Category: life

Posted on

Shopping for Roses and Chocolates for Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, so I need to get out of the house and go shopping for roses and chocolates for tomorrow. I don’t usually buy roses for anyone on Valentine’s Day, but my sister and I thought it would be a nice thing to do for our mom, since our dad passed away last summer. Mom had a hard time with the first Christmas without him, and he used to always give her a dozen yellow roses on Valentine’s Day.

The color of roses and types of flowers that you give to people are supposed to have certain meanings, like the color red for roses means love. So we had asked Dad why he gave our mom yellow roses instead of red ones. He said that because she was born in Dallas, TX, that the two of them had always had a private joke about her being his “Yellow Rose of Texas.” So he always gave her yellow roses whenever there was an occasion for flowers.

My sister and I agreed to go in together and split the cost of the roses, and I will take them to her in the morning on my way to work. We could have them delivered, but we want her to get them first thing in the morning, so her entire day is brightened and she doesn’t have to spend all morning being sad, missing him.

Posted on

Car Trouble This Morning

On my way to get in my car this morning and head out on errands, I noticed that the right front tire seemed a little low and bulging. That tire seems to having trouble, needing air every couple of months. I have had it checked at the tire store several times for a nail or leak, and they never find anything wrong with it. But that tire keeps losing air when the other three tires never give me trouble. I think the tire store just doesn’t want to admit that they sold me a bad tire and should give me a replacement under the warranty. I don’t know how to prove this other than taking the car to a different tire store. In the meantime, I have to drive straight to the gas station and get air in that tire before I drive it on the highway.

Anyway, not only was that tire low, but when I started up the car the warning light on my dashboard came on with the brakes light. Oh, no! I really do not have the money in my budget or the time to deal with new brakes for my car. I hope that it just means the brake fluid is low and not that the brakes are really going bad. I guess I need to take the car for an oil change and have them top off all the fluids. If that doesn’t make the brake light go off, I will have to find a way to get the car in the shop for a brakes job this month and move some bills around in my budget so I can pay for the repairs and keep my car running.

Posted on

Our First Snow is Here!

Most of the country seemed to enjoy a white Christmas, but we only had rain here in Nashville. It was cold and windy and dark, but most people were focused on being inside exchanging gifts and feasting on traditional Christmas dinner foods. Some guys were all about watching football and there were some great children’s movies on cable to keep the kids occupied.

But when I woke up this morning, there were huge snow flakes swirling around in the air. It is just about 32 degrees outside, so I wonder if any of it will stick to the ground and give us a snow day today? We don’t get very much snow here anyway, so when it snows around Christmas that makes it special – even if it is the day after.

Posted on

The Internet’s Birthday

Have you ever wondered what is the official birthday of the internet? There is a set date but it’s not called the birthday. Its called the Internet Enoch.

I asked a tekkie friend if he knew, and he had to go look it up. Turns out the date is January 1, 1970. I never knew that but you might enjoy having this bit of trivia up your sleeve some day.

Posted on

Don’t Park in My Spot

Really wish I could put a sign on my parking spot at work that say “Do Not Park Here!” Everyone knows where my spot is and half the time I get to work and somebody has already taken my spot. I think they do it out of spite. That doesn’t exactly put me in a good mood first thing and then when I walk in the door I have to deal with a phone that is already ringing and people wanting things fixed or someone to yell at.

I might hire someone to make me a sign and put it up at my spot – its a way to make your point! At least they will have been warned! If they still park there after I put up my sign I might just call a tow truck on them! I bet I’d only have to call the tow truck one or two times before they stop doing it!

Posted on

I Play to Relax

Lately everything has been so pressured and rushed that I can’t wait to get away from work and get home to my own little sanctuary. But I have been so stressed out that even after I get home my mind is racing and I am distracted with things that have to do with work instead of focusing on my dinner and whatever movie happens to be on cable that night. And then when I go to bed, I can’t seem to fall asleep.  I just stare at the ceiling and worry about things.

That’s not good and it has been going on for about a week. I love my job, but I need to find a way to close off what goes on at work and decompress. I need to have some fun and relax. I used to call that “recharging my batteries,” so that when I wake up each morning I feel energized (pun intended!) and ready to face the day. So I decided to do something less passive than sitting on the couch watching a movie. I am going to start doing something that forces me to engage my mind and focus. I think I found the perfect way to do that: online games.

