Tuesday, January 31, 2006

A Bit Whiney



I am a bit tired tonight. You can see by my eyes that I am in poor shape. It was a busy day today. As soon as I get to a point where I think I have caught up, a new report to complete arrives to be added to the pile on my desk. Actually, I should admit that "pile" is not exactly accurate... it should be plural.

There is actually two main purposes to this post. Please pay attention. The first purpose is to allow me to whine. The second and most important purpose is to ensure that you will all feel sorry for me... and maybe leave reassuring comments. Yes, pitying comments would be good.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

It's The Four Things Meme


FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD
1. Filing clerk for a construction company
2. Desk clerk at a university information desk
3. Funeral home treasurer/accountant
4. Business Office Manager for an assisted living facility


FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER
1. Pride and Prejudice (BBC staring Colin Firth)
2. Ferris Buehler'’s Day Off
3. Mouse Hunt
4. Bird Cage


FOUR PLACES YOU'VE LIVED
1. Newark, NJ
2. Denville, NJ
3. St. Petersburg, FL
4. Clearwater, FL


FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
1. 24
2. Grey'’s Anatomy
3. Desperate Housewives
4. British Comedies on PBS – (Are you Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances, etc)


FOUR FAVORITE BOOKS / AUTHORS
1. Pride and Prejudice -– Jane Austin
2. Tom Clancy
3. Harry Potter series
4. The Screwtape Letters - C. S. Lewis


FOUR PLACES YOU HAVE BEEN ON VACATION
1. North Dakota / Minnesota
2. California / Yosemite National Park
3. Smokey Mountains National Park ( including some tourist time in Gatilnburg)
4. Caribbean Cruise


FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY
1. Random_Speak and Lemming Fodder
2. At least 10 other blogs on my favorite bloggers list
3. Sudoku web site
4. See #2

Saturday, January 28, 2006

What's Important



I have been reading some posts by other bloggers of late that seem to be pondering different aspects of relationships and what is important in life. I also have had similar conversations with friends. Last night a group from work went out to dinner together for our every-other Friday night gathering. There was a couple who I enjoy a lot who talked about their honeymoon and the earlier years of their marriage. The honeymoon story was not only very funny, but it highlighted how different we can be about our expectations of one another. This couple will be married 40 years this year. They have a wonderful sense of humor about their relationship, but it is clear how much they love each other.

So, I have been thinking a lot about what's important... in relationships (or realationships as I sometimes like to spell it) and in my own life that I will be facing soon as a single person. I think that friends will become more important to me as I cannot picture myself in another relationship after ending the current one. People tell me that I should not think that way, but at this point I am not very confident of making a good choice the second time around. Maybe I will change.

Right now I have a tendency to focus on those things that I have never had in my current marriage of 35 years as what is most important. Intimacy, affection, and respect from my spouse are what I think I missed. Trust is also important, but I have come to learn that trust can be misplaced. So I guess earning trust has to come first.

While running some errands today I was thinking about what I believe men and women consider important. Maybe it is not so much that what they view as important is different, but that those important things are given different priorities. For instance, most men and women would consider sex as important in a marriage. But I think most men would put it at the top of their list or very near the top, and women would put things like intimacy and affection at the top of their list with sex following somewhere down the list. It is unlikely that a healthy marriage could survive without any of them, but the priority levels differ. Women tend to view intimacy as important for a good sexual relationship, and many men tend to look at sex as intimacy, missing the rest of what intimacy is all about. Some men do understand, but our culture tends to discourage that knowledge.

So what is important to me? Well, in a realationship I think that intimacy, affection(love), trust, respect, romance, sex, responsibility, acceptance, some common interests, forgiveness... all have to be there... not necesarily in that order. Nor is that a complete list... if I were to take the time to list everything. People need to recognize and appreciate those things in each other that are strengths and forgive those things that are weaknesses. We all have our fair share of both. And where would anyone be without a sense of humor? Most of those things also apply to friendships.

Faith is also important to me. I have Catholic friends, Protestant friends, and Jewish friends. What we all have in common is a strong faith in God. I find that those who have strong faith, whether or not they are Christian, live their lives guided by their faith in God. We are all comfortable sharing our faith with each other. It is enriching.

I cannot imagine my life without my four children. I am very glad that my relationship with them continues to get better as they find their own way in life. I feel included in their lives, and I am very grateful for that. I know too many families where parents and children do not have good relationships. Even when I am a pain in the patootie to them, and they get exasperated with me, I know that they still love me. And that goes both ways.

