Pedi''s

Sadly a real conversation - 

Me - Hi, I'd like to see if Selena has any appointments available today after 4pm for a pedicure.

Salon - I can do 3pm with Bonnie.

Me - But I would like Selena, does she have any openings for today or tomorrow?

Salon - Someone can see you at 2pm.

Okay, can SOMEONE see me after 4pm? I asked about a pedi after 4pm

No. 

Can I try for tomorrow with Selena?

Sarah can see you at 11am for a mani and Pedi.

I only want a Pedi. What about Selena for a pedicure for Friday or Saturday?

I can do it for you tomorrow at 10a. Mani and Pedi.

So Selena is unavailable?

Oh, she working. Why must you have her?

Thank you for your time, I'll try another time.

Guess I'll go in and see what happens.

Honestly, people frustrate the hell out of me.
I know that English is not their first language but they understand me completely. Selena has even told me so. She is not American born either but she understands 100%.  She told me they all do but use it to their advantage. I'd say that was what they were doing here. 

Are there nail salons with people who are not Vietnamese?
I have never seen or been to one.

Never Again.

I don't often use Etsy.
There are a plethora of reasons. 
I find their policies, not to my liking, shall we say.
But that has nothing on the service I have received.
I have used them in the past and have always had a bad experience so that tops it all in my mind.

In the past when I have ordered things never show up.
You contact the seller and they lie and say it will go out on Wednesday.
I write back after 2 Wednesdays and ask which Wednesday do they think this will ship.
Years ago this happened and I asked for my money back.
Then I ordered something again - same situation, different vendor and after waiting for 6 weeks after being told it would be 1 week, I asked for my money back.

I wanted new pillow covers for the patio.
If you have outdoor pillows you know how much they cost.
Everyone kept telling me to go to Etsy.
Against my better judgment, I did.
I am still waiting. The vendor told me they would be shipping on Monday, June 24th and sorry for the delay. Well well, they didn't ship on Monday.
She is not responding to my emails.
That is it, never ever again will I do this to save a few bucks. 
Not worth it to me. 

If this is your business, then run it like a business.
You don't make promises you can't fill.
If you promised then write me back telling me what is happening so I don't think you are on the beach drinking cocktails with my money!

You don't take money from someone and tell them you'll do it and then never get around to it.  If they are backed up then post something on your page stating you are in a 2-week back order or some such thing.
I am so angry about this. 
Now I have to cancel and see about getting my money back.
It's been 2 months I should have them by now.

So when Rick showed me a link to a shirt he liked of the lake we go to I had to get it for him. But then I see it's from Etsy. Oh dear. He may never get it was my thought. Rick never shows me clothing of any kind that he likes, Rick never sends me a link in a text to show me the shirt he likes. That tells me he really would like this so I decided to bite the bullet and order it for him.

I ordered it on Monday and it was shipped today. Yeah.
I even got a note from the vendor thanking me, so this has been a  good experience with Etsy. Rare for me, so is there hope for those pillows to show up? Doubtful. I need to cut my losses.
I am now going to request a refund. 

It's Still Not Friday.

We are not big bath people at our house.

We both love showers. We have a big jacuzzi tub in our master that gets dusted and is a waste of space. If it were my forever home I would rip that sucker out and make the shower that size. So now I dust it and never use it except to clean the jets and the tub. 

When Rick works on tubs (and sinks) they use a lot of products that are marine grade. So like a boat, it can withstand the water - makes sense right? So when we saw this tub made like a boat we thought it was pretty nice.

As I said I don't ever take a bath. To me, it's just human stew. Ick.

But this would be a nice piece of art to have if one has the room.

I just thought it was very pretty and kind of cool.
So this too can be yours for 30K. 😊

I am feeling like today should be Friday and it's only hump day.
I am hoping to see Yesterday the movie this weekend.
It is a funny premise and I think being a Beatles fan I would like it.

