I'm Sad

I'm sad this morning. Yes A is leaving today to fly back to California and I'm sad. It has been fun having her here and I will truly miss her just jabbering away while here. I forget that she talks non-stop sometimes, so much my ears actually hurt, but I love her and will miss her. Last night B came over and we grilled T-bone steaks, baked huge potatoes and steamed fresh brocolli and I had to have blackeye peas a couple of days early. It was delicious and we had a nice time together. While sitting down to dinner it occurred to me that it had been a very long time since it was just the four of us at the dinner table sharing a meal. Brought back tons of memories. I'm really sad today and feel on the edge of tears. This has been such a rough holiday season with all the ice storm stuff and Christmas and her here and him sick and "sob, sob, sob". I'm just tired and want to forge ahead to the new year. I don't really do New Years resolutions anymore because I always break them, especially when it has to do with weight and diet stuff. But I will try to list some I think I might accomplish.

1. Read more than 20 books in 2008 (21 in 2007)


2. Finally clean up "my room"


3. Organize the office with the help of B


4. Plant a vegetable garden


5. Clean out the guest room closet


6. Clean out the pantry


7. Start that novel

There that should work for a starter. Some fun things, some things that might not get done, and some work stuff.

We are going to the cabin after we drop A at the airport. There is a big New Year's potluck dinner with a few of the people, actually 30 of them. I don't know how a little 4 couple potluck turned into 30 people at my house for the main course but it has. At least all I have to cook is a turkey and have paper plates and cups. Man! Happy New Year!

On a side note: A got me the neatest book for Christmas. It is "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die". Very cool and I will try to use this as a semi-basis for my list of reading material for the year 2008.

A ReCap

It is Saturday morning a couple of days to the start of another year, 2008. I am sitting on the sofa enjoying the morning sun coming in the windows and giving a false sense of warmth. I know if I step outside it will be bone chilling.


I actually slept till 8 am this morning which I don't do very often but I think I'm trying to stay healthy as The Hubby has been sick and so has B. The house is quiet, too quiet as The Hubby and A have both left for "things to do, places to go, people to see." I'm going to enjoy sitting here typing on my new laptop and writing in my journal.

A has been here for almost 10 days and we have enjoyed having her here. She is 22 years old now and has grown up a lot, I think. She has not left a mess every where she has walked by and that is quite refreshing. She even stayed with the MIL for a couple of nights and she MADE HER BED before she left. That has NEVER happened with her. It has been good for her to be here as she has had a hard time living in California so very far away from family. She has always been a huge family kind of girl and not having us close is taking a toll on her. She is also trying to deal with making some decisions in her life that we may not necessarily approve of and she so wants our approval. She is living there with her beau who is 37 years old and that has her father on tilt most of the time, but you know what she is really happy with the guy. Her problem is wanting us to approve and be happy for her, that is what's making her crazy. She has so much tension in her head she is grinding her teeth in her sleep. I told her she has made this life decision and she is happy so I'm fine with it. She needs to get a grip and make her life out there and not be stagnant. Get a good paying job and make her life. It's hard for me, a very old fashioned kind of gal, who has been married for almost 32 years, who's parents and grandparents were married for 50 years, but times are different and I accept that so move on girl.

Now I will go on with the year in review:

January
Marked 31 years of marriage
Got to see Chris Botti in concert (one of the things to do before I die)
February
Daddy cataract surgery
March
Marked 1 year since my dear friend Gail died so very suddenly
Would have been Momma's 71st Birthday
Bought my little red Mazda Miata
Made the decision to travel to Paris (one of the things to do before I die)
April
Nothing but driving my little red car and enjoying the arrival of spring!
May
We hosted the 10th Annual Flashlight Collectors Show (we did the 1st too)
June
I turned 51!
Two family reunions!
I went to Lake Austin Spa by myself. (one of the things to do before I die)
I flew by myself for the very first time.
July
One year anniversary of the passing of my dear sweet momma "I Love You Too Baby"
August
We weathered the worst ice storm in history at the cabin in January to have the
wettest Spring and Summer in history at the cabin
September
B came to work for us part-time and then her guy B2 came to work for us full-time
(Yeah time off!)
Celebrated the MIL's 80th birthday - Great lady
October
Bought the wedding dress!
The Hubby and I left for Paris, Normandy and London, my first excursion outside
of the United States (one of the things to do before I die)
November
Usual Turkey day stuff
December
Worst ice storm in Tulsa history (I think Oklahoma too). Power out at our house
for 9 straight days, MIL stayed with us for 3 of those days, The Hubby sick,
A home for the holidays, Work, Work, Work. Bought the building!

My Christmas Present and more!

