil you know vs. the devil you don't know. I don't operate like that but I sadly know a lot of people who do and I think that must have played a great deal in this scenario, especially with the older people.

Am I Okay?

Last night my dog greeted me as though I had been off to war and she hadn't seen me in years.  I was only gone for 1 1/2 hours.
I don't normally get this treatment, it's Rick who gets this kind of attention and love.

She has been by my side constantly. She comes up to my desk during the day and will lay her head on my thigh. She is being so loving towards me. 
And let's face it the bitch is only like this with Rick.
Oh she loves me ...enough. 
But over the last 2 months I have been getting this kind of affection from her and I'm wondering why this is going on.  

Izzy The Wonder Dog will be 6 years old in February. 
Did it take her 6 years for me to grow on her? 
Perhaps it's because she spends the majority of her time with me and I've grown on her like a fungus. Or she just figured, "this old woman isn't going anywhere and she feeds me so I might as well give in"

Yesterday Rick and I were talking about this pain I'm having in my right breast. 
I go to the doctor tomorrow. He is concerned. I am not. They say if it's pain, it's not cancer. So it is probably no big deal. But it's been going on for awhile now but it has changed to a constant pain not every once in awhile pain. 
As we were chatting about my appointment the dog came over and again put her head on my thigh.
I, of course loved her back and then she just sits next to me while we were talking. 
(actually sitting on my feet)
Then it dawned on me. I looked at Rick and said, "I'm gonna die aren't I?"

"What? How did we get there?" he asks.  

"C'mon, you know how animals know when someone is dying and they sit by them in old folks homes.  Izzy thinks I'm dying and that is why she's being so nice to me and being nicer than even to you."

Rick of course thinks I'm off my rocker. I really was only making a joke.....until this morning  
Now I'm having my doubts. This morning she was all over me. When I dropped her off at doggie day care she put her front paws on my shoulder before I let her out of the car. 
It was like a hug. Normally she moves me out of the way so she can run into the place. Once I pull in she is up standing in the back seat and runs out of the car, not stopping to love on me.

Shit. I think I'm a dead woman walking.

Need a Job?

We are experiencing an enormous surge in business.
Rick has been looking for employees now for the better part of this year.
They say there are folks out there who want a job. We are hard pressed to find them.

Rick wants someone outside of this particular field for 2 big reasons. He wants to train them and not acquire their bad habits. In the past we have hired experienced men in this field who come with a big bag of attitude and refuse to do things the way Rick would like it done.
"But it's easier to cut corners like this they say." Rick's response is always, "we don't cut corners." and then the attitude begins.  

That sounds mean you say?  But even at McDonald's you don't get to make the burger your way,  the McDonald's way.  Even if the customer asks for something different than the standard burger you make it their way within McDonald's perimeters. They also seem to have an attitude and never a good one with people.  Rick won't tolerate either.

Rick thought a military background would be good because they take direction. He wanted to post for jobs on this military site but it was shy of $1,000 to do so. (for one month!)
He felt that was a ridiculous price but was getting close to doing it because the job pool is so bad. He tried one last time on indeed.com.  He has received a few good one, and a shit load of bad ones. The bad ones make me laugh. So in the evening as we pour ourselves a glass of wine and we have some good laughs over some of these guys.
One guy said, "I worked for XYZ (a competitor) so I am a bit leery, but look I'll hear you out."  That made me laugh. Did he really think we would want to hear him out?  That was all he had in the email. No resume, cover letter or anything else. No Dear Sir or To Whom It May Concern.  Nothin' people!

Rick requested in the ad a resume, cover letter with experience and salary requirements.
The first 10 or more responses were email with no cover letter, resume or any of the other info Rick requested. He is at the point now where he just blows them off. As he stated to me, "If they can't follow these simple instructions to even get the job I don't want to talk to them Margaret."  I think that's fair enough.

He has received 2 that he has hopes for. One is military and one has a background, not in this field, but one that compliments this in a way that training will be minimal.  He has done the phone portion of the interview for one and next step is the in person. The other has a phone interview on Tuesday and we'll see how that goes.

Last night just before I closed down the computer another resume came in.
At first I thought this was a big joke. Then as I read it again I thought perhaps English is not this mans first language and then I felt terribe for him. I showed it to Rick. 
Rick said, "I don't wish to believe this is a joke. Why would anyone do that?"  
He looked it over again. He just shook his head and said, "I am writing back to him and giving him a corrected resume. I am going to tell him to get someone to look it over before he ever sends a resume out again."

