Friday, April 16, 2010

Good morning!  It’s my cousin's birthday.  Yeah – today is her 50th birthday! I sent her a text message and all I said was “Happy Birthday!!” – I’ve got to be careful how much I make out of it – or she’ll pay me back come November!!    


When I got up this morning, one of my first priorities was to go get Rusty’s food and water and take it out to him.  I went on out to get the newspaper – I raised the garage door, retrieved it and lowered the door back down – and then put it on the den table so I could check it out over breakfast.  


I turned on my housemate's TV in the den; then took Rusty’s food and water out to him.  I found it a little cool out there at that time – since I’m wearing shorts.  Once I was done feeding and putting out fresh water for Rusty, I came back in and locked the patio down.  Then I went on to have breakfast and look at the newspaper.  


I’ve since cleaned up behind myself.  And, I realized that I had some stuff in the bathroom that need to be washed, so I could make a laundry load.  So, I went and gathered everything – along with the 2 polo shirts – and took them out to the laundry area and got a load started.  I decided I’m in no hurry today – I have to be at church at 4:00 PM, but I’m not going to get in a hurry to do anything and I’ll even try to take a nap sometime along the line.  


Okay, I had to pause for a few minutes and go check on the status of the washer.  It was nearly done – now I’ve got the load in the dryer.  The items I had in the bathroom that I decided to wash – well I’m going to be putting them away as they’re more “winter type” stuff.  


While I was washing – yesterday and today – I did check to see if the washer water backed up and out on to the floor.  It did this the last time either of us washed [that was my housemate] and she saw it “after the fact” and showed it to me and explained what had taken place and what to do if it happened again.  So, I checked for it during my loads and can tell her that I looked for but didn’t see any problems.  


Oh yeah – last night I opened Sukiey’s new bag of food – Iams Proactive Weight and Hairball Control – and began pouring it in the plastic container that I keep her food in.  Well, the cat saw me doing that and she walked up to the container and started eating directly from it.  At least I know that she likes Iams!  Anyway, I filled the container as full as I could get it and still had some left in the bag; I put as much as I could in her bowl but still had a little bit left.  So, I took the bag out to the kitchen and got a “snack size” plastic bag and put the rest of the food from the bag [it was 8 pounds] in it, then took the empty bag to the garbage can in the garage.  


And – included in the bag of cat food was a sample can of Iams wet food.  I no longer feed Sukiey wet food – I quit doing that soon after moving in here because she was making a mess.  She would bring her wet food from the bathroom into my bedroom and I would find stains on the carpet.  A friend had given me some spray bottle carpet cleaner to use.  I was able to clean the stains, but quit feeding her wet food so that I wouldn’t have to deal with this behavior.  


Anyway, I slipped the can of wet food out of the bag and up on the counter when Sukiey wasn’t watching, then later slipped it in my pocket when she wouldn’t see.  I took it out to the kitchen and opened the plastic bag it was in out there.  I found that there were coupons included for the purchase of both dry and wet food.  I removed the coupon for the dry food, but left the can with the other coupon under the pull tab lying on the counter.  I don’t want to bring the can back to the bathroom – I want to keep it out of Sukiey’s sight so she won’t raise a fuss wanting me to feed it to her; I plan to give it away if I can find someone who wants it.  Maybe I’ll bring it to Sunday School on Sunday morning and see if someone wants it for their cat.


By the way, I did check the battery charger and the 2 batteries that I put in there last night have fully charged.  I have put them in my camera bag to go along with me this evening to church.  I’m sure at this point (10:15 AM) that I’m not taking my purse with me.  I plan to, instead, carry my National Wildlife Federation “field bag” [what I use to tote my Bible and notebook and other gear to church on Sunday morning in] with me.  I don’t want to have to keep up with a purse.  I’ve already put my Bible that Stormie Omartian edited in there – some others signed it the last time the E-Women Conference came; I want Stormie to sign it this time since she’s headlining the Conference.   


