"I love you more than a bandana..."

I had another date with Jed today. Having let him choose the place we would eat at, we started on our way to Pizza Hut again. It’s very important to him to have a schedule, so I laid out for him what the afternoon would entail. “First, we’re going to Wal-Mart to drop film off, then we’ll go to eat, then get a car wash, then maybe some grocery shopping, and then back to Wal-Mart to pick up the pictures.”

“Sounds like a plan,” came from the back seat.

On the way he was showing me the new Bible Jill had let him use today at church. “Oh look - here’s a map of Israel,” he said. “How’d you know that?” I asked. “Mommy told me,” he said. “I kind of pretend to read chapters, because I don’t know how to read yet. Don’t let me forget to bring my Bible into Pizza Hut, and I’ll read you a chapter.”

We dropped the film off, and started for Pizza Hut. Once there, he called Grandpa & Nana in Nova Scotia for a quick (and I do mean quick - that child does not have a love affair with the phone) chat, and then he opened his Bible to “read” to me. He got out “God is good,” before he decided that maybe I should read. After a bit more encouragement, he flipped through the pages a few more times, and then put the Bible up so he could dive into the croutons I had gotten for him from the salad bar.

Aunt Lindsay being sleepy after a lunch of pizza, I asked him if he wanted to drive on the way home. “No,” he wisely said, “The police guys might stop us & put us in jail.”

On the way back to Wal-Mart to pick up the pictures, I said, “Guess what, Buddy? Aunt Lindsay loves you.” To this he replied, “I love you more than a bandana. I love you more than a cow-guy loves his wife.” I bet that's a lot!

This dairy thing...

So this morning was "Donut Day." Since I'm trying to not have dairy for a week, I abstained from my weekly iced coffee (because it has lots of yummy cream in it), and got an orange juice. And instead of getting a Boston Creme donut, I got a bagel.... but completely spaced it & got chive CREAM CHEESE on it. Didn't even realize it until I was several bites in. I was like, "Oooh - this is so good... so creamy & tastes like cheeee..... OH SHOOT!!"
While I howled about it, Evan said, "I was kind of wondering what your thought process was, not getting cream in a coffee, but getting cream cheese."
Sigh... it's hard to be me!

Random Thoughts from this Blogger's Mind

* I am the happiest housekeeper right now. I just spent two hours cleaning & it feels like home again!

* With great pride today, I wore a scarf of my own making! And was GLAD to show it to anyone & everyone who walked by

* The stars are incredibly bright tonight. As I took my walk I wished that I knew more about constellations & whether the brightest lights were stars or planets.

* How ‘bout them Patriots?? All of New England is holding its breath to see whether we’ll be lucky enough to have winners in both baseball and football this year.

* I’m so glad that the full moon is passed! The people that call at work are ten times crazier at this time of the month.

* Did I tell you I’m going to a Josh Groban concert?? February 10th! Can’t wait.

* I’ve been sick for quite awhile, so, at the advice of my sister-in-law, I’m trying to cut out dairy to see if maybe I have a food allergy. Have you ever noticed how every single yummy thing that there is to eat has dairy in it??? I do not love this!

* Today when I got out of work, it seemed almost balmy… and it was just 10 degrees! Do you know why it seemed warm? Because it had been way below zero when I left for work this morning. A jump of over 20 degrees helps every time.

* I got a call at work this week from a woman who was married to James Bond. I wonder how tired she gets of saying, “Yes - that’s right, James Bond.”

* Working with diagnosis codes every day, I see some weird ones. Did you know that there is a diagnosis code for “Injury involving space craft?” Wonder how many doctors have had to use that one...

If it's expensive, it MUST be cool!

Why is it that the things that people pay big money for, and are billed to be exceptionally relaxing, are, when you stop & think about them, really very strange?

Take for example, pedicures... Someone sitting at your feet, cutting your toenails, sluffing the callouses off, trimming the hair on your big toes & then putting wicked smelling paint on each nail. Heavenly?? Absolutely! That is if you don’t stop to think what’s being done to you...

Have you ever heard of ear coning? Or candling, as some people call it? At a salon, you can pay $60 to have someone stick a foot long cone (made from cotton dipped in beeswax) into your ear, light it on fire, and “smoke” out your ear wax. (Or you can just go to your local health store & buy the cones for $12.49 & go have a party at your friend’s house... What?? How would I know this?? Ummm...)

And here’s another one. Pay someone exorbitant amounts of money to pummel your muscles until they’re more sore than you can handle, call it a deep muscle massage, and you’re in with the “in” crowd.

Or have someone tie a shower cap on your head & start pulling strands of your hair through it with a crochet hook. Sounds like some sort of torture from “Alias,” but if you pay lots of money to have it done, its not torture, its HIGHLIGHTING!

I don’t think the person who said, “What price beauty” meant only monetary pricing. I wonder if they’d gone through the humiliation as well...

Let it snow, snow, snow!

There is snow everywhere! The wind has piled the white fluffy drifts over half way up my front door, and church is cancelled. I haven't heard any cars go by today... just the plows. We already have well over a foot & in reading the weather, I see we're expecting another 4-6 inches today.

When Evan called this morning to tell me about church being cancelled, he said that they're having a little service at their house around 11 if I want to go. "Yes," he said, "you can wear comfy clothes, just no pajamas." How nice is it to have the pastor be my big brother??

