Day 30: I did it!!

I did it. I posted everyday this month. I had my doubts that I'd be able to keep up with it, but I did. It almost feels like a graduation of sorts to be ending the month.

I found out quite a bit about myself this month. I think sometimes blogging this month was a chore but I did it and because it meant I blogged on more than just venting/down days I got to show my funny/sarcastic side a bit. So, maybe I'll post tomorrow, maybe I won't. I will, however, try very hard to keep it up and blog most days.

I also made some new imaginary friends whose blogs I enjoy reading mostly daily. For those who have read my blog mostly daily... thank you.

Day 29: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

It is open enrollment for insurance at work. Since they changed our health insurance program this year, everyone had to fill out all of the paperwork again. It is a bit of a pain because I even had to fill out all of the beneficiary information for my life insurance and accidental death & disability policies.

If you have an AD&D policy, read it sometime. It is exactly what it says it is. It only pays if I am dismembered or die in an accident, but it is rather comical to read. There are things in there about how much they'll pay if you lose an arm or a leg or just fingers or some combination of your appendages.

Loss Percentage of the Principal Benefit
Life 100%
Both Hands or Both Feet 100%
Sight of Both Eyes 100%
Speech and Hearing 100%
One Hand and One Foot 100%
One Foot and Sight of One Eye 100%
One Hand and Sight of One Eye 100%
Quadriplegia 100%
Paraplegia 75%
Sight of One Eye 50%
Speech or Hearing 50%
One Hand or One Foot 50%
Hemiplegia 50%
Thumb and Index Finger of One Hand 25%
Uniplegia 25%

The funniest part is if I lose my arm in the ocean and can't produce my arm, I have to wait a year from the date of the loss for them to pay the claim. um, huh? So if a shark eats your arm, you'd better get at least part of it back, I guess.

I have more actual life insurance than I thought I had. Basically, like most people in the world, I'm worth much more if I'm dead than if I'm alive. (So not planning on going anywhere anytime soon... planning a long, full life.) But choosing beneficiaries is hard. I don't have a husband to leave it to, so Moma (and Daddy by default, but it's only in Moma's name) is my beneficiary. They also make you choose contingent beneficiaries. So, who to choose? I mean, right now I've got it listed as my sisters. But in all honesty, should I leave it to my niece and nephews for their college educations? Does it really matter 'cause if they are collecting then I'm dead.

Still, these are hard decisions to make. I so hate making decisions.

Day 28: Daddy is so generous

It seems that Daddy shared more than his home with me this weekend. It seems he also generously shared his cold germs. Ugh. I woke up this morning with a headache and sore throat. Double ugh. As the day wore on, my throat got sorer and sorer. Triple ugh.

So... I went to the store and got me some Tylenol Cold and Sinus and I will stay drugged until I'm over it. Hopefully it will be a 3 day cold and tomorrow will be the worst of it. I can feel like crap for one day and start to feel better. That wouldn't be so bad. Especially after last year (and the year before's) case of the flu and all the yucky-ness that went with that. I got my flu shot this year so hopefully I'll avoid that particular unpleasantness this year.

Day 27: Just a day

Today was just a normal day. I went to work and came home. Since it's Tuesday I didn't have school so I did something I don't get to do very often... I took a nap. It was so relaxing with both kitties curled up next to me I just fell asleep. Now I am going to bed.

Day 26: I love Christmas!

I love Christmas. I really, really do. I love the fact that for one month out of the year almost everyone has a giving spirit and even people who normally are the me-me-me type will help organize food drives and toy drives for those who are less fortunate. I love the Salvation Army Bell Ringers in front of stores who always wish you a Merry Christmas with a smile no matter the weather. I love the tradition in the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area of Troy Dungan's Santa's Helpers that collects toys for the Toys for Tots Toy Drive. (And seeing all those Marines in dress uniforms is a decided bonus!)

I love the decorations and lights on houses and in stores. I even love decorating my own house even thought I'm likely the only one that will see it. I love putting my Nativity Scene (which is just like the one I grew up with) on my mantle even if that is the only decorations I put out for the year. Christmas is just a fun time of year, in my opinion.

I love the Christmas Season and all the things that go with it except one thing -- Radio stations changing their format to ONLY play Christmas music on Friday after Thanksgiving. I realize that most artists have recorded a Christmas album and has a rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas that only gets airtime once a year, but how many times do I have to hear Silent Night or Oh Holy Night in one day? Just because different artists sing it, it isn't a different song! Throw in a Christmas tune once in a while, even a couple of times an hour, but still play normal music, too, please. Pretty please with sugar plums on top?