A young neighbor who was walking her dog last evening stopped by and chatted with us and our dogs mingled. Her mom is friends with us and she is such a nice young lady. Pretty as all get out and she is so young and doesn't even know her beauty. I tell her mom this all the time and she tells me she doesn't want her to know. Boys flock to her and she is indifferent right now. But not for long trust me. She is magazine gorgeous and equally as sweet and nice, which is rare for a 14 yr. old.
She asked if we were going to the neighborhood carnival. We told her we didn't think so. We planned on going to see the movie Yesterday. She asked what it was about. I told her the premise and of the Beatles music.
I asked her if she knew any of the Beatles music.
She said, no but her Grandparents love them.
Oy Vay.

Amazon

How the hell did we ever live without Amazon?

We are having a couple of vendor issues here at work.
One of the products we use has more than doubled in price.
There is no way we can charge more than what we do for this add on.
But if we don't we aren't making a cent.

I was so frustrated yesterday when I found that the cheaper copy cats were shut down by the company who is now charging us double. 
Apparently, they claim to have a patent on this so the other company is just dust in the wind. 

When Rick got home I lamented about my day and struggles.
He said did you look on Amazon?
Why no I did not. I just don't think of Amazon for our work needs.
Sure enough, the company sells them on Amazon for a whole lot less.
I bought several of these gizmos. 
Is there anything that Amazon doesn't sell?
I ordered them last night. They will be here late today.
I know I'm supposed to just hate Amazon and Mr. Bezos (well I never will forgive him for that damn kindle) but I just can't hate Amazon.
It's too convenient and I'm lazy.

Speaking of gizmos, yes I was. We are moving to Gazoo's -
There is a guy on my baseball team that every time he's at bat my husband calls him Gazoo. I kind of see what he sees and it does make me laugh.
Here is a photo of the Great Gazoo. Yes, I am talking about THE Great Gazoo that Fred and Barney dealt with on The Flintstones.


Now for some reason, Rick laughs every time this guy goes up to bat and call him The Great Gazoo. 

 I don't see the resemblance but apparently, Rick does and he laughs every time he's at bat or at the very least he calls him The Great Gazoo. I am not getting it but it never fails to make me laugh. I'm easy what can I say.

In other news....we were outside last evening when Izzy was choking on something. Rick got down to help her and retrieve it from her mouth.
She got a blade of grass stuck the goofball. 
But now Rick is on the grassy knoll and I looked at him and laughingly said, "Need help old man getting up?"  
He said, "No, join me down here"  I laughed but I did it. 
I said I can get up, are you having a problem?
Izzy is loving us being down in the grass with her so she is climbing all over us.
Rick said, "I have no problem getting down here it's the getting up part."
I jumped up and said, "I'm younger than you, as I stretched out my hand for him to grab.  He said he did that to make me feel better. 

As we walked home he said, 'You know if there was something to lean on say, a bathtub, I could have done that with no problem.
I know I tell him (inside I'm shaking my head)
He continues, "In my mind, I can also do that run you talked about, but only in my mind."

Well, buddy, your mind is playing tricks on you.

Bump on the Head

Friday night we were out on our patio enjoying the nice summer evening.
Rick said, "Remember when you would get so mad when I left my socks at the end of the sofa after watching TV?" (when first moved in together)

Yes, I remember! Where did that come from?

I don't know just crossed my mind.

I HATED THAT. Every morning I'd pick them up and ask you why the hell you do this? You'd laugh and replied to me that you'd get to them.
I waited and you never got to them. More importantly, why do it?

I haven't done that in years.

Yes, you have.

When?

I tell him the date/time, the location of the planet and the moon and what everyone was wearing.
Yes, I knew. 

Why didn't you say something to me?

For some strange reason Rick, I now find it endearing.
You must have worn me down.

We both laugh.

I asked, hasn't my habit of leaving cupboard doors open become endearing to you?

He laughed for a solid 5 minutes. Gasping for air kind of laugh.
I did not think it was funny. He'd look over at me and howled some more.
He had tears rolling down his face. 