I’ve also put a dozen blank [no lines on either side] 3x5 index cards in one of the pockets along with a Sharpie.  I want to try to get Stormie to sign them for some people.  I’m taking extras in case I have an opportunity to get some of the other people to sign as well.  I’ll have cash with me at the Conference, but I’m going to try to keep to a minimum how much I spend – if possible. There’s a pocket that I can slide my wallet down in; I will probably just leave my sunglasses – in the hard case – in the car since it’ll definitely be dark when I come back out.  


I have to remember to bring something with me to eat for supper and to pack my PM meds, since they said that we won’t have an opportunity to leave between the end of the volunteers meeting and the doors opening [meeting starts at 4:00 PM, doors open at 6:00 PM].  


I’ll pause here for now; I don’t know when I will have an opportunity to continue writing….

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Good evening!  Since my housemate is away, this morning when my alarm went off, I varied my morning workday routine.  When the alarm woke me up, I went out and took care of Rusty - I filled his water pitcher and his food container, then took that out to him so he could be fed.  


Once that was done, I went to take a shower and get dressed, then had my own breakfast and got ready for and left for work.  When I got there, I didn't know what to expect - whether one of my co-workers would show up or not, since he had to put his car in the shop yesterday.  But, he came in.  


I left early - took a couple of hours of vacation time - and stopped by my bank to cash a couple of checks I had received, then I went on and stopped for gas - paying $2.519 per gallon for it - gas has gone back up some and that's with my 10 cent per gallon discount due to a shopper card.  Well, after I filled up, I went to the grocery store and did some shopping.  I bought another Duracell charger and pack of rechargeable AA batteries, amongst other things.


Then I came on home and put everything away.  I had lunch - the last of the leftovers that we had grilled out on Saturday.  I also did 2 loads of laundry and got in a nap this afternoon.  


By the way, I did put the batteries in the new charger and plugged it in and have them charging now.  I've charged the other spare rechargeable batteries that I have in anticipation of tomorrow's E-Women Conference at First Baptist Church - Jackson.  It's tomorrow evening and almost all day on Saturday.  


I brought Rusty in the house earlier while I ate supper and spent some time in the den with him and watched TV out there.  I've since fed him and put him back outside.  


I was looking at something in the mail I picked up yesterday - an advertisement of a special sale from a store where I shop - and there was a coupon in there for 50% off of an item that I've been interested in purchasing.  I went online to see how much it was so that I would have an idea as to how much the 50% off would amount to.  The sale starts on Tuesday and ends on Saturday.  I've clipped out the coupon and will try my darnedest to get by one of their locations sometime next week and see about getting the item at that price.  


Well, this is all I've got for now....

Tuesday & Wednesday ~ April 13 & 14, 2010

Tuesday (4/13) was my mother's birthday.  Were she living, she would have turned 84 years old.  But, alas, she is not - she left us nearly 30 years ago.  

Work was an okay day for me - nothing spectacular.  I came home afterwards and my housemate was not yet home.  When she did come in, it was obvious that she had made a stop at the grocery store since she had a number of bags and items to unload and put away.  She asked me to make some adjustments to the freezer so that she could put some frozen items she had purchased in there.  I did that and she got her stuff loaded in.

Then she said she was going to go to the fitness club and get a workout/visit in.  She started to change clothes, but wound up only changing shoes.  While she was gone, I went on to read some of Josephus and then went on to bed before she got back. 

Wednesday (4/14) I got up and kicked off my morning workday routine; after taking a shower, getting dressed and eating breakfast, it was time to finish up and get ready to head out.  

My housemate was traveling again - this time to a conference related to her work.  She left me information on where/how to locate and contact her if the need should arise and also gave me a pair of tasks to complete:

• Give Rusty his Heartgard medicine
• Move the grill back up under the covered section of the patio in case we should have inclement weather

I said that I would take care of them.  I went on to in to work and had a good day - again nothing spectacular.  I was able to get some reading time in of Josephus so that I finished Book Five; I did start on Book Six, but haven't gotten very far with it.  