It is no wonder people are sick of Christmas by Christmas Day and the bah-humbugs have taken over. There is such thing as overkill and Christmas music all-day-every-day would be that for me.

Day 25: Home Sweet Home

It is great to visit family, but it is also great to be home. It's funny to me that as an adult, you are always "going home." I went "home" for Thanksgiving on Wednesday because I went to where my parents are. That is always home. Today, I came to my own place, I came home.

Anyway, the drive in wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it would be. Slow in the areas I expected, but never a dead stop like I feared it would be and has been on other trips. Most people were driving sanely and the ones who weren't tended to meet Texas' finest.

Traveling with my cats is an experience. I know the whole time I was at Moma & Daddy's house, I was afraid the cats were annoying everyone. Maxie has the most annoying (to me) meow when he is upset, feels he's being left out of the festivities, or just wants attention. On the way home, there was no calming him. He was between the blanket and the car seat yowling at me. It's this deep gutteral "MIIRRWOOOOOWWWWW" sound that tends to carry. He did it in the garage at Mom's (where he could get a lovely echo going) and in the car THE WHOLE WAY HOME (with the exception of a few minutes here and there) just to let me know his displeasure at his situation. Buddy was calmly laying on the center console touching me. As long as he was touching me, he was fine

So, now I am home, the car is unloaded, the cats have been fed and are wandering around sniffing everything to make sure nothing has changed in the four days since they were here. I need to unpack and do a couple of loads of laundry and fold some of the laundry I left undone when I left. But it can wait. I'm home now. I'm on my own couch with my feet on the coffee table relaxing. It's good to be home.

Day 24: Thanksgiving 2007 is now in the record books

The holiday weekend has wound down and folks are heading home. C & P are staying at a hotel tonight for an early flight back to ABQ and A&D and the kiddos left a day earlier than planned because of iffy weather (both here and on the way home). It's just me now. So, tomorrow Moma and I are going to clean the house a bit and decorate her house for Christmas ('cause it's more fun to do with someone!) and then I'll head home, too.

It has been a great weekend. The drive down on Wednesday afternoon was easy even thought there was lots of traffic in Ft. Worth and a bit of rain close to Moma's. Thursday was great with all the cooking and laughing and family fun. Friday was more of the same. Then today everything wound down.

The cats in the tent was a great idea (thank you, Daddy). They watched me unzip it a couple of times and Maxie figured out how to do it himself so they pretty much have had the run of the garage for the weekend. But they were close and I didn't have to worry about them, so it was a wonderful solution for what to do with them.

Day 23: Shopping and ginger bread houses

It has been a full day. We shopped some on the square. Acutally, I did more looking than actual shopping. C bought a couple of things, though so we did contribute to the Black Friday Economy.

When we got back to Moma & Daddy's house, A & B were awake from their naps and it was time to make the ginger bread house.





It was one gumdrop for the house and 4 for Miss A. One chocolate drop for the house, two for Mr. B. And then it was just easier to squeeze the icing directly into their mouths....



Even Uncle P got into the act...


But a beautiful gingerbread house was the sugary end result.

Day 22: If I eat one more bite

What a day. It started with little boy B falling out of bed at 7 a.m. Then cooking. Then eating and eating and a footballnap and dessert.

A day full of family and fun. You can't beat that.

I really have much to be thankful for this year...

I thankful that school is going well again.

I'm thankful that my sisters and I were able to gather together at my parents' house to eat and visit.

I'm thankful for being healthy this year.

I'm thankful for my new car because I was really starting to worry about the other one breaking down and stranding me.

I'm thankful that my friend ME's hubby didn't have a serious heart attack this morning and the doctors sent him home to rest before the battery of tests next week.

I'm thankful for all of my "regulars" who read my blog and make me feel good about my boring/crazy life.

I'm thankful for my jobs.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

P.S.: Happy Birthday, Daddy

Day 21: Over the river and throught the woods...

I'm posting early today because it is travel day! I think I have just about everything ready to go. I've got my list of things I can't forget for both me and the cats. I just have to say that I am in awe of people who travel with children. How on earth they get out the door with everything including the kids is beyond me.

I am off to the Houston area for the long weekend. I'm so excited to get to be with my family... a little sad that my brothers won't be there also, but it will be fun with just the girls. It's a dual celebration this year. Daddy is a turkey this year! (His birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day this year.) He's 59. Wow!

Anyway, there will be 9 of us at Moma's new house this year. We're having turkey and all the traditional trimmings. I predict lots of food and football for tomorrow. A good time will likely be had by all.