I have a laptop at home and I can sit on the couch, get online, and play a few rhands of Hearts. That would be so much more relaxing than watching those awful TV shows and movies that I’ve already seen a few times. Every game is different and fun when you have new online opponents from all over the world. I log in and join a game and the next thing you know I am not thinking about work or problems anymore. I am just having a few minutes of fun.

I have tried that for the past 2 nights after work and I have found myself falling asleep right away instead of laying awake and trying to count sheep. What a difference a good nights sleep can make in how you greet the day and handle all the little annoyances that crop up. The key to a better attitude is making some play time for yourself and having some fun.

 

Posted on

Too Hot to Go Outside

Wouldn’t you know it? We are having one of the hottest summers on record with a bad drought and today my car’s air conditioner quit working. I had just finished grocery shopping at Kroger and loaded all the groceries into the back seat and as I drove out of the parking lot a funny smell started coming out of the air vents in my car. I turned off the radio and heard a funny squealing noise, too. The smell was awful and I could actually see it pouring out of the vents like smoke, but it didn’t smell like smoke. I don’t know what it smelled like – but it was bad!

I turned off the A/C and drove home with the windows rolled down. Thank goodness it was not raining or I would have either gotten soaked from the rain by leaving the windows down, or soaked in sweat by having to leave them up. After I got the groceries put away I called Firestone and told the service manager what happened. Of course, he told me to bring it in, but I can’t go without my car for several days – especially not on the weekend. I asked him for a ballpark figure of what it would cost and he said probably between $800 and $1,500, depending on what is wrong. He can’t tell me without looking at it.

So I am just going to have to wait for my next paycheck and drive with the windows down for a week or so. That stinks – it has been so hot lately. We have had weeks of temperatures in the 90’s and feeling like in the 100’s. It is too hot to even go outside and cut the grass or walk with the dogs. I just want to stay inside where it is cool and just hide from the heat as much as I can.

Posted on

Skunks in my Yard!

baby_skunks

Last night I smelled something bad when I went out to get something from my car. I looked around to see what was going on and I saw something moving from my yard and across my neighbor’s driveway. At first I thought it was a cat – but she does not have a cat. And then I saw that it was three things moving – not just one. And when they walked under her side door light, I could see that they were black and white and they were really skunks!

I was shocked! I have never seen a live skunk before. All the skunks I have ever seen have been road kill and they were stinking up the road. So I didn’t know if these skunks were going to see me and spray my car or what! I didn’t even want to close my car door and make a loud noise to get their attention. But I didn’t want to leave the car door open and have them get into my car, either!

So I closed the car door as softly as I could and then I ran as fast as I could to my front door and went back into my house! This morning when I looked outside I could not see anything moving around and I didn’t smell anything bad, either. So I hope they were just traveling through and don’t come back.

Posted on

Too Dry for Fireworks?

We have been in a terrible drought this summer and several places are having a lot of wildfires. The one in Colorado is really scary – I have friends that live in Colorado Springs and that is where my brother lived for 2 years while he was in school. It makes me very sad to see the thousands of acres of mountains and all those beautiful homes being burned. And all those poor animals – it is a real tragedy!

It is also a problem for a lot people who have big plans for this weekend and for the Fourth of July. I have heard rumors that the police and fire departments are canceling their community fireworks shows and not allowing private citizens to shoot off any fireworks in their yards or neighborhoods, either. What a shame, but I totally support them in being careful about not wanting any wildfires here. We can celebrate in other ways and maybe next year we won’t have to worry about a drought.

Posted on

Special People

Growing older can be strange and interesting at the same time.  Lately I’ve been thinking about people I knew way back in elementary and high school.  I’m wondering if Facebook is playing a part in this.  It’s interesting to see how people have changed and how their lives have taken shape.  But I find it more interesting to see how they haven’t changed.  Little traits that they held as young children still show through in their adult lives.

It is fascinating at the same time but very strange to me.  My Mom once told me that no matter how old you get you still think the same.  She didn’t mean you always reason as a child, but the same insecurities and fears can grip you in your adult years just as they did in your childhood.  Certain characteristics such as being uncomfortable talking in front of a crowd can be just as difficult in grade school as it is in a meeting when you are 35.  Life is interestign and fascinating at the same time.