"Won't that make him feel badly though if this is not a joke?"

 "I am going to tell him that I am sharing all of this to help him, so that the next time he sends out a resume he will get the job - but not this time."  

So Rick circled and corrected everything including the spelling of the city in which he lives.
The dates he went to school are from 1967 - 2014.  Either the poor guy is really dumb or that was a typo.  50 yrs in school is a damn long time.

Here is one example:
It reads -
labor sub contactioal helper and spd man

d S patterson vieana va - happers farry wv - June 1993 to April 2005

Interpretation:
HUH??
What is a contactioal helper? and a spd man?
I have no idea was a d S patterson is but the I think he meant Vienna VA.
happers farry wv  should read Harpers Ferry WV

It reads:
master flight school engenior in bomb blast and galloep

Ft sill Ft bliavins Uhta kannas city kannas - dalles texas

Interpretation:
master flight school engineer in bomb blast and ??????
Ft still Ft bliavins(?????) utah(?) Kansas City Kansas and Dallas Texas

One more under Education:
master constustion attendet labor sub contarctor in land sirvoair constustioal eng build

footer to roof lay out and mixer of sub contactioal laber engioner

We have no idea what that means. 
Now our interpretations are just guesses. Who the hell knows what he is trying to say.
Oh it goes on and on like this and some so much worse.

I feel badly for him if English is not his first language. 
Perhaps he needs to enroll in a class for English as your 2nd language that my neighbor teaches for free.
I know Rick feels badly too because he is taking the time to rewrite what he can decipher and then explain to him nicely that no one will ever call him if he sends this type of resume out there. He must get someone to proof read it for him. (Someone he may know who speaks English) Rick has offered to help. But just not offer him a job.  I think he is wearing his old HR hat.

I will admit that evil Margaret laughed like hell when she read under his header of accomplishments.

"Help my buddy i love to death"

I copied and pasted that line so you could see that even the I is not capitalized. That line made me think this was all a joke. But Rick seems to think its not.  He may be right and if he is he's doing a nice thing. If not, jokes on us I guess.

I know I can't spell a lick and most days spell check doesn't even know what the hell I am trying to say so then I change the word. Yes I'm that bad. But this beats even my spelling.

This is our applicant pool. See our problem now?

Discounts for Pretty

My husband has been working 7 days a week and will continue to do so for a few more weeks.
He's exhausted, frustrated and every other emotion in between.
The contracting company who hired him for this job have been horrific to work for.(this is for solid surface railings and details - think of it like a corian product) Too much to detail right now. But let's say that when this damn theatre in Springfield is finished there will be a celebration at our home!

Saturday he did a couple of jobs and estimates for his refinishing business.
On one of the estimates at the end of the day was a woman who was such a bitch to me on the phone.
I wrote on his work order that she was a princess, to just be aware.
I had to laugh when he came home and told me the following:
He gets to her door exactly on time and she flips her dark hair and smiles at him and says, "I love when men are on time"  Then she laughs and touches his shoulder.
He tells me she is a woman in her early 40's and trying too hard. She is dressed (his words) like something out of flash dance with her t-shirt down over her shoulder and her bra strap showing. He goes on to tell me that she had on way too much makeup making her wrinkles really stand out.

I said, "boy you really looked her over didn't you?"  I thought that was pretty funny.
He said, "oh wait. She shows me the bathtub she wants me to restore and she keeps touching my shoulder. I discussed what was needed and then told her the price as I wrote out an estimate."
She whips her hair back and touches my arm now and says, "Aren't there discounts for pretty girls?"

I burst out laughing. I said, "Did you ask her if she knew any?" 
He said, "Oh, good one,  I wish I had but I didn't. I did say, sure there are discounts, what steps would you like me to skip?  She look dumbfounded and said, "what?"  He said, "well I can discount my work and skip the prepping done for excellent adhesion and that would take some money off."
She laughed and touched my shoulder again and said, "Oh can't you do better than that?"
I handed her the estimate sheet and said, "this is the price. You can call my office manager to set up an appointment if you want to schedule. Then I walked to the door. She just made me so angry with her whole act that I just didn't care if she called or not. I'm sorry it was the last straw of the day"

I told him I didn't care. She was difficult on the phone and she was stupid to boot. I tried to explain things to her and she didn't understand anything.  Rick said, "I guess her looks have gotten her everything in life so she probably thought she didn't need to use that muscle in her head. But her looks are fading and she was trying too damn hard, made her uglier to me."

