I am truly my mother's daughter...

I just had one of those "AHA!!!!" moments. I had warmed up my frozen pizza lunch and someone said "Oh that smells good!"

Guess my immediate response?????


"There's another one in the freezer if you'd like it!"


I"M FEEDING MY COWORKERS!!!!!!!!!!! Or trying to, they're not very obliging. Maybe after the Christmas goodies arrive they'll be more helpful w/ my "feed others" syndrome. :-)

I have also encouraged a coworker to try one of the healthy choice pasta things I bring in. No luck there either.

(Slightly delayed) Pics from Kt's bday

Here's Kt opening her card we bought for her to send to Gpa. (It's a long story).

This is Chad, his parents and his sister Amy. She is suffering thru starting a new job at a hospital at the same time as I am. We commiserate on Facebook.

A decent pic of my parents. VERY RARE!!!!!!!!!!!

What I did today

This is one of my favorite ornaments!

Once upon a time...

there was a cat. His name was Jack. Jack lived to torment his male owner. Then one day he got confused. He decided to chomp down on the owner's daughter's foot. While she was trying to oblige Jack w/ a wonderful belly rub.
Needless to say - the daughter holds grudges..............

Jack was ashamed. (Notice the ears and twitching tail.) He vowed never EVER EVER to chomp down on the daughters foot again!

My brain is tired....

It is only Tuesday too. Oh well. So. Things I have learned so far....
1. I will wk 8-5 but can flex out my lunch at 30 mins instead of an hour, flex dr's appts etc.
2. I do not get to wear scrubs - we are looking at khakis, cords, polos and sweaters.
3. I do NOT get an office (sniff) but I have a 3 sided cube in an office w/ about 6 people but I do have my back to a set of windows that I can open if I get hot. So I can still put up some pics. We have our own baby fridge and microwave.
4. My boss is very nice and very excited to get me started.
5. My brain is a bit overwhelmed from all the info in the last few days.
6. KU Med has about 10,000 people on campus every day.
7. I do get to park in the yellow lots for free (for those of you who wonder, yes they're the farthest away.)
8. The KU Med center has 66 cops/security officers that patrol everywhere --- so that should make those of you worrying about me wking in downtown feel better.
9. (Darn, I'm running out of facts and I wanted to do 10!) Ummm OH! I have to call in at least 3hrs ahead of my clock-in time....... we'll have to see if my mgr agrees w/ that. That info came from the nurse supervisor (apparently I'm part of the nursing dept even tho I'm not a nurse and no contact w/ patients.)
10. OH! MOST IMPORTANT!!!! I get Thnksgvg and the day AFTER off PAID!!! So I think I might go to Joplin. :-) However I do have to wk Christmas Eve.

So that's what I've learned so far, prayers for my energy level and car would be appreciated. I had a nail in the tire this morning --- so did mom. So I dropped her at wk and drove the van. Dad fixed it but I'm hoping that's the end of my car drama.

A good use of space......

This is my car before we unloaded at home. As mom says, we had approx 6 inches of unused space, mostly arranged to allow us to peek out the back window. We had a good drive, made it from NY to St. Louis the first day and home on the second. As most of you have heard by now, I'm staying at home for awhile until the job gets settled in at least. The uhaul w/ my husband and mom-in-law will be down next weekend w/ everything else to go into a storage unit.

More loft pics

Pics of the loft we liked the best

The little upstairs loft area was carpeted for your bedroom area, the rest was smooth concrete.

For those of you who wonder......

Here is the tenative plan for the next week or so....
Wednesday - Mom comes to NY, we pack my car and hopefully get the kitchen all packed up as well.
Thursday - Friday - Mom and I drive my NY to MO.
Saturday - Apartment/House hunt all day
Sunday - Collapse in exhaustion and make cookies with mom. :-)
Monday -- hopefully decide on apt and fill out necessary paperwk, schedule when to do a Uhaul trip from NY to MO w/ ALLLLLL the rest of the stuff and move husband to live w/ a coworker.
Monday 16th - start new job. Whew!

I am very grateful to everyone who has (and will) listen to me vent about planning, not planning, people not cooperating with said plan etc. While I'm at mom/dad's I won't have internet so posting will be limited unless I go to the library etc.

What my husband said....

After explaining our financial plan for the next year...
"Is that dumbed down enough for you?" I said "Did that one miss the brain to mouth filter?" He says "Well stupid enough, simple enough, whatever..."


Yeah, that didn't make the hole any shallower........

My version of a Halloween post.......