Ah, apparently, me leaving the cupboard doors opens is not endearing yet.  I'm gonna give him another 5 years, he'll get there. 
Enough bumps on his head ought to do it don't you think?

Long Day

And I rocked that scarf like Rhoda Morgenstern!

Rick's first job on Friday was at 8am and when he got there he saw firetrucks and all kinds of commotion. Their bathroom was not a priority at this point.

The homeowner was outside of their house watching their home in flames.

He went over to them and said I'm here but I don't think you need me. They actually laughed, I'd have been crying at this point. The male homeowner said, "I am not certain yet if I have a bathroom. So looks like you have the morning off."

Rick wished them the best of luck and left.

He called his 2nd appointment and the man said he couldn't meet him earlier and in fact, he wasn't even sure he could leave work at all today. 

Could he reschedule? Rick told him to call the office.  He did just that.

So Rick had a job at 8a that was to take him until 1:30 and then a 2nd job that took him until 6pm. 

Guess who is home working on the patio steps instead?

Yeah for us!  Not good money wise but it happens and part of the gig I guess.  I did try to call some folks for an earlier appointment but no one wanted it. 

We are currently having a cool spell for 3 days. It is only 80 today and very cool breeze and low humidity. Tomorrow a bit warmer but low humidity again.

Then the mid and high 90s will return. So if he can get this finished today in the cooler weather that would be so damn helpful. 

Every once in a while you get a break. I think this is ours.

Last night I was watching some things I had recorded on my DVR. 

Sadly for me there was no baseball game to watch for whatever reason it had me blacked out. So we began to watch something that was previously recorded. Got all comfy. Dog at my feet. 

Rick was in his big chair and here we go. We are about 5 minutes tops into this show and I say something smart ass-y to Rick. 

No comment back to me? Well, that never happens.

So I turn my head and he is already out like a light. Sleeping at 8pm.

I watched TV by myself with a sleeping dog and husband.

Later in the evening, I turned to primetime to watch Life in Pieces. (love this show and it only has a couple shows before it is off the air) 

I was wearing my new "earphones" and watching. 

There were 2 episodes back to back. I watched the 1st one and during a commercial break in the 2nd one I got up and filled up my ice water and sat back down. Flipping through my emails while waiting for the commercials to be over. Put my phone down, still waiting for commercials to be over. Next thing I know I awoke to the sound of a car crashing and the room was black. I was so confused for a second. 

I sat up and realized I was still wearing my earphones but the TV was off. I didn't know they worked like that too. Cool, but don't know why I'd ever need that.

I feel asleep and I didn't even know I was tired.

Apparently, the dog woke Rick, they went out for her final walk and then they both went to bed. Rick said I was sleeping so soundly he just let me be. I asked if he saw my earphones on my head. He said he did not. 

I just shook my head.

I went to bed around 11:30 and then couldn't sleep. 

What the hell is up with that? I tried. I even wrote a mental blog post which has now left my brain. But I refused to get out of bed.

I tossed, I turned, why is there no cool spot on this damn pillow?

Finally, I looked over at the clock and it was 4:58am. I hit the pillow and was out...until 5:14a when Izzy decided I needed to walk her. 

It has been a long caffeinated day!

oh yes, this would be me. 😛

Random Items

Do any of you watch Big Little Lies?
I watched season 1. These were some crazy women.
I did not care for them except the characters that Zoey Kravitz plays and Nicole Kidman. If I don't care for the characters I can't watch for long. Nothing here makes me root for them. (except Nicole's character)

The rest of the women are so awful.
They are not likable people to me.
The character that Reese Witherspoon plays is exactly how I have always pictured her to be in real life.
The character that Laura Dern plays is a shallow mean spirited narcissistic wench. And Meryl Streep's character is a royal witch with a capital B

After I watched Season 2 episode 1 and 2, I am not certain I am going to continue. Their narcissism bores me. Their whining about their money infuriates me. The secrets. All of it.  So I think it's time for a new show for me. I think this show could be so much better if written better but it's not.