Hopefully, it will be an easy trip down there. I don't forsee any problems except heavier than normal trafic. I-35 is always busy on holidays!

So, for all those who are traveling to see friends and family this week, please be safe. I hope everyone enjoys visits with family and friends and stops to give thanks for blessings in life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S.: Happy Birthday, P!

Day 20: The cats will be tented

No, they don't have termites! Actually, it is the way we figured out how I can take them with me to my parents' house over the Thanksgiving holiday. Moma, my sister and my niece are sensitive to the cats. Not really a full-blown (no pun intended) allergy to them, but they do get the itchy eyes and nose so just bringing them to the house was out of the question.

Still, boarding them was what I wanted to avoid, pet sitters were looking way too expensive, and I didn't know what I was going to do. So, mom went looking for some way to keep them contained that wasn't a room in her house! My dad suggested we just set them up a tent in the back yard. Since they live in South Texas, near the coast, it won't be cold, but still outside wasn't my ideal solution to what to do with them. But, the tent in the garage will be fine.

So, I'm tenting my cats in my parents' garage. They'll actually have more room than me (I'm sharing a room with the little ones) in their tent that my mom said she'd "make nice" for them with rugs and chairs and stuff. And I guess if it gets too crowded in the house, I can always go sleep with the cats in the tent!

Day 19: No rest for the weary

I am so glad this is a two day work week.... okay, actually, I have to go into the office for Wednesday morning, but I know it will be a S-L-O-W morning work-wise since most of my sales reps will be on vacation (officially or not) already. I've just got a case of the I-don't-wannas this week.

Maybe it is just because I'm excited that I get to go see Moma and Daddy and my sisters, thier spouses and the kids or maybe it is because it will be my last weekend off until after Christmas and my first weekend off since October. I'll be working all week and going to school as usual Monday throught Friday AND at the portrait studio on Friday, Saturday and Sunday until after Christmas.

Day 18: Post Secret Secrets

I sent a postcard to Post Secret the other day. I haven't seen it on the site (nor do I really expect to) but it is really odd to think that someone or lots of someones now know one of my deepest secrets.

I don't know what I expected when I sent it in. I am still not sure how I feel about it. I have others that I have thought about sending in, but I don't know. Maybe I will.

Day 17: I got a new toy

Day 16: Texas Cities... what you write about when you have no clue

I have no idea what to write about today, so I'm going to come up with a city in Texas for each letter of the alphabet.... Think of it as your Texas Information lesson for the day.

A -- Austin: The Capital
B -- Brownsville: The bottom of Texas
C -- Corpus Christi: Where Mom's hairdresser grew up
D -- Dallas: Home of the Cowboys, Stars & Mavericks!
E -- El Paso: About as far west as you can go in Texas
F -- Fredricksburg:
G -- Galveston It's a city on an island
H -- Houston: The Bayou City
I -- Irving: Where the Cowboys play until 2009
J -- Jacksonville: Tomato Capital of the World
K -- Keller: City where I work
L -- Lukenbach: made famous by Willie, Waylon & the Boys
M -- Marfa: Home of the mysterious lights
N -- Nacogdoches: Oldest Town in Texas
O -- Odessa: Oil fields
P -- Port Lavaca: Home of the longest fishing pier
Q -- Quanah: Named for Quanah Parker
R -- Roanoke: Home of the late Byron Nelson
S -- South Padre Island: SPRING BREAK
T -- Texline: The Top of Texas (and where I graduated from high school)
U -- Uvalde
V -- Victoria: the South Texas Crossroads
W -- Waco: (home of Dr. Pepper)
X -- ?
Y -- Yoakum
Z -- Zapata: where they hang glide

Day 15: If you can understand this, you're smart

On someone else's blog (I'm sorry, I don't remember whose it was or I'd give you credit and a link) I found two readability tests. I am actually surprised by the results.

The other one (link here) had me at the level of academic papers.

It isn't that I don't feel I'm smart. I just didn't realize I used that many big words!

Day 14: My Morning

This morning, just like most every weekday morning, I was doing that last minute rush to get out of the house while running through the checklist of things I have to do before I walk out the door: Are the cats fed? Check. Lights off? Check. Litter scooped? Check. Have keys? Check. Cell phone? Check. And so on.

Generally (and unfortunately quite often) I lose my keys and there is the 2 minute, where-the-heck-did-I-put-them-oh-there-they-are kind of hunt. Because of that I have tried very hard to get into the habit of putting my purse and keys in their place (keys on the key peg and purse on the door knob to the coat closet) so I don't have to hunt for them as I rush around of a morning.

