Could this day be any longer????

Yes, it probably could, so I should quit whining. I'm still at work and it's 6:15. I'm only here because I'm waiting for Mark to get back. I have actually been working up to this point. Mark had to go to the doctor on his way back from his last service call. Sunday we put a new pump in the pond because the old one had stopped working for whatever reason. Well, this new pump was in that plastic packaging that is so freaking hard to open...you know the stuff I mean, right? You have to cut into it and pry it apart and the edges get all jagged and sharp. Well, he's opening this pump package and a piece of the plastic flew off and hit him in the eye. He can still see out of it, but it's very irritated, so he finally went to the doctor to get something to make it feel better and heal a little faster. Poor Mark. It really has been making him miserable. Hopefully the medicine will make him all better.

Since food perks up a blog, let me tell you about last night's dinner. We had chicken quesadillas. I love quesadillas. However, this was a frozen package deal. I keep some quick meals like this in the freezer for nights when we're too tired to cook, which last night turned out to be...alas, no turnip greens and blackeye peas for me. Maybe tonight. Anyway, this was one of those deals and it was awful...absolutely terrible. So, even if you're in a hurry, don't buy that. Yuck! You know, why is that even a convenience meal...it's not like quesadillas are terribly labor intensive as it is. What was I thinking?

Ok...I had to delay posting for a day...so the above was from Tuesday. It is now Wednesday night. To fill you "need to know" void about what I ate for dinner. Last night we had Barbecue pork chops (thankfully Mark has been giving me break from the fried pork chops), blackeyed peas and lima beans. Starchy, yes, but it was really good. Or I was really hungry. I suspect both. Tonight we had yet another pork product (what can I say, the man likes pork). He roasted a pork tenderloin with pepper and some lemons. Mmmmm...it was good! We also had french style green beans and yellow and white corn. Again, I was really hungry. I've been tryint to be better about what I choose to eat for lunch. Yesterday I had an Asian Chicken salad from McDonalds. I wasn't impressed. There were beans in it. I am slightly ashamed to say this, but I didn't know what kind of beans they were. This is sad because I later discovered they were soybeans!! I only have a few acres of them planted in my backyard and live in the town that this coming weekend will be kicking off the Soybean Festival. You'd think I'd know what one of these things look like, but nooooo. I didn't. Moving on...today I had a turkey sub from Subway. On wheat with spicy mustard, lettuce, tomato and black olives. It was ok, but not all that exciting. Although I did discover some granola bars this evening that I really like. I was sure they would be disgusting, but they were actually quite good. Jennifer would not like them, they have a bit of a coconuty flavor to them.
Wow, I'm rambling on. For my mother...food and receipts are excellent blog material. Everyone likes to know what you had for lunch/dinner and what you bought on your last Target (or whatever) spree. Ok...maybe not everyone. But your daughters sure like it!

Monday, Monday...

To quote Laura's title from today. It seemed appropriate. I've decided, since reading both Laura's and Jennifer's blogs today, that my life is sad and boring. So, Jennifer suggested I share minute details...you asked for it...here it goes.

I woke up this morning at 6:45 (thankfully we live pretty close to work so I can do this), took my temperature...for those of you not in the know...I've been doing this for the past week. Not in an attempt to get pregnant, but at the request of my OBGYN. Again, you asked for detail...you got it. So, I did that, took a shower, got dressed, put my makeup on in the car as Mark drove us to work. I really like being able to do that. It gives me 5-10 extra minutes of sleep and I really like sleep. I spent about 5 minutes at the office and then left to go to my dentist appointment. I went to a different dentist this time, and I really liked it. I think they did a much better job...and they're on my insurance. Fun.

Then I drove back to Martin to pick-up some paperwork from the office before heading to Trenton (45 minute drive) to install a couple machines at Quebecor. I met Jimmie (a co-worker) for lunch, finished up at Quebecor and headed for Dresden (another hour in the car). I spoke to Lee briefly on the way. To find out he's going to Nebraska before he moves to Wyoming and that he doesn't start until next week. He had gotten mail for me (my tag renewal for my car) that he needs to mail to me. This is slightly interesting. We bought my car in Georgia and it was originally registered in GA, then we moved back to TN, but we didn't re-register the cars until we moved to Union City, which is Obion county. Then last year I registered the car in Weakley County (Martin). This tag renewal was sent to Lee's parents' house in Gallatin and said to go to the Sumner County Court Clerk. Huh? The car has never been registered in Sumner County. The last known address the State should have had for me is here, in Martin. On top of that, Mommy said she had gotten my driver's license renewal in the mail (it had also been sent to Lee's parents'). The last address on my driver's license was in Union City. What is going on? I have no idea. My tag's have to be renewed by the end of September, so I guess I'll be finding out in the near future. It's very strange though.
Anyway, good conversation, although relatively brief, with Lee. He's very excited about his railroad job, and you just can't help but be excited for him. He's always wanted to work for the railroad. He loves trains. So, I'm very happy that he's getting to do that.