So, here I am. I turned 56 this last month, and I am starting to feel like I am getting old. It is not that I think 56 is old. It is that it feels old to be 56 and single. I don't know where I will be living in a month or so. I am feeling very insecure about leaving my home and neighborhood where I have lived since 1976... thirty years is a long time. I now realize how important my home and neighbors are to me. Even the elm trees that I planted that have gotten so big are important to me. I suppose that I can live without the elm trees. I can always drive by and visit them. The fireplace in our family room will be missed. But I can always get another one, I suppose... fireplaces are very cozy and reassuring. I can visit the neighbors. It won't be the same as going out the front door to greet them and pop in for a visit. Rosie always is ready to put on a pot of tea for us. I can always call ahead, I guess.

But life does go on, even though it is different. After I am through this current funk that I am in, I am sure that I will start looking forward to having some new things in my life. Settling on a place to live will help. That is important. My blogging friends who are important to me will still be available to interact with on my computer... when it works... and I have realized how important you have become to me... it is like having neighbors that you talk to all of the time, but you just don't see... except in funny pictures, of course. Thanks for being there.



Oh, yes... cheese. Cheese is important, too.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Guest-Blogging

Hello Everyone.

Rhodent is currently unable to access the Internet, so she has asked me, her charming daughter, to write a little blurb to let everyone know that she is all right and has not, in fact, "bought the farm" or run away to Mexico. She is safely at home and not on the run from the law, although it is not from a lack of trying. She shall return at the earliest time available, and, in the meantime, aplogizes for any Inconvenience.

In the meantime, here is a limerick for your Amusement:

A nudist by name Roger Peet,
Loved to dance in the snow and the sleet,
But one chilly December,
He froze every member,
And retired to a monkish retreat.

Au Revoir!

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Oops...


I wrote a wonderful post tonight about a new experience I had having my younger cat groomed. However, as I finished the post and was moving a picture around, the post disappeared. Recover post did nothing for me but save the pictures. As it is late, and I don't feel like starting over, I will wait until tomorrow to write it again or write about something else.

Oh well.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

After Four Weeks, I Am Quite Perturbed



Enough already!!! I had the virus that has been going around. I am still coughing. It is getting very old... especially at 3 am! I had been feeling better with just this nagging cough that is aggravating to say the least. This weekend I have awaken each morning to a nasty sore throat ...AGAIN.

Both of my daughters have had this bug, everybody at work has had this bug, and I seem to be starting over with this bug. Supposedly the cough hangs on for a few weeks and then gradually goes away. Why am I so lucky? I have things to get done. It is a very busy time at work for me. I don't have time to be down sick any more. I guess I shall have to break down and visit the doctor if the sore throat does not go away in a day or so. Bitch, bitch, bitch...


So to distract me from feeling sorry for myself any more than I have already, I have decided to post a few questions I have thought of in my recent flu remedy stupor. I hope that you will all be kind enough to provide me with some entertaining answers.

  1. What do you look for in a relationship?
  2. What characteristics do you think are necessary for a good relationship?
  3. Condo or house--what's your preference?
  4. Which is more fun, an Ipod or a PDA?
Okay, now dazzle me with your answers! I freely admit that this has been a boring post. I am counting on your entertaining comments to liven it up a bit.




Saturday, January 21, 2006

If You Think About It, It Could Go Either Way!


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world, indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead



What do you think? Which way will we go?

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

This One Is For You, Cliff!




I am not particulary familiar with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, but I know of a farmer in Nebraska who will have very mixed feelings about this photo. As I have said before, one of the things that I have a lot of fun with in blogging is finding pictures to add to my posts. I came across this one and couldn't resist pulling Cliff's chain a bit.





Are you sure you want to do this?

Monday, January 16, 2006

One Year Ago


One year ago today, I began blogging with my very first post. "L" got me started, and I have loved it ever since. It is hard to imagine my life now without this added bonus. Thank you all for a great year!

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Stuff!



Stuff. Yup. Stuff. We all have it. We all want it.

It is both a blessing and a burden.

It starts when we are young. We want cool stuff. We ask our parents to give us that cool stuff. We get the stuff, or at least enough stuff to leave us wanting more stuff. We even get things to carry our stuff around and things to keep our stuff in order.



When we are young adults we want even more stuff. Now we work for our stuff. The more stuff we get the more stuff we want. We start to keep track of our stuff. We never have enough stuff.



