Gingeranium For Your Cranium

If you don't already read this blog, I have a real treat for you! One of my very favorite blog sites is done by gingeranium. I have copied here a few samples of what you can find on her blog called Rhyme or Reason . Please check her out, you'll be glad you did!

Monday, April 25, 2005

Another Day

Another day of taking pills
to counter now and future ills

another day of eating right
any thing with label,"light"

what happened to the fat of lore?
The creamy-yummy ask for more?

Alas....it's gone with booze and cigs
this daily dose of dried up twigs

and carbs...what crime did they commit?
Seems lunacy from where I sit

another day of fibre fill
and anti-oxidentals kill

another day of....oh who cares!
Chocolate cake for he who dares!

I'm sick and tired of this shit
for just one day I'm going to quit!

Alack.....I can't......they've washed my brain
It's true you can't go home again!

posted by gingeranium at 8:11 PM

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Existential Egg McNuttin

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Convoluted Conjugation

I is
and am
until I ain't
that last part is my big complaint.

April Showers Bring May Flowers and...

The sneezing and cough are back again. Bummer. As much as I love the springtime, this year has been the pits for anyone with allergies... even people I know that have never had allergy problems before are sneezing and carrying tissues around.

Of course it probably doesn't help that I am moving dust around at home while I'm cleaning up closets, cleaning out cabinets, and sorting through old papers. Also, it doesn't help when sick people come into my office and tell me how awful their latest virus is while breathing the same air that I am breathing and touching things in my office that I touch. But I guess, since everyone seems to be in that boat, if they didn't come into my office I would be very lonely at work.

Actually there have been a few days lately that I have put a "Do Not Disturb The Rhodent" sign or a "The Rhodent Is Intensely Busy" sign on my door. It is difficult to concentrate on projecting budget figures when visitors keep interrupting me. My office is right in the hub of where everyone walks to get to their offices and too convenient for people to stop in to say hello or the "is payroll done yet?" thing, or the "there's ice cream in the refirgerator for you lovely ladies" thing. That last one always requires my attention. I can also hear everything if my door is open, and since I still can hear fairly well and tend to be the curious type (Okay, so I'm nosy), it is hard to concentrate on things that require considerable brain functioning while listening to the cacophony that sometimes goes on in the building.

It's Limerick Time Again

I came across these limericks that I had done after our kayaking trip in February. Although they are not timely, I thought they were still worth posting. I had actually posted a version of one of them before, but these are the complete set. (Sorry, I can't help myself)

Who is that lady named "L"
I am sure that you know her quite well
Her tales you'll adore
And be asking for more
There's no end to the stories she'll tell

8:>

Saturday L and her kin went kayaking
Even though her cough was quite hacking
She paddled to see
The birds in the trees
But alas they seemed to be lacking

L was bored as could be with kayacking
Entertainment just seemed to be lacking
She paddled some more
To get back to shore
She needed to find some good snacking

When everyone got back to the shore
Little L could take it no more
She looked quite a sight
And wanted a bite
But there was nothing more there than before

She had taken all that she ought
Much more than ever she thought
To her great delight
Strawberries came into sight
That thankfully her brother had bought

A smile on her face she now wore
Her brother she would always adore
She straightened her hair
Saw strawberries were there
And ate til she could eat no more

8:>

From The Rhodent To A Fellow Mouse-Lover

This picture is for Marty Morrow

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

I took this picture of Irish Pastor last Friday. I wish that blogger would allow me to show you the picture of him in such a way that you could clearly see the Irish twinkle in his eyes... believe me it is there! He is the best!

We have him for two more months as our pastor before he retires. Fortunately for us he has agreed to help out part time at the request of the priest who will take his place at the end of June. The new pastor is also Irish and an old buddy of our current pastor, so the transition will not be as traumatic as we had feared.

So now you can put a face with the stories. Neither the stories nor the picture do him justice.

There once was a fella named Aiden
Butler's Bridge was the town that he played in
He grew up to be
A fine priest now you see
Patrick's Isle is the best place their made in

Is It Morning Already?

I am normally a night owl, but last night I was in bed before 9:00 PM. I had spent the bulk of my workday working on the budget at work and was totally brain dead by the time I came home. It was also storming outside. I fell asleep on the couch sometime around 7:00 PM and then woke up around 8:30 PM. I turned on the computer, checked out a few blog sites, and went to bed. For some reason, I did not sleep soundly... probably because my body is not used to that kind of a sleep schedule, the thunder was constant, and I was coughing. I tossed and turned, listened to the thunder, coughed, woke up to check the time on the clock, tossed and turned, coughed, listened to the thunder, woke up to check the time on the clock, etc., etc., etc. Sometime early this morning I slept soundly for about 2 hours. Needless to say, I am exhausted this morning.