Any of you who plan on going as some version of the walking dead.... (ex. vampire, mummy) here is how to look "moldy". Wash and dry several very fluffy things (towels, blankets etc). Wet hands, clean out dryer vent.............



Yes that would be the voice of experience.


Happy Halloween!

Upon request.......

Here's your update Amy! So yes, I am starting on Nov 16th, (Happy Bday Kt!). My first day I have to be in the cafeteria by 7:30 -- photo ready for my badge. Ugh. Suppose I can bring coffee with me?? 3 days of hospital orientation before I start my actual assignments. I'm excited. And scared.

Some random thots that are bouncing around inside my head.

1. Why is it, when you look at something you haven't seen before you say "What is it?" Example. Kt sends me the AWESOME new business cards she made for her Personal Asst. job. I showed them to my husband and he says....."What is it?" It's a business card, I know you've NEVER seen one before........ I know what he meant was "Why do you have a business card w/ Kt's name on it" but that's not what he said.
2. I have learned this evening that some of my husband's coworkers give their wives the email/phone info for their bosses/payroll dept/etc when they are not getting results. Why can't MY husband do that? I would be THRILLED to be able to personally nag the men (why are they always men?) responsible for withholding info on our moving options.... Like "Who will move me - you or us? Will you pay for plane trips to visit? Do we still get a move bonus? Answers required in 30 mins --- bonus of food if answered in 15." Sounds perfectly logical to me.... :-)
3. Why can't I get my books back from people? And why did I think it was good to loan them in the first place?
4. New sweat/lounging pants are among the most comforting feelings in the world. I have 2 new pairs. They are heavenly!!!!!!!! Just like "fuzzy socks".
5. There are few things more satisfying than stumbling upon the best gift for someone who deserves it. I have found a gift for mom for flying up to help me drive down etc. It's something she's wanted for a long time (if you know, don't spoil it) and I'm very excited. I called to torment her w/ it tonite! :-)

Have a job, have a job, have a job job job!

So for those of you that didn't get the screaming phone call - they LOVED me at KU and I'm flying down to meet with them Friday afternoon. If all goes well and they offer me the job I'll start on Nov 2nd. I'll live w/ mom/dad and visit Kt frequently. I will have access to things that purr and things that bark. We will try to get my poor husband on TDY so he can fly down to visit. I wouldn't have to worry about driving home w/ all the Christmas stuff in the back.

So how is everyone? I'm looking forward to a 3-day weekend for both of us - Canadian Thanksgiving. Guess what their "thanksgiving story" is? Yup, same as ours. In the same place, same Indians and settlers etc. Copycats. :-)
I am thankful for chiropractors and muscle relaxers. My back is tender and numb in spots but so far no shocking pain which is nice. I'm grateful they found someone else to wk till 5 today since I didn't want to. I'm grateful for my new Christmas present which is SO AWESOME I just cannot shut up about it :-P. Even the chiro was admiring it yesterday. I'm thankful that I have a spouse that supports me whether I work or not and cares about my health enough to nag me to take care of it. And I'm thankful it is NOT RAINING so I can walk to work today.
Hope everyone has a good rest of the week!

This really has not been my month...

I've broken 2 glasses, fallen who knows how many times and I dropped the kickstand of my husband's bike on my toe. Hurts to bend it a lot if I walk, wouldn't even consider running. This whole "graceless" thing is getting OLD!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy's visit Day 3

The sun appeared. Then disappeared. Then appeared. Then disappeared. Notice the theme?

Grinning Amy -- her favorite thing is waterfalls so what a perfect vacation for her!

And a grinning Mandy. At least until the rain started again :-)

Amy's visit day 2

This is from the lighthouse and Ft Niagara where I took her last night.

This is the most GORGEOUS set of doors on a house. Mom discovered them and this was the first time I'd found them on my own (gotta love my sense of non-direction.) Aren't they pretty?

Lake Ontario - sailing boat and off in the distance a container ship. It was too foggy/cloudy to see Toronto.

Amy at the lighthouse. Smile pretty!

Amy's Visit

Well I was late to pick her up (her flight was early) but she still will smile for me. It's been cloudy and rainy so we figured - "Perfect weather for Maid of the Mist - we'll get wet anyway!" I did all the getting wet tho - my pants were SOAKED from the knees down but she was mostly dry. Go figure!

Very windy up by the falls on the observation deck! I was holding the camera and managed to get both our heads in it - great victory for me. :-)

Clouds of mist coming off the Canadian falls.

Another tiny John Deere.

Cool paint job!

City where the jobsite is had a bagpipe band as well - they were really good.

For Kt. :-)

Old truck...

Small truck...

Big boat...

Cute coat!