Back in Dresden, I visited a customer who is hopefully buying a new color copier from us. That went fine, took about 15 minutes. Back to the office in Martin. I worked on a couple of projects I have going on there...When we got off work, Mark and I went to the Pub for about 20 minutes and decided we just "weren't feeling it" and came home. I think we are just too tired to socialize. And that brings us to here. Mark is on the couch and I am blogging.

Jennifer, I don't know that this made things more interesting, but I tried. I didn't leave anything out. My life is just kind of dull. Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, wake up...you get the picture. I did have a nice steak quesadilla for lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Trenton. I believe tonight we are having pork chops...Mark's favorite, we have them at least once a week. I think I'm going to throw in some turnip greens and blackeye peas just to be really Southern. Should be pretty good...or at least as good as usual. Ok then, I'm going to go pour myself a glass of cranberry juice and get started on dinner, unless Mark feels like cooking. I thought I'd be a little more zapped after today than I am. I'm tired, but I've still got enough energy at this point to at least get dinner ready and do some dishes. Ok, washing dishes may be pushing it. I hope everyone is having a good week so far!

Where has the weekend gone?

It's already Sunday night. I don't wanna go to work tomorrow!! (said in my whiniest possible voice). I'm dreading this next week so much. I know I'm going to be swamped. Usually I don't know, it just happens, but this week I know. So I get to anticipate all the fun I'm going to have. Great.

In other news...Hmm, it seems I don't really have any other "news". Mark did take me out on a nice little date last night. We got dressed up and everything. It was kind of an impromptu thing. He took me to the Opera House, which is our one and only "nice" restaurant. And it actually is very nice. Not even just nice "for Martin", it's really nice (how many times can I say nice) It was fun, we don't do that very often. So, that was my big outing for the weekend. Oh, and earlier yesterday I went to our new Super Wal-mart for the first time. I hate Wal-Mart, I really do, but it's kind of nice to have it nearby when I need it I guess. And, as Wal-Marts go, this one was pretty good.

Today all I've done is wash dishes and laundry. I want to have everything in order for next week so I don't have to worry about it until next weekend. Except for the dishes, I guess I'll probably have to wash some of those during the week. Otherwise that could just get gross. I want ALL of the laundry done though. Since we had the party last weekend I didn't get it ALL done on the weekend. I hate that.

Alright then. I have just succeeded in posting about absolutely nothing. I'll try to do better next time, but when I leave work out, there's just not alot left. Sad, isn't it?

The aftermath of shrimp night

The party went well last night, although the turnout wasn't as great as we expected. I chalk alot of that up to the heat...and it was hot! I have a few pictures to share...first, Mark before the party being rather pensive:

This, to most of you, looks like average Mark, right? Well, just wait, there's a good one of him coming later...keep scrolling. Next, though, the food. We had a TON of food. We did kind of a Lowcountry Boil kind of thing. The Savannah influence! For those of you who have never had lowcountry boil it is shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausage all cooked together. We didn't have the sausage in with the rest of it. Our sausage was in the red beans and rice, so it wasn't exactly a lowcountry boil, but...it was good. Mark also grilled some coconut shrimp and made oysters rockefeller. And Tonia made some slaw that was SO GOOD and went really well with the rest of it. You know, I didn't cook anything...Mark did all of this. With a little help from Mike Talley...


So...here's the food...


And...here's Mark on a roll...this may have been the funniest thing that happened all night. He was "preaching", apparently his audience was really getting into it....




This is the funniest picture I've seen in quite awhile, but maybe you had to be there to really appreciate how funny it is.





And, just to be fair...here's a picture of me taken at about 2am this morning...I was pretty ready to wrap the party up by then....

Alright. I've been trying to get this last picture to post for a week and it won't...so rest assured it was a most AWFUL picture of me...Sorry this took a week. I'll try to blog again soon. I'm really not keeping up with this am I?

Also, my thoughts are with my sister Laura whose husband just left for Iraq. Laura, if you or the kids need anything at all, let us know. We're here for all of you! And if Wayne needs anything, let us know that too...we'll be sending him as many packages as we can, just let us know his address.

Shrimp!!

