Crazy things

Well, us moving is up in the air. Tony, I think, has decided that we won’t be able to get a loan, but I won’t give up. I know that something will work out, I have to believe that. I can’t give up before we have even started. Amie and I are planning on looking at houses if we have a day off together. Maybe it will be a waste of time, maybe we won’t be able to get a loan, but I don’t want to give up before we even start! I love Tony, and I know that he can be pessimistic, but that is who he is and I wouldn’t change him for the world. I will just have to keep up being the one who has the faith, keep him from going doubting too much.

I know that Tony will be reading this eventually, and I just want him to know, I really believe we can get a loan somewhere! We just have to keep trying. We are already outgrowing this house and we really need that $8000 tax credit next year. So, keep praying for us. Thanks.




Sick

It seems like I have been getting sick a lot lately. Last Friday, I felt terrible after working all day. I had to call and let my leaders know that I wasn’t going to be at my first Bible study lesson! I didn’t feel any better by Saturday, but I was not going to miss a seven hour work day either, not when we need that money. I didn’t stay the entire time. I left two hours early, after I got sick from my lunch. Sunday, I stayed home and did nothing, just so I could be well enough to go to work on Monday. By Monday, I was fine. I was up and about, nothing wrong at all. HA! Now I have no voice and a cough that keeps my voice from coming back. Well, that and having to try and talk at work. That’s always fun to do. I have had no voice sine Tuesday night and it’s now Saturday. Thankfully, that is the only thing wrong and isn’t keeping me from work.

Tony is also sick, though he doesn’t want to admit it. He insisted on going to work yesterday after waking up with a fever. I am pretty sure he will go to work tonight also. True, his fever had gone down by the time he had to go to work, but it came back. I could feel it. I guess he’s just stubborn, not that I’m not. 🙂 We are very stubborn people. One of the many reasons I love him.

Hopefully, Amie doesn’t get sick from us. She can’t get miss any work any any more than Tony and I can. We have a house full of poor people who need to work and need insurance. Though Amie will be able to get that soon enough from her work. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to get it from Goodwill when I am working more with my head cashier position, which I start training for today! Pray that everything goes well.




Just updating

I finally have internet, so hopefully, I will be writing more often. I was working two jobs for awhile, just so we could pay bills and get food. I was working at KFC with Tony and at Goodwill. Thankfully, that is over with now. I was getting very stressed and Goodwill offered one of my co-workers a promotion. She took it, which gave me her job. I would be working the morning shift which would give me close to 30 hours a week, which was what I needed! For a couple of weeks now I have been working the morning shift, but wait…there is more to my tale! I am being promoted as well! Kelsey is now head cashier and starting Saturday, I will begin my training for head cashier! That will give me at least 35 hours a week! Which definitely helps since Tony and I now have four cats in our house.
Padme is not happy with us, but I am hoping that she will calm down after a week or so. If she doesn’t, they will have to go back, but she calmed down after we brought home Beru, so we are hoping that she will calm down with Darth and Chewie soon enough. I love them all, but Padme is my baby! She is so spoiled and I know it’s my fault, but I cannot make myself regret what I have done with her.

In a couple of weeks, my little baby and her sister, Beru, will be getting fixed and I (and Tony) are hoping that Padme will become calmer and want to cuddle again. That is one of the things I miss from when she was a kitten. She loved to cuddle. Now, she loves to play. I have to say that that is all right too. I get plenty of picture opportunities from that. Though, of course, at the moment, she is being grumpy and anti-social.

Tony and I now have a roommate. Amie has move and is spoiling my little babies. Not that I need any help with that any!

Well, I guess that is the main things to update, since my lap is being occupied by one of my kittens, which makes it a little difficult to type.




10,000 steps

Recently I purchased a pedometer. According to a large amount of literature, a person should try to walk 10,000 steps per day to stay healthy. That is roughly 5 miles per day. Now I thought I walked a lot every day, but apparently I’m not reaching my 10,000 steps.

If I attach the pedometer first thing in the morning, I will have 300+ steps by the time I reach my desk at work. I could try to add to that by parking farther from the door, but our parking lot is only so big. By going to get coffee, or walking to someones desk instead of e-mailing or using the phone, I can have 1,000+ steps by lunch time. That will give me around 3,000 steps when I head to my car in the evening. Only 7,000 steps to go….

I’ve been walking at lunch for about 20-30 minutes and that adds about 2,000 to 2,500 steps to my daily count. So only 4,500 steps left. On most days, this is almost all the steps that get counted. Even roaming through the Walmart store, or other shopping that I do, only add about 1,000 steps. Making dinner, catching up with the things I have to do at home maybe 1,000 more. So I’ve usually been 2,000+ steps shy of 10,000 every evening. I guess I could do less internet surfing and reading during the evening hours, but that is how I relax after the day. I’m not big on doing the exercise bit, never have been, and even though I know it would be good for me, I resist. I guess I will have to see how many steps I get when I do things like cut wood this winter. I always thought that was good exercise when I did it, but I never knew how much I walked to get the wood back to the house. I will find out soon enough….