Greetings from the Land Down Under...

...and no, I'm not on vacation in Australia. I'm right here in New Hampshire, where we're considerably "down under" ZERO DEGREES! This morning it was +1, with a wind chill that made it about -15 & tonight Jill said it was -8. Don't even want to know what it was with the wind chill! I can hear it howling around the windows. Enjoyed from the warmth of the inside, that's one of the coziest sounds ever!

Can't think of an original title...

On Friday I got a call at work, and the lady was extremely upset! She ripped me up one side & down the other before I could even say that she was in the wrong department & I couldn't do a thing to help her. When I finally got a word in edgewise, and informed her of this, she said, "And I just yelled at you for nothing. Forget transferring me to someone else, I just want to talk to your supervisor."

About an hour later I got an email from the "supervisor" (there is a specific queue of reps at Oxford who take calls from the irate callers who ask for supervisors - they aren't transferred to our real team leaders) who said that the lady had asked that she follow up with me, because she had "not been very nice & ripped me out & wanted to apologize."

Perhaps my faith in human kindness & decency isn't quite dead.

Disturbing Jewels

Heard this fact on the radio yesterday on the way home from work.

Did you know that you can have the ashes of a loved one made into a synthetic diamond? That, to me, is highly disturbing!


"Will you marry me?"

"Yes,".... (sob) "Wow, what a beautiful ring!"

"And its extra special, Honey! Its my Great Aunt Hilda & she was a fantastic cook. I figured if you wore this, perhaps her mantle would fall on you double-fold."

Parable of the Frugal Shopper

Last week I was in the Gap & saw the most precious scarf. Having just spent too much money during the Christmas season, I decided to refrain from buying said scarf. I thought about this scarf all week. It was just so darn cute - kind of a pinky/coral color with ribbon threaded through each end, tied into little bows that just made the whole scarf ultra chic.

And I decided that I needed this scarf. So, I went to the mall last night. I walked into Gap & found lots of scarves. There were chartruese ones with bows, cream ones with bows, even red ones with bows, but no pinky/coral ones with bows. Mine had been sold out.

The moral to this parable.... buy what you want when you see it, because it might not be there the next week.

"And that," said Lindsay, "is that!"

Just another work day...

Today I spoke to an angry man on the phone. Any different than other days at work? No. I talk to upset people every day I'm at work. The only difference was, the man today decided to verbalize his angst against my place of employment. Having informed me what his issue was, he then stated, "I probably shouldn't say this on the phone, but if (the specific department that he was angry at) receives a letter bomb, they better not look at my account."
You're right, buddy. You probably shouldn't have said that. "Our company takes threats of that nature very seriously. I will now disconnect the call & follow up with my supervisor. Good bye."
Sure - I don't think he's sitting in his house constructing a device to send me to Heaven, but it did make me feel exceptionally uncomfortable. Who knows if anything will come of it. Sometimes the police get involved & show up at our threatening member's homes to advise them that what they just said wasn't the smartest thing ever. Sometimes the issue is just dropped.

And people wonder why I pause for a minute when they ask me how much I love my job...

Snowglobe

It's so beautiful outside. I feel like I'm living in a just-shaken giant snowglobe. For a NH winter, we've had very little snow, so it's still exciting to see snow falling.
It's snowing outside, the furnace is working, it's Saturday, and I have friends coming over this afternoon. How much better can life get?

Thermostats & Such

Life during a NH winter requires a working thermostat & furnace.

When I first moved up here, the furnace in the house where I live was a little tempermental & there was more than once that I woke up to a house that was down around 40 degrees. My fish even kind of froze to death that first winter.

The next winter was better, with the furnace only going out a couple times.

And then we got a new furnace this summer! Good things were happening... in the big house (that my little apartment is attached to) but not in my apartment. Then last week Evan figured out that it wasn't the furnace that was making my house so cold... it was a faulty thermostat. So, he removed it, leaving two (very chic) looking wires hanging out of the wall. After a quick lesson from my favorite electrician, I was able to cross the wires to make the furnace go on, and uncross them to make the furnace to turn off. Great plan... if you don't take into effect the blonde-ness of the resident of this apartment!

In the morning, I would get up, cross the wires to get the house warm, and then uncross them before I left for work. It worked splendidly for a couple days... then Tuesday came.

It was cold Tuesday morning, so I crossed the wires & got ready for work. I just forgot to uncross them before I left. I got home from work Tuesday night (having worked a nine & a half hour day, so I was gone for almost 11 hours) and opened my door. I was met with a BLAST of heat. "OHHHH NO!!" I shrieked, and ran over to uncross the wires. Now, because I had no thermostat, I couldn't tell just how hot it was in my house, but I bet it was over 90. I picked up The Cuteness, and her fur was hot. I changed into a pair of jeans, and they felt like they'd just come out of the dryer. I picked up the phone to call Evan & the plastic on the phone was hot.

I'm certainly glad I wont be at the meeting that the church (my landlord) has once a month to discuss finances. I wouldn't want to hear the discussion about why the oil bill was so high this month, and what on EARTH happened that one Tuesday where we burned countless gallons of oil & all the snow within an eight foot radius of the apartment had mysteriously melted...

Good news! Evan installed a working thermostat for me on Tuesday night!! And its cool, too! It's digital & when you adjust the heat, it glows green... whoa!