Ah and that's just another of the million reason why I love him. A man not fooled by a pretty face.

Throw Back Friday

As you all know on Facebook there is the TBT.
I posted this funny picture and my goodness the responses were a hoot.
I got emails from friends from high school who knew me at this young age and who were at this slumber party.
So I thought I'd share this funny with you all.
We'll call this Throw Back Friday instead of Thursday.

Let the giggles begin...
I believe this was 1970. (14 yrs old)
I think Slash stole my hat style don't you?
And those bleached stripes on my bell bottoms are a hoot.

Abuse

I posed this question on my facebook page.
I sincerely was asking. Only one person answered me and it is a person I've known for 25+ years who is a football fanatic. She lives Penn State football and Pittsburgh Steelers. 
Sadly that is her life. This made her quite angry. I should have known.

Here was my post:

I do not follow football. I have no interest!! But I do have a question to those that do. Why do we always hear about rape, beatings, murder, domestic abuse from a majority of football players more than any other sport? I realize it happens everywhere, but why so prevalent in football? Is there a reason? It has been said that this is now America's past time. If that is true, it says a lot about us doesn't it? None of it good.
__________________
Now this woman who calls herself a feminist, asks what is wrong with the woman who was beaten staying married to him?  Or worse being beaten while engaged and then marrying him.  (we are talking about Ray Rice if you live in a cave)
I ask, why does it always come back to the woman's fault for this mans horrific behavior?

I am a strong woman who would never ever tolerate that  - EVER.
It can be hard to wrap your head around the fact that there are women who do APPEAR to tolerate that behavior. But should they be to blamed?

Unless we live in their shoes (women) we don't know what is going on, why they are doing this.  I happen to believe weak women do a lot of things from fear, raised like this, no way out etc. 

Bottom line, no one should hit another, mentally or physically abuse another. Period. 
No exceptions to this rule. This goes beyond football obviously.

But back to my question. Why does it appear to be so prevalent in football? 
Sure there are horrible men in other sports as well. But you hear many more football players than any other sport for rape, murder and abuse. 

I'm seriously interested in the reason why we hear about so many football players more than anything.

My summer vacation.

It is so difficult to get back in the swing of things after a week long vacation.

Yes, I did work from the lake but my voicemail said I was on vacation and would get back to you within 24 hrs. So there was no constant sitting at my desk and dealing with mean people. No dealing with advertising and sales people.  My most stressful day was a day on the lake and it got cloudy.  I didn't want cloudy on my vacation damn it!  But fun ensued none the less.

The home we rented was a great location for the time of year we were there.
The cove the house was in was large and quiet. We enjoyed that.

(the view from the house)

But just leaving the cove you were in the middle of the lake by the most activity of things to do. So location was ideal. In the middle of summer I would hate it because it would be so filled with tourists and children driving jet skis who aren't old enough to drive. (pet peeve!)

The lower level of the home had a 90" TV. Sadly they didn't choose to receive an HD signal from their satellite company so what the hell is the point? We usually stayed upstairs and watched the 55" TV. Seriously into their TV size yet they had the worst television service. They had Direct TV. And each year I rent a home with Direct I am floored by how bad the technology is. It's like having a rotary phone vs a smart phone compared to my satellite carrier. Even their FF and Rewind buttons were antiquated. Very odd to me that everyone has Direct. I have a feeling if it weren't for the NFL package people would leave them in a heartbeat. Ya'll (yep i was in the south for a full week) don't know what you are missing in technology. Like going back to a flip phone.

And speaking of Dish. We have dish anywhere. What that means to us is that we can go out of town and watch the things on our DVR or our television live. Since Sunday night there was no Showtime we watched Ray Donovan, one of our favorite shows, on our tablet. No, you don't pay for this, it's free. See? You people with Direct are so missing out. We had a cable so we could put that into their tv and we watched it on their big screen. One evening when Rick and the dog had passed out on me I watched something on my DVR that is a show only I watch so I used the tablet and it was perfect. Love this dish anywhere app. Try it, you'll love it. (no i am not a paid spokesperson but I should be!)

Here are some moments of my week away. 

Rick staring into space. What is funny about this you say? He asked who the bald guy was when he saw this pic.

