ALL ABOARD!

Lord, what was I thinking? Was I crazy? I have a pool. wow. finally. I'll feel better once I get the first power bill.. or maybe not.

11 months. 11 MONTHS.

My father used to tell me I had a one track mind, and On that one track mind was a freight train and Lord help anything that got in the way.

Sometimes it serves me well... getting me through tough times. And at other times, it's more like tunnel vision. All I can see is that destination in front of me. And nothing will deter me.

Well, the train is out of the tunnel and at the station...

One day, I really do need to get a conductor. Until then... I'm going to enjoy this destination for a while.

~!!

We interrupt your regularly programmed whine schedule to announce:

PLASTER...... TOMORROW!


Carry on....

IT'S A MONSTER!

The deck is done.

The consensus from deck builders, concrete companies, and various sundry people seems to be ..."Lady, you have a monster piece of concrete in your backyard."

1200 square feet of monster concrete mascarading as a deck.

The way they say it, I feel like I should be slapping my forehead and saying, "OMG, what was I thinking?! Was I trying for a flat Stone Mountain or something as lawn decor?!!!"

Instead, I just nod. I know it's a monster. I paid the concrete driver for the two full trucks that brought it. I don't care. It's here. It's one step closer to swimming.I don't care that it's almost as big as my basement.

Monster deck.... love it....

But I'm waiting in trepidation to see the monster bill.

They can't repo a monster deck, can they? Can they?!

Just add water..please!

LET'S ALL TRY NOT TO FAINT

Unbelievable, I know. Work being done on the dPOD.















Amazing.















Tomorrow, Phase II... when the color comes out.....
Frankly, it could turn out red, or purple, or pink..
I wouldn't care... 'cuz
I have a DECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOYS vs GIRLS

High School Proms... For Girls:

...You talk about Prom starting 3 months beforehand.
...You go shopping for a dress in every mall within a 300 mile radius. Twice
....You agonize over hair and make up.
...After finding the right dress, you try on every shoe made to find in another 300 mile radius to find the perfect pair.
...You are on zit watch for week, praying one won't show up.
...You talk for hours, days, weeks about PROM. PROM... THE PROM.

High School Proms...For Boys:

...You tell your mother that day - 3 hours before you need to leave; Oh by the way, you're going to Prom.

3 REASONS I CELEBRATE MOTHERS DAY

Any guess which ones are twins?

Jumping the Shark

Well, it's official... I've jumped the shark.

I am home today suffering with a 'bad' back.

I never had back problems until about a year or so ago when I tried to lift one end of a riding lawn mower.

Something in my back went 'pop' and I ended up face up in the front yard unable to move for a few minutes.

Ever since then, if I lift something wrong, I feel another little pop and back spasms are soon on their way, rendering me a painful, semi immobile lump.

Yesterday at work, I lifted a server off the floor and there it was.... that little 'pop'.

Today, I am at home, unable to walk like a normal human, upright.... or get out of bed without the help of another person.

It looks as though I've become one of 'those' people with a bad back.

So I think it's time I officially acknowledge

.....I've jumped the shark. Somebody throw me a raft.

Jill Of Trades

Yesterday, I got to work early for once. Well, hey. The boss is in town, I figured it's the least I could do.

Before noon I had dealt with:

~ What looked to be an attempt to hack our network.

~ Reports of a lost remote for the boss's tv at his condo.
................With my luck, it's probably sealed under the new hardwood floors.

~ Asked to figure out - "If it's 17:00 ITC Banglore, what time is my conference call in Atlanta and the guys in Puerto Rico."
................. ACK! This is like that math problem with the two trains, isn't it. If it wasn't for google search, I'd crash and burn on this for sure.

~ Curtains that were hung improperly in boss's condo. Apparently the cleaning lady cannot tie curtain tie tabs AND my boss can recognize this fact(?!) so now I'll have to go to the apartment and fix them.
.................Luckily for me I spent 8 years doing this kinda thing with my decorating business, so I'm highly qualified to handle this. Besides, I need to go find the remote for the tv too.

~ Wet carpets in a hotel room where one of the guys in town from San Juan is staying. The hotel gave him towels to put on the floor.
..........I suggested he have fun and climb around and walking on the furniture. He just smiled at me. Apparently my sense of humor must be too dry for him, unlike his floor.

~ Birds that kept fighting and slamming into the front windows of my office.
...... OK. That's just creepy and weird.

~ People asking me why the birds are fighting and slamming into the large windows.
..............Like I went out and asked them?

~ Getting two lawn mowers to two different mechanic shops.
............Shop A doesn't work on Toro's but does work on MTD's and Shop B doesn't work on MTD's but does work on Toro's. Apparently lawn mower repair is a highly specialized service. Who knew?

And Today............

Today, there have been no conference call math problems, no hotel complaints, no birds slamming into windows, and no one has said anything other than good morning to me.

Today I was 10 minutes late.

.... hmmm, I just might be on to something here.

WONDERful Mondays

7:00am: Vaguely hear alarm clock. Get up stumble across room to turn off alarm clock. Run back to bed.

7:10am: Hear second alarm clock more clearly. Roll over and hit the snooze.