If you watch it and like it, tell me why. What am I missing because this is so damn popular.
___________
Remember when I shared that I would like to go 100% gray.
Everyone, I mean to tell you everyone, tells me not to do it.
Won't look good on me. Will age me. (I'm already old) 
Not work with my coloring etc.
I was part of a facebook site that was supposed to be support for you to make the transition. A support group of sorts for women looking to make this change who would supposedly give you tips to help the process etc. 

I left a comment about my apprehension one day and asked a couple of questions.  I had my head bit off. I was called shallow, immature and a conformist if I didn't just do it. Well, well, so much for the support.
So I took myself off that toxic page to never return. Boy, these women were dreadfully mean. 

The meanest of the women was a frightful looking woman who I am certain is still a virgin and is 55 - 60 (Yes, I am now stooping to her level.) 
As she was spewing these things to me I was looking at her photo.
She was by no means remotely attractive and she didn't try to help herself either. So I am assuming she thinks because I wish to look nice or the best I can muster that I am shallow. Okay, shallow it is. But that doesn't mean you have to say all the mean things you said to me. You don't even know me, lady.

Now I am going to be mean like her and say what I saw online out loud.
Her photo showed her in your average Walmart shopper look, polyester pants too tight so we see the dimples in your thighs and butt, a top that looks like a lunch lady and no makeup with long one length white frizzy hair with no style. She is yelling at me when I said there are times when I have to present myself in a situation a certain way, I can't do that with 4 inches of roots showing. Let's say I am making a presentation, (which I just did in a networking event) all anyone would see and hear is my roots. I don't want to have that happen I said, any ideas? Hats, perhaps?   She went off on me.
She called me names, she told me I was stupid and on and on.
Gee, I may be stupid but what the hell kind of support group is this?

I read it twice to be sure I was reading this correctly. Everyone jumped on her wagon and berated me. I then decided that I was not going to be a part of this group and removed myself.  I can beat myself up, I certainly don't need help from strangers. Strangers who apparently don't understand that sometimes life gets in the way of your best of plans. Crazy huh? Now that is what I call a support group.  

In the meantime, I just have a white streak and the rest is chocolate brown. 

Rainy Hump Day.

To answer a few questions from yesterday.
I use my wireless bone conduction earphones for TV but, there are only 2 adults who live in my house. No outside noise to interfere.
So I do not have a screaming husband yelling at the TV Julie.
To drown him out you'd need full-blown wireless headphones to not hear him. (I'm sorry I find that amusing) 

For what I use them for they are perfect. 
They give me no grief when wearing my glasses. 
They do not fall off. I like that they also don't ruin your hair.  
I think they have their place, jogging, hiking, I've used them while doing housework. I have never had an issue with them falling off nor has Rick and he wears them while working some days. If I get a hearing aid I know this will be a godsend.

If you want music and you're not jogging etc, then you will want a full headphone over the head, noise reduction and yada yada yada.
Last night as Rick was dosing off I put them on and worked in the kitchen while listening to my team on TV win 6-3. I also listened to a show I had recorded earlier on TV and I could hear just the tv and just fine. But again no one was screaming in the background of my house so I'd have heard that too if it was going on. 

I have not used them on Gray's Anatomy and trust me that will be the real test. I will let you know. If I can hear that show just as well with these as the ones I wore over the head then I will let you know. That is the big test.
So there ya have it. You can always send them back if they don't work for you.

Now back to my hump day.

Rick saw this online and bought me this. He's crazy isn't he?

I told him they were all correct except number 3, it should add Old man between Grumpy and Man. 

This question is for Mike.

I found myself singing to Rob Thomas formerly of Matchbox 20 the other day in the grocery store. That is a sign of old age, isn't it? You know when your music is in elevators and grocery stores. 

