CAUTION: Woman In Progress

I'm so very sad today. So, so, so very sad. I'm trying not to think about it but it's just never very far from my mind. It is my very last day to work with my very bestest friend. *sob* For nine years, Mrs. B has been my friend, my therapist, my cheerleader, my shoulder to cry on and an all around wonderful person to be around. I can't imagine working here without her. Honestly, sometimes she's the only thing that's kept me from totally losing it here. AND she's one of the ONLY people in my face-to-face life who gets me. She doesn't judge me. She supports and encourages me and never ever makes me feel small or insignificant. In reality, I know I'll see her again...even if I have to track her down in the Noxubee swamps! I'll see her again. The friendship will never go away. But, it'll be different. I won't see or talk to her every day. There won't be anymore longer than allowed coffee breaks. No last minute lunches just because...

My sweet little Devil Pup turned four Saturday? We celebrated with pancakes and a five hour power outtage. She'd never felt so special, she said.

Ya'll probably don't know this (because I got sneaky and scheduled my posts ahead of time) but I was on vacation all last week. Or, stay-cation, as the case may be. ;-) I meant to mention it before I left, but life is so nuts... Since my supervisor is retiring at the end of this month (2.5 days from now!) I decided to squeeze in one last week off work before she leaves. Technically, I can still have personal leave after she's gone, but it'll be a big stretch and strain on the rest of the department if one of us is out for more than a day. So anyway, I took the week off. Started out kinda shaky. I think I thought I was cursed there for a minute. lol The Saturday before Father's Day, I got a flat on my way home from cleaning the church. Thankfully, Daddy was nearby so I could call him to come change it for me. (Happy Father's Day, Daddy! Come change this flat!) I hated to bother him, though, because it was around 10:30am and hot as blazes ou...

I often ask myself this. Why do I blog? Why does anyone? For me, I think it's mostly because in the real world (as opposed to this "fake one?" lol) I often don't get heard. I open my mouth, (fairly coherent) words come out but is it truly considered speaking if no one hears you? And not to say that I have a broad audience on the web (hi all four commenters!) but I know that at least four people love me enough to actually hear at least SOME of what I say. Can't say the same for the 100's 10's of people I pass by or speak to face to face every day. And for as little as I seem to have going on in my life, it's nice to have a place I can come to and over share my thoughts. I can get gritty depressed and moan or get all giggly and stupid and rave over Zachary Levi and I don't have to really worry about how silly or pathetic anyone thinks I am. I mean, y'all might roll your eyes or mutter under your breath at me but I can't see or hear you! ...

You know, people are always talking about their lists. You know the lists. The people they'd get a free pass to sleep with if they ever actually met them? Ross and the gang all had one on Friends. Most of the people who make it to these lists are super sexy-- traditonally sexy. People who would never actually sleep with you free pass or not. Well, I have a list. Maybe not of people I'd sleep with. My list of more like a list of men I'd date if they were available and liked chubby girls. Or, maybe it's just a list of men I find attractive. Some of them probably aren't what many would call traditionally sexy or attractive. Some of them leave a trail of smoke. It's an eclectic list. Wanna see my list? Well you're gonna anyway. In no particular order (after the first one!) they are: 1. Zachary Levi . What? You HAD to know he'd be top choice! He's so totally yummy. Not to mention that I have this habit of drooling over him on this very blog. ...

Ever heard the phrase, "I can't see through muddy water"? I used to get that a lot when I was a kid. It's what Mama always said if I blocked the TV. Daddy always said, "Get outta the way!" But anyway, meet my muddy water. Ain't she cute? If I'm lying on the couch not paying her any attention, this is what she does. The ottoman is in perfect bocking angle. See how gleeful she is? That adorable little smirk is all that saves her from being tossed on her rear. Well, that, and I'm too lazy to actually get up and move her.

Back when I first moved out on my own (eons ago), I was fresh out of college, had a brand spankin' new job and was renting a cute little house at the lake. I also had no furniture and very little of the things I needed to get started in life. Including, NO MONEY! lol Fortunately, I was very blessed by a plethora of generous family and friends. Most of my first home was furnished by hand-me-downs and yard sale/thrift store finds. My very first washer and dryer were even given to me by my former pastor and his wife. In fact, they gave me a great many useful and appreciated items. While I've replaced several pieces with new stuff over the years (the washer and dryer bit the dust about four years later, sadly) a few of the original hand-me-downs remain. My dining table, a couple of chairs, some lamps. Remember this chair? It came from my pastor and his wife some nine years ago. I had it recovered back in February. I was so taken with the transformation that I asked my friend ...