When I left work, I stopped at the post office and picked up the mail.  Then I headed home - when I raised the garage door my housemate's car was parked inside.  She had told me that she would be leaving her car at home and riding with a co-worker.  

I pulled in and parked my car, unloaded my stuff, then brought the door back down.  Before I prepared my supper, I changed clothes - from dress clothes to shorts - and then went out and moved the grill as I had been asked to and promised that I would.  I let Rusty come inside too - so that I could give him his Heartgard medicine.  I did that and put the sticker on the calendar so that my housemate will see that I have done that too when she returns.

Then I went on to prepare supper and eat; after I was finished with it and a phone call I made, I got Rusty's evening serving of food ready and took him back out and fed him.  I did some clean up and a few other things around the house.

Now I'm going on to bed....

Monday ~ April 12, 2010 ~ Part Two!

Alright, I'm back now.  Around 5:00 PM I received an e-mail from the E-Women group regarding the conference this weekend.  I did reply, as requested, to them to let them know that I had received the e-mail.  It gave instructions concerning what the volunteers are supposed to do, so I printed a copy to have as a reference.  


When I got home, I found that my housemate had not been home yet, but she came in while I was eating supper.  She changed clothes and left again to go to the fitness club to work out.  I was able to show her the certificate that I had earned for the class I took the last week of March - and I think she was impressed.  


Things are quiet now, Sukiey has settled down and Rusty has ceased being a "barking machine".  I guess that I will call it a day in a little while.  


This is all I've got for today....

Monday ~ April 12, 2010

Good morning!  Is it Monday already again?!  Yes – the weekend went by altogether too fast.  At the same time, though, I’m sincerely thankful to have a job when there are so many without them these days and my housemate told me last night that someone she knows and used to work with may be losing hers – that she learned that the company that the friend works for may be closing.   

She returned from AWANA to find me eating supper – more of the grilled out leftovers.  I was finishing up as she sat down with a plate of her own to eat.  Later on she came back to my room as I had pulled the CVS photo center website where she could sign up for a photo account and had it filled in except for a password.  When she came back there, I told her what I had and that I needed her to give me a password – so she did.  I went on to sign her up for the account, then wrote down the website URL for her and what password she had chosen – I told her that the e-mail address I had signed her up under was her work e-mail.  I logged out of her account and into mine and uploaded the photos of Bobby that I had taken to an album – showing her how to do it.  She said she wouldn’t remember – but maybe she could try at work if time permitted and if not, maybe tonight we could work on it on my computer since she would have to bring hers up and get logged in to get on the Internet and it’s a bit of a hassle.  

I went on to do a couple of things and then headed on to bed.  Sukiey settled in with me and I fell asleep sometime past 10:00 PM.  I did talk briefly to a friend to let her know that I would not have the class newsletter out until today sometime.   She said that was fine.

The alarm went off at 5:00 AM before I knew what happened – that is, it seems like I just went to sleep and it’s already time to wake up again.  I got up and kicked off the morning workday routine.  I took a shower and got dressed.  Today I opted to wear my new Clarks sandals – the tan (or whatever color) ones.  I had worn my black Clarks sandals to church yesterday.  

My housemate got up – she was in the kitchen when I made it in there and we talked briefly.  I fixed breakfast and ate while she returned to her bedroom for a little while.  I got finished and cleaned up behind myself, then went and finished getting ready and gathered my gear and headed out – I raised the garage and took the garbage can out to the curb.  Then I went on and got in the car and headed in to work.

I found one co-worker was here by himself, I relieved him and soon after my shift co-worker showed up, followed by our supervisor.  My co-worker has had a busy morning – creating print from data someone sent over – and I’ve gone behind him proofing them.  I suppose that I need to stop here and go take care of some things so I can head to church for lunch.  

I’ll continue later…..

Alright, I’m back now – I left  and went across the street to drop the items I had to mail in the drop box..  Then I called and talked with my brother while I was waiting for a co-worker to meet me.  I finished up the call about the time she showed up.  I told my brother that I had gotten those baseballs and got them signed for the boys.  