As we get older, maybe we get married. Then we really get a lot of stuff. Still this does not satisfy us. Now we know we really need more stuff. We have to get a bigger place to live to keep all of our stuff with us. The place we get has extra room, so we get more stuff to fill the empty space. Then maybe we have children, and we have to get stuff for them, too.



And now we have to do more to keep track of our stuff. We worry about losing our stuff. So we document our stuff and take out insurance on our stuff. Our kids start to demand more stuff of their own. And because we know how important stuff is in everyone's life, we get them more stuff. And we increase our insurance to cover their stuff, too.



Now a new phenomenon starts to creep into our lives...



We start to feel that we need to get away from it all... all our stuff. So now we take vacations from our stuff. We take our children with us. They spend most of the vacation bemoaning the fact they want to get back to the stuff that they have left at home.



Then one day, the kids leave home, and we look around and discover that we have too much stuff. We need to downsize and get rid of stuff that we don't need anymore. We have garage or yard sales and sell our stuff to unsuspecting people who are still in the mode of acquiring more stuff. Then we take the money we make at the sale and decide that now that we have gotten rid of some stuff, we can now buy more stuff. And we do.

And so it goes. We get rid of old stuff, and replace it with newer and better stuff. We do this and do this, until one day we are too old to do it any more. Then our children have to do it for us. Maybe they move us to a retirement home. Our stuff gets redistributed. Now our children buy us things that they think we need or would enjoy. But it is stuff that doesn't take up much room.

Yup. We all have stuff.

Now, in my case...


irreconcilable differences have put a kink in this life plan of acquisition and disposition of stuff.



Since we are getting a divorce, I have to inventory all of our stuff and finances. I then have to fill out forms that requires all of this information. I also have to pay a lot of money for the privilege of doing this.



Then at some point, someone will look at all of this information on the forms that have been filled out and will use some sort of formula to decide how much of the stuff I get to keep and how much money I will get to help me take care of my portion of said stuff. And then I get to pay some more money so that all of this gets recorded and becomes a legal document. I then will get to add this document to my stash of stuff... a smaller stash than I had before.

I will keep you posted on what happens next. Will I get to acquire more stuff? Will a reduced income greatly impact my acquisition phase? Will my children keep me in new cool stuff as I get older. Will I rejoice in my new freedom from excessive stuff? Will I finally get all of my closets cleaned once and for all?

I suspect that not only does life go on... but stuff goes on as well.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

#@*&^*&$^%@@%@###

This is just a quick note tonight. I am having to borrow this computer to post because my ding dong machine has decided to drive me mad. So until I can get some kind of diagnosis for my pathetic excuse for a computer, you may not see much in the way of new posts.


Also, for those of you who are familiar with Random_Speak, our "L" is quite ill. She probably has the same bug I had and am still trying to get over. Please stop by her blog and wish her well... or good health or whatever.

Here's hoping I can be back to computerville soon!

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Requested Recipe


Several of you requested the recipe for Chicken Lemon Soup. In our area it is a popular Greek soup. I don't know the traditional recipe, but what I make is very similar.
  1. Basically, I make regular chicken soup... you know a whole chicken cooked in a pot of water with salt, pepper, and whatever other spices you like to put in your chicken soup.
  2. After the chicken is cooked, I remove it from what is now chicken stock.
  3. Set the chicken aside and pour the stock into a container and after it has cooled a bit, refrigerate.
  4. Pull the skin off of the chicken and separate the meat from the bones.
  5. After the stock is chilled, remove the top layer of fat, and then put the stock into a pan to heat.
  6. Once the stock is heated, add onion, carrots, green beans or any other vegetable that you like in chicken soup.
  7. Add the chicken
  8. Add the Orzo (this is a type of small pasta) usually found in the grocery store. Don't add it too soon as it cooks quickly
  9. Once the vegetables and orzo are just about done, add the juice of 5 to 6 lemons to the soup.
  10. Heat for a few more minutes.
As you can see it is not very complicated. You may need to adjust the amount lemon juice to your own taste. And by the way, no cheating with store bought lemon juice. It doesn't taste the same. Squeeze your own! With the lemon juice in the soup, you can cut back on the salt... you won't need as much. That's all folks!

Right Now It's All A Bit Overwhelming



It is currently sometime after 1:00 am. I went to bed before 10:00 pm, feeling tired. I almost dozed off once. I did not fall asleep... at all. Right now I am wide awake wishing that my eyelids could get heavy again. No such luck. So posting just seemed like a good thing to do. Even at this hour.