A year ago today I sat in a lawyer's office, strangely calm, and signed away the next 30 years of my life. Daddy sat beside me, migraine and all, and when it was over we went to the house I now call home and started making plans to make it truly mine. But ya'll already know all that. ;-) Hard to believe it's been a year, though, huh? I went from sheer hell to sheer bliss and it's already been a year. I look back at the eight years before I moved into my home and they all seem like a lifetime ago. I can only vaguely recall the misery of the lake house--the septic problems, the non-working heat and air, the MICE. (Blech!) And while the apartment is a little fresher in my mind, it too, feels sort of like a vague image in my mind. Sort of like a nightmare. The busted pipe in the backyard that took three months to repair, the leaky roof that never DID get repaired, the noisy neighbors, the traffic, the neighborhood kids...Definitely a nightmare. But I don't look ba...

I'm not as proficient with the floral and fauna names as Trixie  has become lately, but this is a perty bloom from a tree in my yard. Or maybe it's a bush. But I think it's a tree. Too tall to be a bush. I really can't say. Either way, it blooms all summer and adds a nice pop of purple to my yard. :-)

So, I'm back on the weightloss bandwagon. I know. Here we go again. But I won't bore you with all the details. Actually I was going to bore you with all the details. But then when I went back to read it for editing my own eyes started glazing over and I thought, "Meh. Nobody cares about it that much." So I deleted it. You're welcome. This week is dragging. Probably because I haven't had a bagel all week. (Gah! It all leads back to food, doesn't it.) Anyone else watching Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family? I've watched the first two episodes and I still can't decide if it's boring or not. It's kinda "meh." I wouldn't cry if I missed it. But it's a decent way to pass time. And I'm still trying to figure out how Holly Marie Combs is old enough to portray the mother of a 16-year-old girl. I mean, I guess it's possible. She's a few years older than me, I think, and if I'd followed in the tradition of ...

Totally. Whatever. Awesome. Awful. Hillarious. Oh my gosh. These are a few of my "favorite" words (or phrase, as the case may be). And by "favorite" I mean, o h my gosh, I totally use them so much its awful.  But hillarious or whatever . Awesome . What words do you catch yourself using more than is cool? Or is your vocabulary totally more awesome than mine? ;-) Sad but true: Apparently I say the phrase "Oh my gosh" so much that Lyssa has started saying it all the time--in context, complete with appropriate tone and facial expression. Sis2's ready to skin me alive. Awesome.

Yesterday was Mama's 57th birthday. Ya'll. My mama is FIFTY-SEVEN!! And I distinctly remember when she was closer to the age I am now and how OLD I thought she was back then. lol Fifty-seven is YOUNG! :-D So Saturday we all (except for Sis1 and Emmy) congregated at the folks' house for a "party." And I put party in quotes because we don't really have parties. We just look for excuses to make Daddy cook delicious things on the grill so that we can eat. We throw in cards and cakes just to make it look legit. Since I have apparently lost my mind spending too much time on PW's Tastey Kitchen, I put myself in charge of making the desserts. I baked a chocolate pie(!) and a dozen mini-carrot cake cup cakes from scratch! (I used actual carrots and everything!) I've never made a cake from scratch. And never made a chocolate pie before either. I was sure they'd be total disasters. But everyone raved. Wish I'd thought to take pictures. Instead, m...

In case you couldn't tell, that there's a turtle.  She's colored up all pretty, too.  She was hiding near the bush in front of my house one morning last week. Just sitting there while the Devil Pup and I scooted past her several times. The DP never even noticed her. She's even less observant than her mother. Which is saying a LOT. LOL Anyway, last night was a rare treat for me. I went out with "the girls" from work. E's kids are spending the week with her parents so she's been a free woman.  Initially she wanted to go see a movie after supper but I was a killjoy and told her I couldn't. Not that she and the rest of the group couldn't go without me, but I think the rest of the group threw me under the bus and let me play bad guy. lol No one else wanted to go. Not that I didn't want to go. But, you know, I live 45 minutes away and wouldn't have gotten home until nearly 10. On a weeknight? Not such a good idea, actually. So we just...

This has been one one the most agonizingly slow weeks of my life. Ugh. It doesn't help that I just haven't felt good this week. Not that I feel bad either. I just don't feel good. I'm so tired, for one thing. And for another, I may not survive this book shifting project I've been doing for the past several weeks. I go home so exhausted that I can't hardly move and I've had nose bleeds twice this week, presumably from all the dust. I'd wear a mask but those things smother me. :-/ The weekends offer no real rest, either, as June is booked solid with work, family gatherings, holidays and stuff. July's not looking much better. Actually, July's probably going to be the beginning of a hard few months. By then my supervisor will be gone as will my best friend at work, Mrs. B. She's retiring, too. Have I mentioned that? I can't remember. I'm going to be an emotional wreck without her. She's the only thing that has kept me sane for thes...

