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!

This was a group called "Buddy Walk" - they had people w/ various disabilities paired up w/ friends. They all had green balloons and tons more to handout. They were I think the biggest of the groups there that supported those w/ disabilities and it was so fun to see them all so excited to see people waving at them and them getting to wave back and throw candy.

The hospital's care van ---- called "VanGo" I think this was mom's favorite!

These are both of the Lewiston Young Marines Group

Lewiston's Fire Dept goes "John Deere"!T

This is an old plane that did a couple of flyovers for the parade. Pretty cool.

One of the manymanymany dance troupes in the parade -- I loved trying to get pictures of them in the air! :-)

More people in Lewiston than I've ever seen at one time. The whole of Center St. was lines 3-4 people deep.

This was the Niagara Ballet Company float. They had ballerinas and music - pulled by a semi!

One of the 3 bagpipe bands in the parade - these were from Youngstown - the next town over.

There were quite a few old-time fire trucks - pretty cool to see.

Peach Festival Parade

Balloon Animals

The only horses in the whole 1hr 40 min parade and they had to wear "poop catching bags."

Mom's here!

We are having a wonderful time. She ignores my head cold that makes my nose run, throat hurt and plugs my ears and I ignore her ears being plugged from flying. :-) We got up and went to the stairs this morning - did both sets - about 7900 steps according to my pedometer. Very good workout - especially since I did weights yesterday - my poor legs were crying for mercy! lol
We went to the chinese place here in town for lunch, such good food! This evening we're off to the outlet mall, BB&B, Ulta, then to the Melting Pot for cheese and chocolate. We have plans to cook ckn & noodles, ham balls & cinnamon rolls while she's here. Oh who am I kidding - she has plans to cook all that. I will assist while I'm not at work. :-) I will try to take some pics later and post.

2 new rules

Rule #1 - Do NOT ask Mandy to stock the sugar/candy aisles during a certain time of the month. CRAVED sugar for HOURS after I got home.

Rule #2 - No matter what shoes you wear, after 6 hours on your feet your feet will HURT. Therefore, listen to the little voice in your head and go to the gym BEFORE work!

CVS

Hello! How is everybody? I hope you enjoyed all the photos from our trip! I started my job at CVS today (well orientation was last night but actually started "working" today). I like it! Everyone seems to be very nice and helpful, if a little stressed out. It seems to be very focused on "Smile, eye contact, do ANYTHING to make the customer happy" etc. which is a good place to work. Even as a lowly "cashier/clerk" I'm empowered (such a funny word) to do minor returns, substitutions etc. Plus the managers are happy to be paged for questions. So far my only worries are:
1. They sell cigarretes which I've never sold/purchased so that will take some learning.
2. Same deal with the moneygrams but apparently they're not common purchases.
3. Danskos are going to be important again b/c I'll be on my feet the whole time. They don't have a "cushion" to stand on like we did at the pharmacy etc.

The temp agency had me assigned back to a previous job for Friday but CVS needed me and didn't really give me a way to say no.... I hope the temp agency still uses me! At least it's a 9-3 shift at CVS that day so I'm not giving up a full 8 hours at the higher pay for 4 hours at min wage. I am unable to ask off for mom's visit which irritates me a little (I want to hang out w/ her!) but she seems very fine with it which helps. I'm going to ask off for Amy's visit when I go in tomorrow. Here's hoping everything works like I want it to and no one yells too much at me tomorrow and I'll keep you updated!

Assorted funnies....

I HAD to post this pic, it just SCREAMS Kt.
















Did you notice the price? $37,500 for a crystal palace.