Today there are no worries about getting my 10,000 steps in. I almost accomplished that at work today. In our work move, some of the extra furniture was stored in two meeting rooms. Today was the day to get 1 of those rooms in order. So, by moving stuff from one place to another I managed to hit 7,000 steps by 12:00 pm today. With all of the other walking I did, I only have 500 to hit the magic 10,000 mark. And since I’m in a play, I guess I will be adding some daily pacing to my other walking activities.

Oh well, I need to be off to pick up my youngest. A few more steps out to the truck…




It is too late in the year, but maybe next year

I just found a recipe for next years Summer parties. It looks like it would be quick, easy and really inexpensive. The question remains who would eat it. Hmmmm Is anyone ready for Fried Grasshoppers?

Now I am sure that most people would see the grasshopper on the plate and just pass on this wonderful new recipe. So I have found more ways to serve bugs, and there are even some that you won’t see the bug at all.

More on eating bugs.
Even more on eating bugs.
More recipes.
Are you grossed out yet?




And People Wonder Why We Left…

America’s Most Stressful Cities

Few enjoy their commute. Just ask Stephen Dinwiddie, M.D., a psychiatrist at the University of Chicago.

“I think anybody who, like I do, commutes on the Kennedy on a daily basis knows exactly what stress is,” he says, of his daily home-to-work commute on Chicago’s expressway that extends from the Chicago Loop to O’Hare International Airport. “It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to several centuries–at least subjectively.”
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But more pressing factors make Chicago for the second year in a row the country’s most stressful city. Crowding, poor air quality, a high 11% unemployment rate and free-falling home values have created a cocktail of constant worry affecting many in the Windy City.

Read More…




VIPs For A Day (part one of more parts)

On Thursday, my husband’s brilliant ability to find awesome entertainment deals on the internet paid off once again.  He booked us a VIP tour at King’s Island (click for a view of the rides and attractions!) near Cincinnati Ohio, and we spent the entire day at this awesome amusement park!  The VIP tour included our own personal guide; a park employee who followed us around all day leading us up the exits of every ride so that we got to bypass the line and ride without waiting – in the seat of our own choosing. We also got to wear lanyards with VIP passes on them (think of the movie Wayne’s World when Wayne and Garth get backstage passes to see Alice Cooper.  They wear them around their necks and proudly display their lanyards, flashing them into the faces of nearly everyone they encounter, hilarious!) – and tempting to reenact, but there were some people in line who were upset that we got to board without waiting in line; I wouldn’t want to rub it in.  But I would recommend the VIP tour to anyone who wants to go to King’s Island  – it includes a guide (you can even make him do things, like hold your stuff and go on rides, haha!), no lines (sometimes a minimal 5 minute wait at the gate while the ride operators find a place to stick you in, not really an issue at all – there is plenty to watch for those 5 minutes), an all-you-can-eat buffet for lunch, unlimited fountain drinks throughout the day, ice cream, a backstage tour of The Beast (the longest wooden roller coaster in the world!), and 2 ride pictures.  A great deal, especially if you want to sit through my following narrative to see if it’s a place you’d want to visit:

The lady on the phone told us to get to the park at 8:30 am, so we were actually early and had to wait in a car line to get in.  When we got to the park, we got shuffled around and had to wait a bit more – it seems that this part of the tour could be tweaked a little bit.  We didn’t get our guide and get on rides until about 9:45.  Still early (park opens to the general public at 10), but we had about an extra hour of doing nothing at the park (could have slept an hour longer!), so perhaps they should tweak this part of the tour to make it run more smoothly for the guest – everything else about the tour is really great though!  So anyway, our guide comes to meet us, and we gave him our list of rides and follow him around the park.  Actually, since it was before 10, only the park’s brand new showcase ride and The Beast were open.  So we began with the Diamondback – which I had named as the ride that scared me the most on the way over.  But I loved it!  It was so smooth and all those fast drops were so fun in the cool open air.  The Beast was another story.  I liked it, but it was very rattly and jerky.  Going back on The Beast later in the day and sitting in the front row changed the experience for me, however, and we ended up riding it a lot!  Once we discovered the front car of The Beast and I switched sides of the train with hubby, I enjoyed the ride immensely.  It’s a 4 minute, 50 second ride through the forest on a wooden roller coaster at speeds of over 60 mph.  The subtle sound of chirping birds accompanied by the naturalistic scents of the surrounding forest and the wooden tunnels where the coaster whizzes is indescribable.  A comment on themeparkinsider.com says about The Beast, “Running through the thick forest at 65 mph on an intense wooden coaster…about as close to riding a real beast as you can get. Classic ride that always delivers.” – I have to agree.  They built another wooden coaster at King’s Island called Son of the Beast, but it closed in June when people complained it was too rough.  From the printed King’s Island info, I learned that Son of the Beast was a looping wooden coaster – interesting.  Oh well, maybe it’ll open some day for me to try.  But back to the backstage tour of The Beast – very cool.  We watched some trains descend the first large drop which actually leads directly underground into a tunnel.  We walked further into the forest (noticed some long-gone riders’ possessions along the way: broken sunglasses, coins, hats, etc.  Didn’t see any cell phones, but then again, we saw the lost cell phone display they have in the Diamondback area – a big clear box FULL of cell phones, ipods, Blackberries, PDAs, etc. ), and we learned some interesting facts while watching riders fly past us – and boy, were they surprised to see us walking around back there in the forest!! As for the facts – the entire coaster was built from scratch on site; unlike many of today’s coasters which are shipped into the parks in segments.  The Beast was built around and including the existing rolling terrain of the Miami River valley in lower Ohio, and as I mentioned, it goes underground.  It has speed monitors built into parts of the track, so if a train is going to fast, it will automatically break to slow itself down.  I gratefully noticed this while riding, and it helped calm my concerns of flying off the track.  This coaster goes so fast into those tunnels – WOW!  For all these reasons and more, it’s a coaster like NO other!  Here’s a pic – looks like something I’ll have to try in the fall; the forest looks beautiful during peak season for color-changing leaves:

delete-beast

Ironically, the exact opposite thing happened with the Diamondback –  I loved it the first time, and then I tried the front row which was absolutely terrifying!  I  won’t be riding the front of the Diamondback again.  Careening down that  first 74° drop (!) practically face-down at over 80 mph with only a red thing between my legs to keep me from plummeting to the earth made me feel like I was going to die for sure.

delete-diamondback

And not in a good way, which is ironically enough sometimes the reason why lots of crazy people like to ride coasters.  Being in the front seat on Diamondback makes it look like the the track disappears beneath you, then before you know it, you’re flying in the air getting lift out of your seat and you have nothing on either side nor in front of you – yikes!  I’ve grown too old to feel invincible, so I put a cap on my thrill-seeking.  I enjoy a good coaster, but I also have my limits.  If you are a thrill-seeker roller coaster enthusiast who just can’t get enough, try the front car on Diamondback!  And a side note, the guy who gave us the behind the scenes tour of The Beast is the guy who thought of the name for Diamondback; it was an interesting experience to have something like that come up during a conversation.

I think I’ll stop there for now…  it was a big day, and I’d like to write up more and get more pictures up – and yes, I  do have those free ride pictures we got of Chris and I on The Beast and Diamondback.  Am I willing to post them on the internet?  Maybe you’ll have to read my other King’s Island posts to find out!




Car Problems and lots of fun

I was going to take my car in today to see exactly what was wrong with it. It started up fine after charging the battery, but this morning the battery was dead again. Hmmm, didn’t seem to want to hold a charge. I tried the jumper box and it was no go. I hooked up the charger again, but the battery would not charge up. I took the cover off of the battery and found out the problem. The four year old batter was leaking acid and the sides were bulging. After 4 years, I guess the battery gave up.

Now it was off to town to get a battery. First to Wally World, no battery for my truck. First Car Part store, no go. They could order it for tomorrow… How do I get around? I’ll try the dealer. Dealer was a no go too, they could get it tomorrow too. So I stopped at the next Car Part store. Yes, they had one (maybe). The guy knew there was one there this morning, but he thought it may have been sold. They went to check and it was still there. Yeah.

I got home and installed the battery and the truck started right up. So for now I will keep an eye on the truck to make sure the battery isn’t getting drained by something. But with the looks of the old one, and a strange smell that was no missing, I’m sure it was just the battery. So for now, the truck is up and running.

Special thanks in this to my newlywed daughter and her husband for driving this old man around town looking for a battery.
Also thanks to the Admin for the use of his battery jumper. It only worked once, but that wasn’t the fault of the device.

I do have a question. Why do new cars and truck enclose the battery in a box? You can no longer see the battery and lose visual clues as to its condition. I think I would have looked for a battery sooner if I had seen a side bulging.




SAVE OHIO LIBRARIES!

It’s a catch-22.  In this horrible economy, people are using the free resources provided by their local libraries more than ever.  However, in this horrible economy, governments are having trouble funding the free resources provided by local libraries.  Here in Ohio, Governor Strickland is contemplating a new state budget cut that would reduce our libraries’ funding by an additional 52%, and that’s on top of the 20% cut they’ve already seen in 2009.  With this kind of reduction in funding, obviously the libraries would not be able to function on the same level on which they are currently functioning, nor with the same hours.  If you live in Ohio, you can help the governor and congressmen know how harmful library funding cuts would be to each and every community in the state.  Here is some contact info to help you do  your part in saving the libraries:

Click here to  Contact the Governor’s Office
Contact the Governor’s Office by phone @ (614)466-3555
Fax the Governor @ (614)466-9354

State Senator Steve Buehrer
Phone: (614) 466-8150
Fax: (614) 466-4250 ATTENTION STEVE BUEHRER
Email: SD01@senate.state.oh.us
For more information, click here:
www.saveohiolibraries.com

Thank you for your help!  Closing library branches is harmful to communities in many ways and would affect everyone, even those who don’t use the libraries themselves.




Can you dance.

I think I will have to admit this video shows someone who can dance better than I do. It doesn’t really take a lot.

Dancing Parrot

 

I thought I knew how to embed a video, but I can’t seem to make it work.  Oh well, it is worth the time to click on it.