My Christmas present finally arrived. During the horrible ice storm my laptop finally took its last breath and died. I was at a loss as I love to blog in the evenings. I had to start doing counted cross-stitch again. So last week I got on the net and emailed back and forth with our nephew (the resident computer guru) and he helped me pick out the one I wanted. It was originally supposed to arrive today at the office as I knew someone would be there. Well, Monday I received an email from the shipper that they tried to deliver on Monday at the office of which was closed for Christmas. ARGHHH! The email said it would re-deliver the next business day. Well what do you think would be the next business day! Wednesday, right! I waited all day long yesterday for the shipper to arrive. Finally around 2:30 I called and they said that it wasn't even put on the truck for delivery. (This is me hitting my head on the desk, BANG). So I sat and waited all day long for the delivery truck to show up and it finally did about 2 today. Yeah!

We've also acquired another new kind of toy, or at least The Hubby has. He has been beside himself to purchase some property for a place to store some of his toys and to maybe work on old cars and on and on and on. Whatever. Yesterday we purchased an old building that was an auto mechanic shop for probably 50 years. It's smelly, greasy and we bought the contents too. It's just a huge toy box for The Hubby and I'm just glad I don't have to clean it up. It will give him something to do. I know when to hold my tongue because it will be my turn for something sometime too.

Things Change

This year Christmas is so very messed up. B of course has her new guy and so they will be gone for Christmas Eve and morning (our usual family gathering). Christmas Eve we usually go to on of the nephews house and have his side of the family do-dah and it is still on but the other nephew is going to drive back to Olathe, KS that night so their little girl (1 year) can wake up to Christmas in her own house. Then The Hubby's brother and his wife are driving down to Ft. Worth so his wife can be a part of her kids and grandkids Christmas. So that makes the Christmas Eve shindig, which has been legendary cut quite short. So Christmas morning we wake up and look at presents and can't open. Then we get in the car at 2:45 and go to my Daddy's to have Christmas with my family. Then we again drive to the other Brother-in-law's at 6pm for dinner. I guess we will come back her after about 8 or 8:30 and finally have our own family Christmas. It is just so very messed up.

On top of all this mess A is home and the tension is a little thick. She has "issues" with her father and I'm really tired of hearing about them. Get over it and move on with your life. God, you could stagnate your life with the "issues" you can have with your parents. It doesn't help that he has been sick and a bear on top of he is usually a Grinch during Christmas time. It's not his favorite season but it is mine. He hasn't had time to go shopping for me so he sends out A with my list to do it for him. Uh no. So I shopped for myself. I got the IPOD adapter thingy for my car which is really a sucky attachment but that's OK I'll make due. Then my laptop crashed during all this ice storm stuff. It had been coughing and chugging along for a bit now and he kept telling me to get a new one so I did and he doesn't even know it yet. HaHa. I get if Thursday or Friday. I have to use his computer to do this stuff or the one at work but I need my laptop to write. The words move faster in my lap without him watching over my shoulder wondering when I'm going to be off of his computer. Whatever!

I did get some baking done yesterday. I made Aunt Rose's Cookie Bars (my Aunt Rose), pecan pralines (a mix) and my Momma's famous White Fruitcake (not your ordinary fruitcake). The fruitcake is sweet and lemony and white cake not bitter like some fruitcakes. You are guaranteed to like this one.


So today my laundry is done, presents are wrapped, baking is done, the kitchen is clean and I have time on my hands to read, cross stitch or whatever I want.

The phones are quiet

The big rush since the horrible ice storm has finally died down. Today the phone has only rung 3 or 4 times and the calls are not for broken weatherheads, downed services, broken meters, or generators. It is peacefully quiet. I thought The Hubby, myself and B were going to lose our minds. The phones were non-stop and we really couldn't help too many people. Now The Hubby has to return a whole lot of calls about permanent stand-by natural gas generators. That takes a lot of smoozing and knowhow from The Hubby to sell one of those. The Hubby worked himself so hard and long that now he is very sick. I thought he might have pnemonia and even the minor emergency doc thought so too. He did an x-ray and said no but he feels and looks like crap. His mood or ability to deal with people (including close family) sucks.