3 Easy Payments....

Ever watch TV when you have insomnia?
Sometimes I read but that doesn't help me get back to sleep like TV will.
Then you flip through channels and find an interesting topic like new earbuds.  Yes, I bought them at 3am a few weeks back. 
Rick is thrilled I did. He's not making fun of me this time for my early morning TV shopping.

As I have mentioned here before some TV shows are difficult for me to hear.  Grays Anatomy is the one that started this. I could hear the music lyrics playing loudly over the scene but then I couldn't hear all of them talking. So, on came the closed captions, which annoys Rick to no end. Then came the big Bluetooth headphones. Until recently that is. 

We have big ole blue tooth headphones but they also cancel out hearing anything else. They are perfect for just listening to music and you just want to be surrounded by music and every note. Sometimes life doesn't always work that way though.

Rick has found there have been times like working he would love to have his earbuds in but he would be unable to hear if a customer asked a question with his back turned etc. His truck is old and the radio died a few weeks ago. He so misses his Sirius radio so he tried listening to it on his cell with his earbuds. But that makes him unable to hear horns honk and his surroundings and he doesn't think that is safe.

So imagine my delight at 3:00a when I saw this man hawking wireless conduction headphones called Trekz Air. I watched the video and while it made total sense, I am certain I can't explain it well. I am still amazed that they do work. They don't go in your ear. They go to the bone in front of your ear. It is all bone conduction. You can hear all you want from these but you still have the ability to hear a horn honk at your, my dog coming down the steps at 3am when I am wearing them. I love these suckers and you can answer the phone from them as well because they are Bluetooth.

I was convinced Rick would love them so I grabbed my phone to buy them and laughed at loud at myself. I am officially that old lady who goes online to QVC to order them because this is so cheap and at 3am no less. I think they retail at $149 a piece. I paid less than $60 and got 2. See there, something good came from insomnia and pain. 
I was awake to discover these bad boys.

And of course, you get the QVC, "3 easy payments" which makes me giggle. It's just Layaway for all your shit.  But they send it before you finish paying and take a payment from you monthly. I used that once on a big ticket item. But that night I could swing the low cost of the new "head" phones.

Rick is attached to these little things. He never stops wearing them. He likes them because he can be hands-free in his old truck for his phone. He can listen to his music and still hear his surroundings. You'd think that wouldn't make for a pleasant listening but it really does. 

Now for audiophiles, I am certain you need to have a good pair over the ears to hear it all. These work for all the other occasions.

Two weekends ago when my cousin was here she saw Rick's Trekz's lying on the coffee table and she asked about them. She was so damn thrilled because she has hearing aids in both ears leaving her no ability for ear buds at all.
She could wear these now and she was like a little kid. 
She asked how much they were. Yep no longer on sale at QVC and Best Buy was $199. Some places $149, same as QVC. 
So I told her next time I have insomnia and I see them on sale, I will order her a pair and she laughed.   

I find because my head is smaller than Rick's I have to wear mine a bit different. I also have read some reviews that were negative on Amazon. 
But they complained about the music and not hearing it like you do on headphones. Duh. They also would complain about fit and being more adjustable. I agree with that one!

These are not for an audiophile or anyone who just wants to hear all the pieces in the band. But these don't sound awful either. Great for a runner I would think.  I also saw a review of a man who had never heard stereo because he had 100% blockage in his ear canal. This allowed him to hear this for the first time. The review was on Amazon and it was powerful. I told Rick and Mr. Debbie Downer said, it was probably the kid who works as the janitor at Trekz Air.  I refuse to believe that. I am in my own Pollyanna world thank you very much.

I received a text from my cousin last night telling me she went to QVC online and paid the regular price and did the 4 easy payments. She asked, didn't you tell me it was 3 easy payments? Yes, but that was the sale price. She said it was just thrilling to think she could get something to work with her hearing aids. She was like a child getting a gift at Christmas. It was so cute to hear her be so excited.

So the next time everyone teases me for my 3am shopping, I will tell them I am helping people. You're welcome. 