The bug man is supposed to come this morning so I have to stay up for him, but I think I will go back to bed and rest a bit before I consider going into work. I called the Parish Manager and told her I was exhausted and would check back in later to let her know if I would be in later today. I doubt that I would be able to tackle the budget again today the way my brain feels. It will take a sharp mind to finish up what is left to do with the budget, and Irish Pastor has to approve wage increases before I can finish with the salary portions of the budget. The budget needs to be reviewed by Irish Pastor and then presented to the Finance Committee which meets May 12th. Saturday will probably find me making up the hours I miss today. Oh well.

I have probably whined enough for today, so I will end this post with a promise to post something tonight. I will even attempt to be entertaining.

Some New Links For You To Check Out

I have added several new links to my list of "Favorite Links" on this blog site. I discovered them at Frustratedwriter's blogsite after he was able to set up his list of links. Earlier today I helped him get started with the needed html code as "L" had done with me when I first started. It was fun and a kick to realize that I actually have learned a little html since I first entered the world of blogging.

Checking out links listed in my favorite blogsites has been the best way for me to discover other sites that I enjoy. I also link back on comments left on my posts. It is how I found most of you on my link list. So check out my new links. I hope you enjoy them like I do.

50 Of The Things That Irritate Me

I got this Idea from Frustrated Writer at http://meanderingmusingsmustermadness.blogspot.com/ .

His list was great reading! Like me he is evidently a laid back kind of person, but also, on occasion, PO'd about something in his life. People sometimes ask me if I ever get angry. Yes! Absolutely! So here is a list of some of the things that irritate, aggravate, frustrate, and anger me.

1. Arrogant people
2. Blog posts that disappear
3. Being in the middle of filing papers at work and dropping the stack that I've just sorted and put in order
4. Discovering that we've run out of toilet paper just after the store has closed
5. Getting to work and finding out that I've left my set of office keys at home
6. Locking my keys in my office when the Parish Manager is gone and has the only other set of keys that unlocks my door
7. The bug man showing up late and making me later for work
8. Having my lunch disappear from the refrigerator at work... or partially eaten by someone
9. People who do not turn their payroll time sheets in on time
10. Staff who pace back and forth in front of my office to see if I've finished payroll yet
11. Being at home alone on a Friday or Saturday night with nothing good on the regular TV stations and the cable movie channels not working
12. Copiers that break down on Fridays when I have things to copy before the weekend
13. Telemarketers calling at mealtime or on the weekend
14. Telemarketers
15. People who leave their children and/or pets in a hot car in Florida in the summer for any length of time!
16. Cats that sit on your face early in the morning while waiting for you to get up to feed them
17. Power outages in the middle of trying to watch something on TV, dry clothes in the dryer, bake something in the oven, or dry my hair
18. Power outages that happen on a daily basis during the summer and constantly reset all of the digital clocks in the house
19. Bottom sheets that pop off the mattress in the middle of the night
20. Someone flushing a toilet or running a hose while I'm taking a shower
21. Getting home to find that someone has taken the last Coke in the refrigerator that I have been thinking about all the way home
22. Drivers that tailgate
23. Smokers who stand in front of an entryway to a building so that anyone going in or out is forced to breathe their smoke
24. People who will not try anything new because they tried it 20 years ago and it didn't work then
25. Child pornographers, sex offenders, etc.
26. People who finish a sentence for me...especially when it is not what I was going to say
27. People who are "Holier Than Thou"
28. People who cannot tolerate anyone having an opinion different from their own without considering the other person stupid
29. Corrupt politicians (which is most of them)
30. People who are greedy
31. People who will not give to charity and complain about how hard their life is and that they might have to sell their second house, or sell their third car, or miss their annual trip to Europe, or etc.
32. Sitting in a chair full of white cat or dog fur when I have black pants on to go out
33. Not being able to find one of the eight pairs of scissors we have in our house when I need to cut something or the scotch tape when I need it
34. Newspapers all over the table and floor
35. Cockroaches parading into the house through the sliding glasss doors when it rains hard in the summer
36. Smelly cat litter boxes
37. Windows I can't open
38. Bad apples
39. Coconut on cake, or on or in cookies, or in the chocolate candy I have just popped into my mouth from the box of assorted chocolates
40. People who still smell like garlic in the morning from eating it the day before
41. People who lecture me about what I should be doing when they need to take care of their own business
42. People who complain too much
43. People who monopolize conversations
44. Having to prepare for three or four hurricanes in one month
45. Waking up at 4:00 in the morning and not being able to go back to sleep on a Saturday morning
46. People who knowingly abuse the environment
47. Standing in line in the grocery store behind someone who spends ten minutes or more producing coupon after coupon, half of which are expired
48. People who lack compassion for the unfortunate
49. People who treat children as their posessions
50. Not being able to figure something out

Hmm. I seem to be a very irritated, aggravated, frustrated, angry person. I guess I need to lighten up a bit...especially since I could have gone on and on! ;o)

What Do You Mean That My Cats Run My Life?