Today A will arrive for a 10 day stay and I'm a little apprenhensive. The Hubby and A have a tenious and rather antagonistic relationship. We haven't set eyes on her since July and last night The Hubby got an automated call on his cell phone from her car insurance company and she has let her policy lapse and she was supposed to take care of it, which she didn't. Well, he called her and started on her about responsibility and yada, yada, yada. I know, I know she needs to be responsibile but he also needs to quit paying for it and let her suffer the consequences. His voice was almost to the point of screaming with frustration at her and when he got off the phone he remembered he needed to talk to her again. He asked to use my phone (closer proximity) and I told him that if he was going to yell at her again I would call her. He was like "what do ya mean". I told him that if at 22 years of age my father yelled at me like that I would NEVER speak to him again. I just cannot tolerate that kind of non-respect he gives to her. I know she messes up but she has to learn and she is taking the bumpy road not the easy road to life and she needs to learn without him yelling and saying "I told you so." That does absolutely no good, and he should know as it doesn't work for either one of us. He of course spouted off that I was much more mature at 22 than she is and that is true in some ways but it was a total different era, our kids are raised much different that we were raised, and we have done it ourselves. It's absolutely our fault and the society we live in. I have a problem with parents still messing in their kids lives even at college, calling their professors and taking care of all their needs. When they get out in the real world they have no idea how to take care of themselves. They don't know they need car insurance, renters insurance, house insurance, medical insurance, paying income taxes at the end of the year and what's this about saving receipts. We have totally neglected our kids and the little tiny things in life they need to know. That is where I think they need to teach some of that stuff in school. I learned a lot about it in school myself and about money. Kids today are just given money, money, money and they have no concept about what to do with it exactly, except to spend it.

Boy, I'm on an tangent. Sorry for ranting.

I'm really excited to see my little girl and she so needs to see us. She is going through some stuff and needs this time at home.

Power Up

I went out with the Jazzercise girls tonight just to get out of the house tonight and was exhausted with the thought of coming home to a dark house again. I knew that we would probably would have power by tomorrow night but I had just about reached my limit. I just knew it would happen because the tree trimming demons were in our neighborhood and took a great swath out of our 80+ year old oak tree today. Well, as I turned the corner of our neighbor the most exciting sight I have ever seen came into view. After 9 days of darkness I saw Christmas lights twinkling on houses in my neighborhood. As I neared our house our Christmas lights were on, my Christmas tree was lit up and every light in the house was on. Oh my God I was screaming in my car as I punched the garage door opener and the door went up. We have POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 9

Well, day 9 and we are still powerless. It's not too bad with the generator but we only run it 12 hours a day. I'm just tired of no blow dryer and heaven forbid that I try to put makeup on with a flashlight or by candlelight. As far as we can tell it may even be just before Christmas before we have power. #2 daughter is arriving on Thursday and she will have to stay with the MIL if we are not up and running. The phones at the office are still ringing off the wall but at least it has slowed down some. I feel sorry for those we are just not going to be able to help. At least I was able to get my car out today, just had to have my jaw deadened by the dentist, yuck. Tomorrow I have to drive out south to the car dealership to get my Christmas present installed...an IPOD hookup in my car. I should be finished with the Christmas shopping then too.

Power When?

Well the PSO website says that our area will not get power until Dec 18. EGADS!!!!!

Day 6

Saturday, Day 6 without power. I'm writing this from the office as we have power (since yesterday) and now, today (YEAH) the Internet. We are still without power at home, so Day 6 there. It is a little like camping but I vowed to never camp again. It's not too bad but I'm having major TV withdrawl at this point.



I'm just glad the telephone at the office has settled down. I don't know if I could stand one more day of crying women and men and the temper tantrums of some of our customers. Some people (with a little money) and power at their houses are just oblivous to the trials and tribulations of the "common man" during all of this duress. "Can you send a guy out to finish putting the blank plates on my receptacles because we are having all these people over for Christmas and need it to look good." Oh My Goodness!!! What is wrong with people. We have our 10 guys out in the field working as hard as they can in the elements trying to get people ready for when the power comes back up. People are desparate for this and are frantic and here we have people calling who's heads are in the clouds. #1 girl and I have been taking phone calls non-stop since Monday and it is just exhausting. Today as I sit her the phone has stopped but the guys are still out there working even though they have damage at their own houses as do we. We have probably lost the two HUGE birch trees in front and the 80 year+ old oak in the back has been severely damaged. I guess I'll get the sun spot for a garden I've been wanting.

A Quick Note

This is a quick note as we have to take turns turning on and using different appliances to not trip the generator. Yes this week has been utter HELL! We lost power 6pm Sunday night just in time to miss Amazing Race. Then we listened to the limbs snap, crackle and pop as they fell and crashed all over the house. It was absolutely terrifying. Then what I thought was thunder and lightening was actually exploding transformers. The explosions vibrated through the fireplace and made it groan along with the crashing limbs on the roof. We have a permanent standby generator sitting on a concrete pad next to the house but have been way too busy to install it so we are using a small gasoline powered one. Yes, The Hubby has been in a little hot water over that one. The next morning we knew we would be inundated with phone calls at the office for electrical service but could not even fathom the depth of the horrendous castrophy. We have a permanent standby generator at the office but it was coughing and chugging and we knew it was having a problem and Tuesday night it finally sputtered it's last sputter so we found another gasoline powered one that only allowed the heat and phones and one light on in the office. So I sat and answered the phones and did counted cross-stitch. I have listened to people cry, beg and plead for help. #1 girl didn't come to the office for two days so I manned the phones all by myself and it was awful and exhausting. The Hubby had to go and get his mother as her power was off and so she stayed with us until today when her power came back and I'm truly going to miss her. She is quite wonderful and I enjoy her company. Well, I've got to get off and save the generator, our lifeline to warmth.