Anyway, we walked over to church and we met friends waiting outside.  One of them had invited a friend of hers from a bank to come and she was waiting and watching for her; the other friend was waiting with her.  When we arrived, that friend went on in with us.  She said that our other friends were already in there and were holding down a table for us.  We went on through the serving line and then through to the table.  I found that they had saved my preferred seat at the table for me – my  co-worker arrived about that time and she noted that Baptists don’t like having their seating messed with!   It’s not far from the truth!  The other friend and her friend arrived – seats had been saved for them, but they went to another table behind us.  Cyndi was the speaker once again and she had a good message.  Afterwards, we took our trays up front. 

I need to pause here for a little while….

I got a call from my classmate;  I had left her a voice mail that I had sent the class newsletter out; she called to acknowledge getting the message and said that she had reviewed it and it looked good.

Earlier this afternoon I received a voice mail from someone with E-Women – she must’ve called while I had the phone turned off when I was at FBCJ.  Well, I listened to the voice mail a couple of times – I had to in order to get all of the information she gave.  She wanted me to acknowledge that I received the message by either sending an e-mail or calling a number that she left.  I called the number and got someone's voice mail and left her a message saying that I was calling in response to a message I received from the person and that as far as I know, everything is “on go” for me to volunteer this weekend.  In her voice mail, she said that I would be welcome to bring something to eat with me to the volunteers meeting because there wouldn’t be time in between it breaking up and the conference doors opening for me to leave and go get something.  Okay, I’ll have to remember that – as I’ll need to eat something – even something small – to balance my PM meds that I’ll need to take while there.  

I think our high for today hit 81 degrees – that’s where we are and it’s 4:03 PM.  We’re forecast to have good weather all through this coming weekend and I hope that holds up as I think attendance at the E-Women Conference will be down some if there’s inclement weather.  

I have checked but thus far have not gotten a reply from anyone that I sent e-mails to with the photos of Bobby Richardson attached.   I’m figuring that none of the women have checked their e-mail and that one lady may not be in her office today.  Stan’s e-mail is filtered through his administrative assistant – who forwards it on to him – so when he gets it from her, I’m sure he’ll respond.

This is all I’ve got for now….

Sunday ~ April 11, 2010

Good afternoon!  It's nearly 5:30 PM as I'm getting a chance to add an entry....


I set my cell phone to alarm this morning at 6:15 AM and wake me up.  Well, I woke up a bit before that, but laid there till the cell phone actually went off.  Then it was up to start the day.  


I went and had breakfast; I read the newspaper - including a piece in the Metro/State section that my housemate had already found and pointed out to me.  It was entitled Ex-Yankee Richardson speaks today at church.  I found it quite interesting - since that's who was speaking today at my home church.  Here's the link to the article:


http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100411/NEWS/4110351/1001/news/Ex-Yankee-Richardson-speaks-today-at-church


I found it to be quite interesting, although the article needed to be proofed a little better.  I feel I can crticize that as I know that recently at work I proofed some printed materials and didn't catch a mistake - so I could've done a better job with checking the work.  


My housemate informed me that she was not going to attend Sunday School and Church this morning.  All the cleaning work we got done yesterday had agitated her back (she has problems with it) and instead she would watch last week's service on TV.  She had been out of town for Easter, so this would give her an opportunity to see it.  


I went on to take a shower and get dressed and ready for church.  I finished getting ready and gathered my gear and headed out.  I carried my purse, my bag with my Bible and notebook in it; I had added my camera and a spare pair of batteries - in the small case that I used to carry it in.  I brought it out and used it so that I wouldn't have to carry the large camera bag.  I also had a bag from Sports & Co. with the 12 pack of baseballs in it.  I had decided not to open the package until I knew for sure that I would be able to get them signed - so that if it turned out to not work out, I would be able to return them for a refund.  


I put my gear in the car and got in and headed out.  I made my way Downtown and parked in the CLC garage and then gathered everything and headed across to the Sanctuary.  I claimed my usual seat in there; I saw Stan - the senior pastor - and had a chance to speak with him.  I asked him about the possibility of getting some balls signed and he said that Bobby Richardson would be down in front after the service and I could meet with him then.  