In case you wish to see a review. And to think I get squat for this. Maybe I should contact them for some $$ 

Monday

We all survived the weekend.
I won't bore you with the details because they bore me.
Nothing new with her and it was stressful for us all, even the dog.
Rick and I both feel as if we have a stress hangover this morning.

She is a heavy feeling for me. She exhausts me. She is arrogant, knows everything about everything and of course you don't know squat. 
Rick was telling a story about work and she stopped him and said, "well you're wrong that is not how it's done." 
He said, "oh enlighten me,"  I thought oh she went and pissed him off.
He is so much nicer and calmer than me but I know that comment was him about to take off. 

She said, "Well I don't know how to do that sort of work but I just know that isn't how it's done." 

He again said, "then tell me why you don't think it's right, help me out so I can learn."  

He was being dead serious and quite nice but I felt the tension. 
She said, "never mind. I know what I'm talking about." as she walked up the stairs to her room. 

Now a normal person would say, I've never heard it done this way. Can you do this and that and make this instead? 
No, she always comes off telling me, or whomever we are just wrong.
She knows everything about everything. She enlightened us on finances, mediumship and the spirit world, my tumor in my eye and what it was and how to cure it, her father's diet or what he should be eating, my home decor and many more. Apparently, since we do everything wrong and ugly I am amazed we are both standing. 

She was whining about the money she got from her divorce. 
I said you got a lot of money A.,  be thankful and just move on to bigger and better things. Don't dwell on him, don't look back.I bet you've learned a lot that will help you moving forward. 

Her response? "Yep, I learned to pick locks successfully so I got what I deserved."  

Being evil step mommy I asked, "did you?" 

"Well no, but it pissed him off so it worked to a degree".

These are things I would not be proud of but boy she is.
She got 40K for her downpayment on her new home.
She paid off her fancy volvo which wasn't cheap.
She put some in the savings.

She makes a living of 60K a year. She was just promoted at work and will be making about 10k more. 
I wear my Peggy face the whole time and let me tell you that too is exhausting.
I smile, I nod a lot, I walk away and make food just to not deal with her.

As Rick said at one point in the weekend. She says nothing positive.
I asked how the wedding was. She said it was okay.
I asked her if she had spent much time with the groom, what is he like?
She said, "well, I like him better than I did originally."
That was the most positive thing she said all weekend.
If she didn't look like Rick I'd make him do a DNA test but she has absolutely NOTHING in common with her. Oh wait, they both love crab. So there is that I suppose.

Rick and I worked on the deck on Saturday morning/afternoon while she was at the wedding. Because Rick still has the steps and landing to do we were at least able to get things back in place.

It was so nice because Saturday night before she came home Rick and I could sit on our patio and share some wine and just be us without the stress.
We put together planter boxes, planted some flowers. Moved furniture and area rugs, power washing etc. It's getting there. Now it will be too damn hot to sit out there.

I was sweating bullets on Saturday. We have nothing but full sun back there.
I thought I'd turn on the outdoor fan. It has a mister but I didn't need the water, just the fan.  When I did hit the button to come on I didn't realize Rick had turned off the fan and left on the mister. I am standing on top of this fan when I reached for the power. It blew water and fanned me at speed 3. It almost blew me back a foot or two. I was now drenched.  Rick heard me yelp when I was surprised by the water and fan hitting my face. He came out of the garage and said, "what did you do? Entering a wet T-shirt contest are ya? I'd say you win."  (idiot.)

I was drenched as though I took a shower in my clothes. My hair was dripping in my eyes and I was wearing my contact (in my bad eye) I was so wet, but guess what I wasn't hot anymore. Rick, of course, found it all so funny.

By the time we were calling it quits for the day I had dried out completely.
This weekend Rick should be able to finish the steps and we're done.
Yipee.
I knew all the great cooler weather would be gone by the time we were done.