Being out sick for the end of December / beginning of January is bad news if you are responsible for quarterly and end of the year financial reports and end of the year payroll reporting. Yup, that's me. Today I went back into work for a bit and spent most of the time there (5 hours) just sorting through and and opening mail. And it's time to start printing the W-2s and 1099s. Whoopee! That makes me feel better.

Poor Rhodent was as sick as a dog
Though she sounded much more like a frog
She coughed and blew
And sneezed a lot, too
Her brain more resembled a bog

But she had those forms to complete
And the bills spilled all over her seat
W-2s to be done
Twas not to be fun
Just too may deadlines to meet

But Rhodent would not be dismayed
Over work that she could not evade
She relentlessly tore
Through those bills and much more
After all that is why she gets paid!


This week I need to accomplish a few things besides catching up at work. Somehow I don't think they will all get done. I need to rent a storage unit. I have a hair appointment (can't miss that!). My mother's birthday is Friday, and I will getting off work early to go to her favorite restaurant to celebrate with her. I need to set up attorney and financial advisor appointments. I haven't done laundry for a few days and the underwear drawer is starting to look like it needs to be replenished very soon! I neeeeed to read all of my favorite bloggers posts... daily. The cats feel that they are being shortchanged on their quota of TLC, and they don't put up with that for long. The Christmas tree still needs to come down and the ornaments and decorations put away. Add to the above the rest of the need to cook, eat, shower, sleep and "other stuff" and you can see why I am a bit overwhelmed. And it is already Thursday.




I may have put on a few pounds over the holidays... so it probably was helpful that I have been sick and not feeling much like eating. I won't say that my clothes are back to fitting the way they should. They are not, but I am working on it.

I fixed a fabulous chicken lemon soup for dinner tonight, and probably lunch and dinner tomorrow... perhaps another meal or two over the weekend. That is the problem when you make homemade chicken soup... there is so much of it. Maybe next time I should make Cornish game hen and lemon soup. That might work better. At any rate it tasted yummy, feels great when you are sick, is healthy eating, and is low in calories.

Since I have to get up for work later this morning, and it is now 1:50 am, I think that I will try again to get to sleep. There's always an infomercial or two available at this hour.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

2006 New Year's Resolutions



Since my previous post seemed quite boring, I thought I would post my resolutions for this new year in hopes that they might be a bit more interesting.

  • Take the higher road.
  • Limit my blogging absences to shorter periods of time.
  • Go on at least one cruise, two if I can manage it.
  • Make a new financial plan and stick to it.
  • Visit my son in Hartford.
  • Set up storage, but only put into it things that are important to keep... NO junk! (unless, of course, there is some significant sentimental reason for keeping it)
  • Take nights out with friends once or twice a week.
  • Avoid office gossip.
  • Visit a new place at least once a quarter.
  • Call my mother at least once a week.
  • Pray more.
  • Improve my level of patience.
  • Plan time with my oldest daughter at least once a month.
  • Celebrate with my younger son his accomplishment of receiving a Masters Degree in Engineering.
  • Eat more peppermint ice cream.
  • Drink more Mimosas with L.
  • Enjoy more sunsets.
  • Enjoy more sunrises.
  • Keep my office neater (i.e., keep up with my filing and shredding)
  • Finish my ironing by the end of the year.

So what do you think? Are these realistic? I expect to have difficulty with the last two, but I am determined! <:3)~

Cheers!

2005 Blog First Lines



I am stealing this Idea from "The Peanut Queen's Lair"


What was the first line from your blog
the first day of each month
in 2005?

Jan 2005
(this was actually my very first post on January 16th)
Ok, I'm new to the world of the blog, but I am having a great time exploring it!

Feb 2005
This past weekend I decided to celebrate my daughter's birthday by doing exactly what I wanted to do.

March 2005
A dishwasher can be a dangerous place

April 2005
The vultures are circling.

May 2005
Each year I do the budget at work.

June 2005
I will be back at the keyboard either later tonight or tomorrow night with another post about the weekend... I promise!

July 2005
Well, it wasn't as easy to get up this morning as it was yesterday morning, but it was still easier than usual.

August 2005
I've often heard people talk about how fences keep people apart in the suburbs... neighbors become strangers.

Sept 2005
Tonight was another girls' night out so I am going to be lazy, lay back, put my feet up and not do much of a post tonight.

Oct 2005
Today was the day designated by the Roman Catholic Church as the feast of St. Francis of Assissi, the patron saint of animals and a man noted for his humility and compassion to the poor.

Nov 2005
Today was both a very frustrating and a very productive day for me.

Dec 2005
Things have been a bit up in the air of late, but I will be back soon!