Get a jump on the holidays.

This is from an email that The Hubby sent me...enjoy!

Tequila Christmas Cake Recipe

1 cup water 1 tsp. baking soda 1 cup sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 cup of brown sugar Lemon juice 4 large eggs Nuts 1 bottle tequila 2 cups dried fruit Sample the tequila to check quality. (I already sampled it.....several times to check the quality) Take a large bowl, check the tequila again. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point its best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try Another cup...just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the frigging fruit up off the floor. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something. Check the tequila. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the tequila and wipe counter with the cat. CHEERY MISTMAS!

Plan of Attack

My Plan of Attack for the Holiday Season...

• Get Christmas out of attic DONE
• Go through recipes to decide what to bake
• Go through pantry and see what I have, need or replace
• Christmas cards, personal and business
• Fax out company Christmas Party invites
• Bake, Bake, Bake
• Write a few letters of the year in review (much better than last year)
• Go shopping (YUCK!)
• Wrap the stuff I shop for
• Convince #2 daughter that she is not going to die on a flight home, JUST GET HERE! DONE
• Buy champagne (sparkling wine) for Christmas morning mimosa's

Maybe this is enough of a list for now.

Sunday

It is 9:22 am Sunday morning and here I sit in the Tulsa home. I wish we were at the lake sitting in the lake house but this weekend was full of stuff. Next weekend I will be there relaxing and reading.

Yesterday I actually slept in till 9 am. That is absolutely unheard of for me. Since I get up at 4:45 am M-F for Jazzercise my body just can't seem to sleep in so yesterday was a luxury. WONDERFUL! It also helps having the new bed, which I love. The Hubby has finally gotten used to it, but for a week he had a back ache, and this was his idea. It's cushy and reminds me of sleeping in my Greatgranny's feather bed when I was little.

I finally got around yesterday and got dolled up for a tea but it wasn't until 3:30 so I went to BA to visit Daddy. It was lunchtime so I stopped by Taco Bell and picked up a couple of taco's for us to eat since I know he skips lunch all the time. It was nice and I ended up spending about 3 hours just chatting with him and watching TU get beat. He is pretty much deaf and the hearing aids just minimally help so I have to shout to have a conversation over the television. By the time I leave there I usually don't have a voice. He gets so lonesome since Momma has passed. He just sits there most days and watches TV or plays games on the computer or mows the lawn. We three (siblings) can't seem to get him to get out and join a senior group to meet more people. He gets out more than he lets on though. On Sunday's he goes to his old high school bud's house and they have coffee and watch football for several hours. That is something.

I finally left for the so-called tea and once there realized it was much more than a tea. She had ham, green bean casserole, dips, and desserts. It was a full meal and in my head I thought, "So much for cooking dinner." I had planned on chicken gizzards and chicken livers but that would have to wait for Sunday (this is one of our favorite meals). Here is the downer of the afternoon...I was sitting at the kitchen bar area chatting with one of the ladies when another lady came up behind me and got into the conversation. The topic was the loss of her wonderful mother 4 years ago and how hard it has been, blah, blah, blah. The other lady I was originally talking to then piped up with how to deal with that when talking to people because she had a neighbor who lost her best friend a few months ago and she didn't know how to approach the lady. Well, readers if you have not read my blog from awhile back I will update you. March 2006 my best friend suddenly died and then July 2006 my mother passed away. Needless to say the conversation was horrible. Then to top off the event the hostess wanted to thank everybody for coming and wanted to thank everyone for being there for her and her mother during the crisis and near death of her mother. OK!!! That topped off the afternoon. I was almost in tears at that point. Sometimes I think I'm okay and something like that makes all my hard work of moving on for naught. The lady who's mother died four years ago moved on and the original lady of conversation looked at me and asked if I was alright. Apparently I was not but I very nicely told her. I had not intended to go into it but...well, I had to. I left shortly after that and headed home to the peace and quiet of my wonderful home.

Today I plan on getting Christmas out of the attic and just hang out. I need to get a game plan on for baking and decorating and shopping, which I am NOT IN THE MOOD FOR!