7:15am: Hear second alarm clock again. Hit radio 'on.' People talking first thing in the morning annoy me. Usually enough to make me get up. Usually. Finally get up and walk down the hall to go bang on door of son #3. Stumble back to bed knowing I really shouldn't crawl back under the covers again. Sit propped up in bed trying to wish coffee would appear as I listen for sounds of Son #3 stirring. Coffee does not magically appear. Son does not stir.

7:16am: Get up, brush teeth, wash face, and go bang on Son #3's door again as I pass by on my way downstairs to start coffee. Wait those 5 painstakingly long minutes until a cup is ready to be stolen from the pot and groan as I take the first sip. Go back upstairs, bang on Son #3's door as I pass by back to my bedroom. Sit down at computer and sign on.

7:21am: "Thud" at the amount of alerts in mailbox. Damn there are some writing fool insomniacs in Blog and J-Land.

7:25am: Get up from desk, walk down hall bang on, and yell through, Son #'s door. He's up. I wonder where he gets his 'I don't do mornings' attitude. Head back downstairs for more coffee.. I mean as long as I'm 'up', I might as well.

7:26am: Back at desk, reading the world through the eyes of AOL.

7:30am: Wonder what I will wear to work.

7:45am: Yell "I love you and bye" to Son #3 as he leaves for school.

8:00am: Glance over at closet and wonder what to wear.

8:01am: Head back downstairs for more coffee. and YES, I live for the stuff.

8:03am - 8:30am: Read on the www and wonder what I will wear to work.

8:30am: Wander into bathroom and wonder what I will wear to work.

8:40am: Wander into the closet and wonder what I will wear to work.

8:41am: Go sit back atdesk, notice that I have 19 minutes to get dressed and get to work. sip coffee and wonder... what will I wear to work.

8:42am: Walk back into closet, throw clothes around and end up with jeans and boots and some blouse/sweater as usual and wonder what the hell I'm going to wear when it gets 80 degrees outside. Resolve to lose these extra 10 lbs.

8:55am: Get more coffee for the morning drive and hit the road.

9:10: Arrive at work, late. again. Wake.repeat as many times as needed.

Mondays. They're just full of friggen wonder.

Patio!!

Here's the table set for the pool deck.

For now, it's scrunched together on the back patio underneath the deck, looking like a pristine junk yard.

But one day...........

ONE day, it's going to find itself sitting on hot concrete, baking in the searing sun, the cushions fading from the chlorine in the pool and the table tiles stained from food and drinks.

One day.............One fine, glorious day.

Incomplete

Judi asked about creative projects, and it got me thinking....

I started looking and thinking about all the unfinished projects I have. Most of them I will "get back to later."I'm have a confession. I'm a craft freak. I've done a few projects. Padded and fabric covered a bathroom's walls. Made a quilt. Crocheted a few afghans. That kind of thing.

I've a gazillion ideas. Of those, a few hundred have been completed, a few thousand have been started, and another few thousand are stacked like magazine pictures on a idea shelf....and by the way, if you didn't know, I had a decorating business for 8 years.

I made custom drapes, ottomans, table skirts, pillows.. all that stuff. .. for everyone except for myself. Well I did make some pillows and one set of drapes for the house... but that's it.

I took and art/painting class 2 years ago. I still haven't finished the class painting. It's a still life. Now I see why I never finished it.

In my bedroom I have purple velvet type drape panels that are store bought (gasp), held up with push pins because I can't get the energy up to finding where I put all the curtain rods..... as if curtain rod curtains are acceptable to someone that made elaborate drapery treatments to begin with... But there are Push pins in my wall paper .... and that's just plain wrong.

Speaking of wallpaper. I shouldn't be allowed near the stuff. I can't wallpaper. I know this because I have tried. I wall papered my kitchen which looks tolerable; my bedroom which looks passable; and my bathroom which looks hideous.

Where was I going with this..? I forget.

le sigh... I guess I'll get back to it later...

Ahhh weekends...

Glorious lazy weekends.

Friday night Son#3 and I left for the 4H camp for his shooting event on Saturday.

It rained. It not only rained, but there were tornado warnings as well. I tried to take pictures, but the camera wasn't cooperating. There was nothing to see anyway except 400 kids and their respective parents congregating outside various buildings in the rain. Wet. Soaking wet.

Perhaps a photo study of umbrellas would have been nice..... but the batteries failed, so pfft on that.

Then came today. Sunday. Motor sunday.

I ordered (yes a royal edict even) for one or two of my sons to go mow the "F-ing" grass.

I have 3 lawn mowers and NONE work. Not even the new one I bought last fall. Course the oldest mower is missing a wheel but still! A wheel is not needed to start a mower. The new one was just being stubborn and refused to crank; and last but not least, the riding lawn mower smoked when it worked but now it had a dead battery.

But we perservered.



pull.crank.cuss.pull.crank.cuss.pull.crank.cuss.kick. nothing.

So I figured I'd go buy a new battery for the riding lawn mower.

I mean, so what if it smokes so bad that last year the neighbors came running thinking my house was on fire. At least the yard would look nice ... and there was a stiff wind blowing so the smoke would dissipate quickly.

New battery installed and then...

We hooked up the new battery/wires accordingly and THIS happened. It friggen melted the 'Negative' post. MELTED! MELTED IT!

... that's just so wrong.