This morning, I was running my usual 5 minutes late and as I grabbed my purse to drop something into it on the way out the front door, I realized my wallet (with EVERYTHING in it) was not there. Um, can you say YIKES!!!!

It is amazing how fast your brain works when in a state of panic. (enter curse word here) What was the last check number? (enter curse word here) What cards are there and what is the number I have to call to cancel them all? (enter curse word here) Did I drop that prescription off at the pharmacy or is it still in the wallet? (enter curse word here) If I did lose it last night, how much damage has already been done?

I called the last place I'd been (grocery store) to check to see if someone had turned it in. No. (enter curse word here) Check the car. Not there. (enter curse word here) Come in the house where could it be? Full on panic mode is setting in at this point. I turn and glance toward the couch and there, peeking out from between my cushions, I see a bit of pink. Crisis averted. (enter serious prayers of thanksgiving here)

Time from beginning of panic to finding lost item: approximately 5 minutes. Years taken off of my life: approximately 5. Relief I felt when I found my fabulous pink wallet: Immeasurable.

Day 13: Texas Trivia

AKA... Things I learned in the Third Grade.

In no particular order...

1) The state was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845 and Texas is the only state to enter the United States by treaty instead of territorial annexation.

2) Six flags have flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The Confederacy, and The United States

3) The state bird is the Mockingbird

4) The state flower is the Bluebonnet

5) The state song is Texas Our Texas written by Composer William J. Marsh of Fort Worth along with lyricist Gladys Yoakum Wright

6) The state tree is the Pecan tree (pu-con not pee-can)

7) Texas blue topaz is the state gemstone

8) Texas' state insect is the monarch butterfly

9) The Armor-plated armadillo is the offical state small mammal, Guadalupe bass is the state fish, the the Mexican Free-tailed Bat is the state flying mammal, and the state large mammal is the Longhorn

10) The official dish of Texas is chili

11) The state grass is the sideoats grama

12) The state motto is "friendship"

13) The state pepper is the jalapeño

14) The dome of the Capitol Building, in Austin, stands seven feet higher than that of the nation's Capitol in Washington, D.C.

15) Texas is known as the Lone Star State

Day 12: Veterans Day -- A Pittance of Time

Yesterday was actually Veterens Day. The holiday honoring military veterans. It is celebrated on the same day as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)

Today or yesterday really, in my humble opion, should be a solemn day for remembering and thanking and honoring those who fought and died or those who fought and came home forever changed by what they've seen. It irritates me that here in the U.S. Veterans Day has become little more than another day for stores to have big sales. It saddens me that an estimated 1/4 of the homeless in America are vets who haven't received the help they've needed when they come home. To me it is wrong that the flag-draped coffins of American Soldiers who died fighting for freedom can't be shown on TV because it is too "political" and divisive.

So, please take the time to watch the video and offer a prayer of thanks for those who defend our freedoms. This is by a Canadian songwriter named Terry Kelly and called a Pittance of Time.


I am overwhelingly appreciative for the fact that someone fought for my freedom... and humbled by the fact that so many died for it. I am grateful for my grandfathers, all three of them, who served in WWII -- two in the Navy and one in the Army Air Corps. I am indebted all those who fought in WWII -- the War to End All Wars -- and for those who have fought in all the wars after. I am deeply grateful for those who are this country's newest veterans. I do believe they are making me safer through their service.

I want to say thank you. Thank you for your service and your scrifices. I know the sacrifices are many and yet, you chose/choose to make them. Thank you.

Day 11: Cats are funny

I know I said I'd only talk about the cats (1) on Saturdays or (2) when they scare the complete crap out of me (see Day 2). Well, tonight I am sitting here on my couch laughing at the cats. I have 2 identical chairs in my living room. They sit side by side. The cats only like one of them. I have actually rearranged the two chairs and it is the not actually the chair but the location they seem to like most.

Maxie was laying in the chair tonight alseep. Buddy got up into the chair with him and shoved him out of the chair. He started out laying next to Max, then rolled over and put his feet on Maxie and started stretching until finally he was sprawled over the seat of the chair not leaving Maxie enough room! Now, Maxie is a slim 18 pounds and stands 16 inches tall at his shoulder and Buddy is only 9 pounds and rather petite. A little later, Maxie went back and battle royale ensued over said chair. Maxie won that and reclaimed his spot.

After a quick nap, Maxie got up to do his regular patrol of the house. Buddy took advantage and is now sleeping round in the chair and Maxie is sleeping on the rug.

Strange kitties.... or maybe just a bored kitty's person who promised herself she'd blog every day in November and she just didn't have anything else to blog about!