After next week's completion (see how I am saying that positively?) I will take some photos to show you the new deck. I know we will have a few things left to do but it will be done for the most part. Just aesthetics won't be done. You won't mind now will ya?

Tub Stud

I know I know you thought with that header name this would be a different sort of post. Nope talking about work today or I should say a teeny bit of Rick's work.

We get a ton of calls for just a chip repair. People say everyone wants to do the complete tub, but it's a brand new tub. Or it's new enough and doesn't need a full reglaze. So we do just repairs. I have seen how difficult this is. Guys who can do a tub can't do this. Of all the people who have worked here, only Rick and Gary could do flawless repairs so they got them all. 

We have been told each time someone calls for this type of work that we are the only ones who say they can do this. But they still have big concerns about how it will look. Our policy is if you are not 100% happy then we will remove it, you're no worse off than when we got here and you owe us nothing. When they hear this they figure they have nothing to lose. 
No one has ever not been happy. Rick was not happy one time and refused to charge them. He had a very difficult time matching the color of their tub. He was not happy with the look. He told them he couldn't do it, they came into the bathroom and were thrilled. Rick wasn't so he didn't make them pay. They gave him food, a tip, and a nice review. He was fine with that. They even called me, remember they think he is my boss, and told me how nice this fella was and they thanked me too. 

When a customer is out of town we take photos before and after for him to see the work he is paying for.
Friday morning we had a man in NJ who has a condo he rents. The tenant who just moved out left a chip in the porcelain.
He called and asked for this to be repaired. He was so adamant about not doing the whole tub. I kept telling him it can be done, but by few. We can.

I imagine doing this from far away is a concern. 
They don't know that we will show up on time, do a good job and worse yet we have their credit card.
So I go out of my way to give them some comfort.

This morning Rick did the following repair.
With the exception of poor photography, the work is good.
The tub actually looks like a different color in the 2nd photo.
I text Rick after I saw the photos that he really needs to be as good with his camera as he is his work. I said you were standing in a different spot so the light from the window changed the color, didn't it? He laughed and said how did you know? Like I'm blind. Only in one eye buster.
I also mentioned the shadow of his body over this. His response? Pffft!

I sent the photos, the paid receipt, care sheet and asked the man to call me if there were any issues. I swear I just hit send and he called. He was so thrilled with the work. He kept saying, you can't see it. 
Then we've done our job, sir. 
He thanked me a few times and of course, I asked for a review.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that he was in HR sitting at a desk for 20+ yrs and only doing this blue-collar stuff for 13 yrs. So there ya go.

Here is the Tub Stud's nice work on just a simple repair. Took 3 colors to make a match. 

]

here is the other bathroom...rust hole on bottom left

 

 where's the rust hole?

Friday, Friday, Friday

It's Friday and I am thankful for that. We've had a cool spell and I am diggin' it. Today will be the last of that though. 70's good, 90's not so good. 

Rick's daughter is arriving sometime today.
She left Columbus yesterday and went straight to her cousin's home who lives a few towns away from me. She stayed the night at her house last night.

Her cousin's wedding is tomorrow. Amanda is the maid of honor.
She'll bring her stuff here and then get ready for rehearsals and rehearsals dinner.
Then early tomorrow she'll be up and off to a hotel with the bridal party for makeup and hair and the pictures.
Then the wedding and reception.
We figure she'll roll in late.
Sleep most of Sunday and hopefully, we can at least do brunch or lunch for fathers day before she leaves. We'll see.

Basically we are just a hotel this weekend and honestly, that is fine with me.
She is not easy to deal with so her not being here much is just terrific to me the evil stepmommy. 
Her father and I have had a very tough and exhausting week.
She brings us stress. She is 39 and spoiled. Not by us. We didn't have much influence because we did not get to have her live with us. Only visitations and even though they had a schedule he would drive 2 hrs to pick her up and her mother would say I changed my mind she is not going and slam the door in his face. If he rang the bell it would be ignored. He even called once from the corner store. She wouldn't answer. An argument would begin between the two of them and then Rick would drive the 2 hrs home angry, sad and miserable because he wasn't getting Amanda.  Oh, the stories of that woman.