I made these a few weeks ago for a friend who was moving into a new place.  They are 8x10 canvases painted royal blue and decorated with white and purple ribbons and jeweled buttons. A simple and fun project. I actually made some ribbon art like this for Lyssa a couple months ago but I forgot to take pictures. :-( Hers were 11x14 canvases painted pastel green and decorated with pink satin ribbons overlayed with pink and purple floral ribbon with a band of purple daisy ribbon accompanying it. It's a lot prettier than it sounds. Next time I'm over there, I'll hafta remember to take a photo.

Forget McDreamy and McSteamy. Who needs hot doctors when you've got magical McSucker? Ain't he sexy? He sucks up dirt and doghair you never wanted to know you had, with grace and relative quiet (compared to my old vac.) And he does it all for the low low price of $39 with $.97 shipping.  A rare, beautiful and exotic creature, McSucker. Except... When he's done, he expects a deep tissue massage, a mani-pedi, an iced tea with lemon and the last of the good chocolate. Demanding little creature, McSucker. He's bagless which means you get to pull out his cup (dirty!) and empty it after each use. And clean the foam filter! And clean the inner filter! And clean the upper filter! Which means, kids, you get to play with all that dirt and doghair you never wanted to know you had. And then you get to clean all that dirt off your garbage can where it puffed out. And you get to clean it off the flipflops you'd left at the foot of the garbage can.Then you get clean off all t...

One bright spot to this dismal Monday? My Mr. Mastercard balance is finally below $8,000!! (Yes, you read that right. *sigh*) By a couple hundred dollars, actually. And it only took a year of no charges and paying $10-$20 over the minimum payment! So, by 2035 the dang thing should be paid off, right? Right?!! Ugh. (On a [fun] side note, I just did the math and in 2035 I'll be 56. Joy.)

I'm so not motivated to actually do anything. For one thing, its Monday. Mondays aren't a great motivator to get up and work. Mondays ARE great at motivating me to be cranky, eat whatever I can get my grubby hands on and generally snarl at the world. For another thing (in the interest of oversharing) I'm completely PMS'd. Being PMS'd isn't a great motivator to get up and work, either. Being PMS'd IS great at motivating me to be cranky, eat whatever I can get my grubby hands on and generally sob at the world. And also, I'm feeling unloved and unappreciated. Definitely not a great motivator to actually do my job. Why am I feeling this way? Other than being PMS'd? Well, because when sending out a library wide appreciation email to everyone who helped with GenFair (the genealogical fair we held this week at the library), my supervisor did not include me in her appreciation. She thanked everyone by name. (Never a good idea when it's more than ...

Mmmmm...Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and coffee. Thursday night pancake nights rule. Thanks, Jen, for the head's up on using Martha White muffin mixes to make pancakes, too. They're supper easy and tastey delicious. I made these chocolate chip pancakes with Martha White Chocolate Chip muffin mix. Last week I made Strawberry Cheesecake pancakes. Next week? Definitely gonna be Orange Cranberry, if it's in stock when I go shopping. YUM! Also watched a movie last night. Meryle Streep's It's Complicated. I figured it would be a cute movie, judging from the trailers. And it was. But it was fairely awesome, too. Funny, emotional, sweet and at times, silly. But it also had a lot of heart. And with the fabulous Meryle Streep, how could it not? But also, (and I'm almost a little embarrassed to admit this) Steve Martin? Kinda hot. I've always thought he was sorta charmingly cute but something in this particular role pushed him over into kinda hot. Who knew?!

So, what's been going on? Craziness? Anybody else exhausted? Just me? Dang. I honestly can't tell you what all's been going on. A lot of nothing, actually. Well, that's not entirely true. But it doesn't feel like much. Since I can't even remember Friday it can't have been all that exciting. Oh wait, it's coming back to me. Friday...yeah. Friday I left work early so that Mama could go shopping for Paw-Paw H's party. And since shopping with Mama is one of my least favorite things to do, I had her drop me off at Sis2's house instead. Lyssa and I played with play-doh (or, Make, as she calls it. "Let's make, Aunt Jana.) She made her fingers while I goofed around making nonsense. Actually, I did make a hand and then attempted to make a foot but when I realized it only had 4 toes, I gave up.  We also colored and drew people on her chalk board. My portrait of Libby was so atrocious even Lyssa couldn't muster up any encouragement. And sh...