I Told You He Is An Intelligent Cat!

What Gives?

Can anyone tell me why my pictures have started to disappear from my posts and turn into little boxes?

Onward!

Boy has this been a long drawn-out endeavor! It's Friday night, I am home alone, and I am working on the last of the sorting of things to go back into the closet. The family room is still a major work zone, but I hope that by the time I go to bed tonight it will be all cleaned up. I have accumulated several more large bags of garbage from the closet to go out on Monday morning for pick-up. I have a large container of things to give away. Right now I am feeling pretty cocky about what will soon be the finished product.

I am sure that everyone is as tired of hearing about my closet as I am of working on it! Judging by the decline in readership of this blog, I think that it is evident. Unfortunately, this was only the first of several major projects for me. If you continue to visit this blog you will have more cleaning posts to read. I hope you will continue to visit me here. Your comments have helped to spur me on when I needed a bit more umph. I will post pictures of the completed project as well as the next project's "before" pictures sometime next week. It will probably be the middle bedroom or the utility/laundry room...

Spring has sprung. I am sneezing. It is beatiful outside. This is the best time of year! Tomorrow, I intend to take some time to enjoy being outside! I have seen enough of the inside of my closet and the safe that is across from my desk at work. It is really hard to sit inside at work with no window to even see the flowers and birds, much less get outside and enjoy them. My youngest offspring, Allybrat, will be home for several hours tomorrow. We are going to get our hair cut, and then I will take her back to school in Tampa. She has 2 1/2 weeks left of school, and then she will be home for the summer.

You're Not Going Anywhere Without Me... Now Leave Me Alone And Let Me Sleep

Koko decided that I was going nowhere without him today, so he guarded my car keys and purse just to be sure. Although he had the best of intentions, he fell asleep on the job. He was quite irritated when I disturbed his slumber.

Something Needs My Attention...

I have some things I need to take care of, so I will not be posting unless I do so very late tonight. Tomorrow morning I will be going into work a little later so I will probably post something then. Enjoy your blogging... I'll be back tomorrow.

A Progress Report... I Am Really Not Lying Down On The Job!

Things are coming along. I have some pictures to go along with this progress report so you can see for yourself! I have to admit that Himself appears to be making more headway than I am, but I assure you that I am not lying down on the job!

I have been throwing things away and boxing things up to give away. This takes time... at least for me. I have too much "stuff" for the size of my closet, so I have had to rearrange some things and get creative about my storage space. One thing I am having trouble with is deciding whether to keep or get rid of things that require ironing when washed. It's not that I refuse to iron. It is just that I find it easier to choose those clothes that are ready to go. I have some things that fit and I like, but they require ironing so they sit in my closet. I have started to iron some of these clothes as I put them away. If I find I am not wearing them then they will have to go. Might as well be used by someone who will iron and wear them.

Below I have posted some pictures taken yesterday and today of what has been accomplished by Himself and by me.

The front door area is looking much better, don't you think? Even Koko approves... a clearer path to charge out the front door!

The utility/laundry room is coming along, as well as the end of the hall outside of the office of Himself. The actual office has been worked on but has a long way to go. It is a VERY BIG job.

Hopefully you can see a bit more organization appearing here. Things are still being moved back into the closet as I figure how I want to arrange them. So far, so good. It is getting close to being done!

A New Pope

We now have a new Pope. It was exciting to watch in anticipation of who would be stepping out onto the balcony in Rome. There was some hesitation by some of the staff of the chosen cardinal. I figure that God is in control... if this wasn't the right choice then it will soon be rectified. At age 78, Pope Benedict XVI will not have a long reign. Maybe he will surprise those who think he will be too conservative. He IS a very intelligent man. Pope John Paul II is a hard act to follow. I am curious what the days ahead will bring. I hope the Catholic Church has been blessed. We will soon know.

Up With The Early Birds

As I am typing this, I am waiting for two black bottom pecan pies to finish baking in my oven. Note the hour of this post... yes that is AM. As you may have determined from previous posts, I am not a morning person. The birds I normally greet are the night owls.

I was up to see the early morning coverage from Rome with the Mass before the conclave and to bake two pies for the priests' Monday night dinner at the rectory. Monday night is their community dinner. The "guys" get together for prayer time and dinner and some delicious wine each Monday night. That way the ones that do not live in the rectory, but work for us part time, and our full time priests get together at least once a week as a group.

A week or so ago I went to lunch with the parish manager and one of the priests who will be leaving our parish soon to go back to being a monk at his Abbey. He treated... when he goes back he has to give up all of his money, etc. and keep a vow of poverty. So we were treated to a scrumptious lunch at a very special restaurant. I ordered a pecan pie for desert that sounded like the same thing I usually make. It was not. I told this priest about the difference and indicated that I would fix some for one of their Monday night dinners.