You know it's funny. I too am divorced from my 1st husband. I did not have children though. But I can't imagine ever doing what her mother did. She said for her whole life that her father was bad. Her father was this or that. As a child, she would tell us this. Her mother went so far as to tell her that her father killed her dog. Can you even fathom that? What a horrible person. And just so you know Rick could never do that period. But he didn't even have access to the dog who was 2 hrs away. 
Her mother must have taken the dog somewhere (we have no idea or she had it killed we don't know) but Amanda came home from school and she was probably 9/10 and she asked where her dog was? Her mother told her her father killed it. She balled her eyes out I bet. Who does that? Did she get a kick out of watching her daughter in that kind of pain? 

She never told us this until she was 18. She said she was mad at her dad for years but then as an older child she asked about the dog and her mom would never give her straight answers and she began to see some things that we were thankful she came to on her own.

I loved my ex-husband I just didn't want to be married to him. That love doesn't die. Not in love, but cared about him. Yes, he slept with a friend and I hated him for it. But if it hasn't happened we'd still have gotten a divorce. We were miserable and too damn young to have gotten married in the first place.

After the dust cleared I felt as though if I loved this man enough to marry him how do I learn to hate him? And I never did hate him. I took a different path. I hated what he did to me. We were only 26 when it ended. Too young to even have been married for so long. He apologized at the time and then again 30 years later. I was happy in my life it was over, I didn't care. But it was nice that he did that.
But my point is that if I had children I would NEVER EVER say anything bad about their other parent. I would never marry someone so awful that I could hate them. It's not me. But telling a kid your other parent killed your pet is so awful I can't wrap my head around it. That really is fucked up to do to a kid. Rick never said anything bad about his wife and there were times when I wanted to say something to her a few times when she said something so wrong. I wanted to scream that isn't the truth.
But Rick said he wasn't going to stoop to her level. His hope was that as an adult Amanda would see what her mother was like. But she is her mother now. She is vindictive, mean and must have her way at all times. She is not a nice or thoughtful person and I can't even begin to tell you how much this breaks my husband's heart. He keeps trying but she doesn't. It's hard to watch. I am just evil stepmommy and I have been since she was 7. This year on my birthday I got a card. First card ever from her. I was shocked. I made a fuss to her so she realized I appreciated the thoughtful gesture. We buy her gifts and never hear about it. I send thank you cards. Rick normally will end up calling her to see she got it and if she liked it. 
We usually get, yeah I got it, it was nice. End of story. With all the enthusiasm of an inanimate object.

But let's end on a high, Our niece who was raised by my mother and father just got engaged. Everyone is thrilled. This man gets her and I love seeing that. 
He loves her to pieces. He lets her soar and he supports her in all things. I love them together. 

We all knew before her sadly, because her boyfriend asked my mom first. (dad was in hospice at the time) She was excited and told some of the sisters like me.
I couldn't wait for it to happen. It did 2 weeks ago. She called Rick and asked if he would walk her down the aisle since her "dad" just died. 
OMG, It made Rick cry. He has such a special place in his heart for the girls my parents raised. When they were born we lived in the same town and we had them all the time. ALL.THE.TIME. 
We wanted to adopt them as I have said here before. This one would ask Rick if she could call him Daddy when she would hug him. They adored Uncle Ricky as they call him. Ariana is a tiny little thing and a former gymnast. As a 4 yr old, she would ask Rick to hold out his arms and stand still. Of course, Rick listens to a 4 yr old and does it. She would climb him like a tree until she could sit on his shoulders. 
But the two of them have always had a special bond. This request made the big guy so happy but as he said, "Damn now I must lose this belly!" 
No, he won't. He can't last longer than 3 days on a diet that man.
I don't think it will matter to Ariana if he diets or not. She just loves this special man and he loves and adores her.