Well, he went and brought Bobby Richardson out and they took seats on the front row on the right side.  I decided to see if I could get pictures then; a small crowd - just a few people - so I took my camera and walked up to the area.  I was able to get a photo of Bobby with Stan; I was satisfied and was walking back towards my seat when a woman got my attention and I went over to see what she wanted.  She said that her husband was over there with them and asked if I would take a picture of him with them.  I said that she would need to point her husband out to me, so we went over there and she got his attention and he posed with Bobby.  I got the picture and she and I went back so she could give me her e-mail address so I could send her the picture.  Then, as I was heading back to my seat with the camera and the piece of paper with her e-mail address on it, another lady caught my attention.  


I learned that she was a visitor who was planning to join the church and that she is a big Yankees fan.  She asked me if she might be able to meet Bobby.  I told her to come with me.  We went back over there and she was able to meet and talk with Bobby; she was so enthusiastic that I finally tapped her on the shoulder to ask if she wanted her picture made with him.  She said yes, that would be great, so they posed together and I got the picture.  I also got her e-mail address to send her the picture.  


By the way, I managed to get my picture with Bobby and Stan, too.  Then the service started and eventually Stan went up to welcome everyone to the church and to introduce Bobby.  Later in the service, when Bobby went up to the platform and began speaking, I took a couple of photos of him up there, then put the camera away and began paying more attention to his message.


After the service was over, I went up to Bobby to get the baseballs signed.  He signed a few, then when he realized that I had 12 [I had opened the package] he asked me to leave them with him and he would sign them and I could pick them up after the 2nd service.  Well, that's what I did - I left the bag with the balls in it in the Sanctuary for him and headed on to Sunday School.


In Sunday School I showed one of my classmates the photos I had gotten and told her about having left the balls with Bobby and that I would go back after class and pick them up.  


We had a good class; then I went back up and retrieved the balls - I was told that they were all signed.  I left and went to meet my classmate to share the balls with her.  We discovered that 3 were missing; I gave her 3 and kept 6.  I went back to try to find out where the other 3 were.  


I didn't find them; no one seemed to know anything about them.  Then I took a picture of another person with Bobby.  I got her e-mail address to send her the picture.  


Then I left and came on home.  After putting my gear in my bedroom, I went out and fixed myself a plate of the leftovers from yesterday's grilling escapade.  My housemate came out and sat down at the table with me for a few minutes while I ate and we talked - I asked her about how she was feeling, did she watch the TV broadcast and what she thought.  She answered my questions and then asked me about the service and about whether I had gotten the balls signed.  I answered those questions.  


After cleaning up behind myself, I changed from dress pants to shorts and then went and laid down and took a nap.  Afterwards, I changed to a pair of sweatpants because I found it a bit chilly in here.  Well, then my housemate and I decided to go sit out on the patio for a little while.  We were out there with Rusty enjoying the serenity when my cell phone rang.  


It was my Sunday School classmate.  She was checking with me to see if I had located the 3 missing balls; I told her that I had went looking for them but couldn't find them.  I said that I thought perhaps that someone had - without being seen - gotten into the bag and taken 3 of the balls, though whether they were signed or unsigned, I had no idea.  I thought perhaps it might be some kids whose parents weren't monitoring them.  I hate to think of something like that going on in church but unfortunately it does happen.  


She wanted to give me a list of prayer requests for her upcoming mission trip; I had to get up and come inside and get my note sheet so I could write them down as I would never have remembered them by the time I go to write the class newsletter.  I got the notes made but haven't done the newsletter yet.


Later on my housemate got ready and went to church tonight - since she's an AWANA volunteer - but I opted to stay home.  Before she left, though, she came to my room and I showed her the photos I had taken of Bobby Richardson's appearance today.  I had taken the time and uploaded them from my camera, but haven't e-mailed them to the people involved yet.  