I was going to make the pies for last Monday, but I ran out of time. As it turned out, today was the better choice because the priest who will be our new pastor as of July 1st is coming to visit his soon-to-be-new parish and join the group for dinner. So here I am waiting for the pies to finish baking and typing this post. And those pies sure do smell gooood!

These pies are your basic pecan pies with the added delight of chocolate chips and bourban! Boy are they good, and probably two gazillion calories. Bourban is a bit difficult first thing in the morning, but I licked the beaters anyway! As much as I would like a piece, I will not be eating any of the pie. That is one of the reasons I only baked two... no extra to keep at the house to tempt me.

The smell is wonderful! What a great way to start the day!... but not too often ;o)

Me? I Am Still Working On My Closet!

Today has been a very productive day. As I indicated earlier today in the post just below this one, Himself was up bright and early working on his household messes. He has not said a word about reading my blog or not, but suddenly all of his problem areas are getting cleaned! Even his office was worked on today. Once he gets going he can be quite the whirlwind. You now have two pictures as evidence of this. I will take pictures of the other areas as he completes them.

Me? I am still working on my closet! At least I am now at the stage where I have put some things back into the closet... but not too many because I still need to get the vacuum in there. The sink and cabinet still need to be finished, I need to get rid of a few more pairs of shoes, my luggage needs to be dusted and vacuumed, and I have another plastic storage box to sort through. The remaining contents of my bedroom closet are hanging in the doorways of the livingroom, kitchen, and bathroom, as well as stacked in the middle of the familyroom on the floor.

If the intention of Himself is to show me up, that is okay with me. I am thrilled that he is getting things done. Not only does it give me that much more of an incentive to keep tackling my crud, but it also makes it easier to get to my stuff and find places to put things away.

I did about six loads of laundry today... bed linens, clothes, throw rugs, more clothes, and more bed linens. I even folded and put them away. I also cleaned the cat litter boxes, picked my mother up at the airport, ate dinner out at a favorite Thai place, and enjoyed plenty of yummy sake. When I brought my mom back to our house I warned her about our major cleanup efforts and filled her in on my postings. She laughed and promised to catch up on my latest blog posts.

So, I will continue my efforts, though meager compared to those of Himself. I will complete my closet project and move on to the next one. I will be a happy homemaker once again. Note: I did not get a scalding. Those of you who were worried can rest easy. God is in heaven and all is right with the world! ;o)

Recognize this? It's the bar counter in the family room! 

I'll Post More Tonight, But For Now...

Himself came home last night. This morning he has been like a tornado through the house. He had his corner of the kitchen cleaned up before I was even out of bed! You can see it for yourself in the picture below!

I have also seen some things coming out of his office. Things in the utility/laundry room are starting to look better... I was even able to take the garbage out through the side door... there were no piles in front of it! He'll probably have half of his things ship-shape, and I will still be working on my closet!

I'll post more about all this tonight!

Wow what a difference!

Working...

Closet? What Closet?

Well, while the cat is away the mice will play, but the cat returns tomorrow... hopefully to an almost clean closet. I did not get a whole lot done last night because I worked a 10 hour day yesterday and was a bit exhausted last night. I did however, put in a half an hour sorting through clothes. Today will be intense but not as long.

It is now looking like the closet will take longer to do than I thought after the first day. I haven't even started on the cabinet, and I am having a difficult time deciding on what clothes to keep. I should probably get rid of more than I am. Maybe I will have a second go-round with the clothes... after I get rid of more of the shoes.

Please don't forget to cast your vote as a member of the jury or testify as a character witness... it could be the difference between life or acquittal!

Some Projects For Mr. Clean

Well, this post will probably get me in hot water. But then I am usually in hot water anyway, so what more is there to fear? Perhaps a scalding. I will be brave and go ahead. "L" has encouraged me, my co-workers have encouraged me, and the ADL lecture has inspired me.

Below are some pictures of some of the messes that belong entirely to Himself, the Guru of ADLs, the Atlas of the Vacuum Cleaner World, and the Chief Kitchen Inspector. All of you who are willing to protect me from a long and dreary sentance, please consider being a character witness for me and testify in my defense by leaving a comment. Those of you who want to serve on the jury, please leave your vote.

Ok. Here we go...

It's the Office From Hell

This office is entirely the domain of Mr. Clean. I have nothing to do with it... except for the fact that he has now moved into the family room and uses my desk.

This is the end of the hall right outside of his office. The office door is just to the left.

This is the end of the bar in the family room. The stuff is tools, kyak gear, some fishing gear, and a couple of hats that belong to Himself.