We really should have named her Shadow - she is never far from him ...ever!

There was a dog across the way that kept barking. It annoyed her. She would turn and look up at Rick and then look at the dog.  It didn't make her happy. (or us) Thankfully the dog was only there for the 1st weekend we were there. I prefer the peace and calm of the lake and no yappy dogs, and apparently so does Izzy.

One view of our cove from our chairs. 

We were driving around on the boat and saw this run down old dock. There must have been a house through the trees but we couldn't see it. This slide is what interested us. I think that would be a fun slide to use and a helluva drop. We considered pulling up and parking and trying it but then thought better of that. But we were tempted.

Here are some homes that we drove by. I love looking at all the pretty homes and well manicured yards. Ah, some day again....(wishful thinking) And no we did not drive by our old home either. Still stings a bit. That house in my cartoon header is mine. The artist drew it from a photo that was here on my blog. So very small in comparison to these right? But it was great while we had it.

 This one below is owned by the DeWalt's - as in the tools.  Think it's big enough? I like how the trees have grown up over the years to hide it a bit. 

This was wine Wednesday.

This was Friday Flashback.

Oh sure there was Tequila Thursday but no pictures were taken. Tanqueray Tuesday was a hoot too, but sometimes we were just living and no pics were taken. 

I got off my raft to get some food out of the cooler and Rick snapped this because he found this funny. Hey, I'm on vacation I can float and drink. No harm done to anyone doing that.
You think we may have to do AA and Weight Watchers upon our return?

Rick went up to the house for something and the dog and I were sitting on the boat waiting for him. She just stared at the stairs waiting for her "man"

Here she is staring at the stairs - I was sitting right next to her but who the hell am I?  I am invisible if he is around. 

While we were on the boat one day Rick realized he left his sunglasses up at the house. I remembered that after his eye surgery 10 yrs ago that he had to wear these huge sunglasses that he referred to as old men glaucoma sunglasses. I got them out of the glove box and he wore 'em. Better than nothing he said. Funny aren't they?

Because we were up on the north part of the lake a lot of things were new to us. Yes, after 15 years of vacationing there and having a home there for 10 years we still are finding new things. Our home was in the Southeast side of the lake. This house was on the far northeast side of the lake. This is an RV camp site and their "private beach"  (yes, that is Izzy's head.) Some of these RV's were enormous and their decks were wrap around. I wish I had had my long lens to capture them.

Izzy loves going after fish. She spent 4 hrs each day where she swam after fish the entire time. Stop only to pee and run back in the water. 4 entire hours. It was alike a babysitter. We sat on chairs or flotation devices and it was like we didn't have a dog - she was too busy with all the fish. This below are the minnows that she would jump at.  Oh how excited she was to see these minnows. She pounced like  a deer and she would use her front paws to try to grab them. It was something to see. But seriously for 4 hrs? We just laughed and let her go. We were sunning, talking, chillin' and enjoying not being at work! The water was 80 degrees and I loved it. Rick likes it colder. Not me, it was perfection.

This was Izzy the entire week, just chasing or retrieving a football. This wiped her out. She was so tired that after her dinner she was out for the night.

 They had these nice kayaks at the side of the boat house. I asked Rick if he wanted to go kayaking and his response was, "Have you just met me?"  So that obviously meant no, only on water with a motor missy.

Just a picture of the Wonder Dog cuz I like it - she was permanently wet all week. That's a lovely smell isn't it? Oh yea, wet dog. She got a bath the day we left. And boy was she ready to go home. She grabbed her football and went to the top of the steps and waited for us. It made us laugh. The pic is fuzzy, but I had to put it here. She slept in the car for the enitre 4 hr drive. And she has been sleeping ever since. I think I'll have an easy week. 

In the lower level family room of our rental home was this photo. I emailed the owner about something else and told him inquiring minds wanted to know....was he one of those guys in the pic of the 80's hair band?  He laughed and said he was the one on the far left. He is quite chubby and bald now so that is funny. Ah, it happens to us all damn it. 

 This is the RV site I referred to earlier with a bar and restaurant. We pulled up there one day and got some lunch. We didn't go to any of the fine dining establishments on the water. Only the dives and tiki bars. More our style on vacation at the lake in summer. (Only visit those in fall and winter)

 We had a wonderful week away from all the daily shit of our lives. 

But now back to reality, dieting, and no drinking. Need to get back into my clothes for heavens sake!!