I've got a Dateline special, Apollo 13: The Real Story, on NBC now.  It was 40 years ago today that Apollo 13 landed back on earth.  Matt Lauer is hosting this special.  


I must stop here so I can begin working on some other things....

Saturday ~ April 10, 2010

Hello again....


It's almost 11:00 AM as I'm starting today's blog entry.  I was up late again last night, but not as late as Thursday night.  I received a call at nearly 10:00 PM from a member of my Sunday School class.  She said that considering it was Friday night, she figured I would still be up.  She was right - although I wasn't far from going to bed.


She asked me if I had gotten the baseballs that I had told her I was planning to get.  I said yes and told her that I had gotten Rawlings balls in a package of 12 and she asked how much they cost.  I told her and then she said she had meant to get some as there are some males in her family and among her friends that she thought would like to have a signed baseball, so she would like to get the extra 6 from me if no one else wants any of them.  


I went on to bed after that and I went to sleep and slept in this morning - not getting up till about 7:45 AM.  When I went out to the kitchen for breakfast, I found my housemate up but still in her pajamas.  I said that I was being a "royal sleepyhead" this morning and she laughed and said she was too - she noted that she hadn't gotten up long before herself.  


I went on to prepare and eat breakfast and take my AM meds, then I went on and took a shower and got dressed.  Last night I had shown her an advertisement for a store at the mall - and that I had found something in there that I was interested in.  Well, we decided that we would go and check out the sale.  


She got ready to go; we left and we took both cars - as when she got through shopping, she was planning to go over to the workout facility she's a member of and get in the pool for a bit before coming home.  She said she is feeling so much better after the ordeal with her knee and ankle and that she thinks God may have been teaching her a lesson - not to take having 2 good legs for granted - after she saw the paralympic games while in Canada.


We met at the store and went in and found the items we were after.  I selected 2 polo shirts and chose the colors of bold purple and wilmington navy.  I looked at some other clothes but opted not to buy anything else.  Instead, I went on and checked out, buying just the 2 polo shirts and then leaving the store.  My housemate said she was going to do some more looking and shopping.  


En route home, I detoured on over to the post office and picked up the mail.  Well, you would know it - the check from the Tiger Athletic Foundation was in there today - when I won't be able to do anything with it till sometime later on this coming week.  


I came on home and hung the 2 polo shirts up in the closet, but I intend to wash them first before wearing them, so I'll wash them next week sometime - either Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.


I've played with Sukiey a little bit and she scratched me in a couple of places.  I went and washed my hands and applied some lotion to my hands.  I also put some Neosporin on one of the scratches in particular and then applied a Band-Aid to it.  


Well, it's around lunchtime, so I'll pause here for now....


Alright, I'm back now....


It's considerably later - I wound up having a busy afternoon and evening.  When my housemate returned, she found that I was just waking up from a nap.  It was around 2:30 PM.  


We got busy - did some housecleaning, vacuuming, and then went out and cleaned the patio.  I took the blower and blew off the patio floor where all the pollen and dirt had accumulated.  Then we got the garden hose cranked up and I hosed off the floor.  Rusty wouldn't move, so he got a little wet!  


Later, after the floor dried, we put everything back into place, then pulled the cover off of the grill and did a little cleaning to it and got it ready for use.  It was decided we would attempt to fire up the grill and cook out.  So, I went to the grocery store with a list and purchased a couple of steaks, some chicken tenders and ground meat, along with some grilling supplies.  I also got Rusty a new bowl for his dog food.  


I returned and mixed my marinade for the steaks, then let them marinate; we got the grill fired up and I cooked the chicken tenders and the hamburger patties that my housemate made out of the ground meat.  I also cooked the steaks until they were mostly done - but by that time the coals were cooling too much, so we brought them inside and I finished cooking them on the stove top grill.  


We sat down and ate the steaks and had a side of sweet potatoes and she had some asparagus.  Then we hauled everything in to the kitchen and cleaned up.  By that time we were both exhausted!  


And on that note, I'm heading to bed....