Mark is back from Biloxi and we have a cooler full of fresh Gulf shrimp! Oh, and he got some oysters too, but I just don't really care about them very much. So tonight we're having a shrimp party. It's been in the works for a few weeks, so the turnout should be pretty good. Unfortunately, it's HOT!!! AND terribly humid, so I hope it cools off alot once the sun goes down. Otherwise it's going to be miserable. I usually really enjoy our parties, so either way it should be fun...it would just be much more comfortable for everyone if it was a little cooler.

I'll try to get some pictures at the party to post later. For now, all I have are a few from Mark Biloxi trip... That's not rain or fog...that's the humidity fogging on the lens of the camera...Mmmm....muggy! And my personal favorite - Shrimp boats! I used to love to watch the shrimp boats when I lived in Savannah.

Busy, busy, busy...

Wow, it's been a week since I posted! Sorry to keep you all waiting...disappointing I know.

I'll try to refrain from talking about work, but since that's about all I do, there's not much else to say. I'll just say that it's been busy and I set up Nan's new computer today. That wouldn't be exciting except I did manage to restore all her email messages, addresses and favorites from her old, dead computer. I was rather impressed with myself for figuring it out.

Daddy asked for a poultry report...so, even though he probably wasn't serious, he's going to get one. Our young roosters have started crowing, except they don't really know how, so they sound very sick when they try. So now there are 6 or 7 roosters crowing instead of 3. Woohoo! Nothing like a rooster whose voice is changing...and that's your poultry report.

Mark is leaving for Biloxi very early in the morning. It'll be a very short trip, so I shouldn't have time to get bored. That's good. Since he's going with a couple of the guys, some of the girls are getting together tomorrow. We're going to go out to eat and come back to the house for awhile. Probably drink a little wine and talk about the guys. We don't ever get to do that without them being within earshot. Should be fun. I've been trying to get the house straightened up in preparation since I won't have a chance to do it tomorrow.

I'll leave you with a picture from this weekend. I haven't had time to scrap it or anything, but, hey, it's better than nothing, right?

Oops...it's been awhile since I posted...

Sorry to neglect the blog. I can imagine how disappointing that is to everyone. ;)

I've been worn out! Work has been very busy and I kept feeling like I was getting sick. I'm sure it just started out as sinuses or allergies, but it felt like it was progressing into one of those awful summer colds. Ick. I've felt a little bit better today even though I still feel pretty zapped.
We had another computer die on us at work, so that's kept me busier than usual. That and training my replacement. She's coming along pretty well, so hopefully by next week she'll be ok on her own. There was an hour or two today that she was there by herself, and I think she did pretty well with it. The computer that died was Nan's (the owner) so she hasn't had a PC to work on, which is frustrating. So, we'll be ordering her new one this week. That'll be nice. I think she's going to get one like we have at home (that's what I've picked out for her) and it'll be a vast improvement over what she has now, so she'll really enjoy it I'm sure. Flat panel monitor and everything! Our little company is moving up in the world!

Not much new other than work. My schedule (at work, of course) is really filling up fast. I've got a really big meeting next week with one of our largest customers. I've worked with their IT guy alot before and we get along pretty well, so I'm looking forward to it. I think once I'm free to do my new job, I'll probably stay pretty busy seeing customers and helping the sales people with deals. I'm excited about it...I can't wait to get started!

I don't have much new to post, like I said. I've been so busy during the day that I haven't scrapped anything this week :( So, I may try to work on something tonight...I'll post it when I'm done. Have a great rest of the week!

Ha ha! Blogger finally let me post a picture. Amazing! I did this one yesterday...I won't have much to blog until later, but I wanted to get this up...




Paper (recolored) - Gina Cabrera
Ribbon (slightly recolored) - Holly McCaig
Deckle frames - Gina Miller
Tabs - Holly McCaig
Paper pieces (recolored) - Melany Violette
Overlay on paper pieces - Shabby Princess
Brads - Shabby Princess
Butterfly stamp (recolored) - Shabby Princess
Font - Manuscript

What a relaxing weekend!

It really was a relaxing weekend even though I stayed pretty busy. It was a good kind of busy. I got lots done. Mark was sweet enough to take me out Saturday night to my favorite Japanese place in Jackson. We stuffed ourselves on sushi, Gyoza and softshell crab (that was Mark's, but I had a little bit). It was gooooood. We don't go very often, so it was nice. I didn't even have to beg to get him to take me, I just mentioned that I was craving Japanese and he took me. I'm still trying to figure out what he did that he was trying to make up for! LOL...just kidding Mark (if you actually read this).

I've been super-productive. I got up at 8:00 on Saturday, got myself dressed and went to Wal-Mart to get groceries. While I was gone, Mark fixed the leaky hose on the washer. So, I got the groceries put away and started some laundry which I have now completely finished. I've just got to put it away before I go to bed. I got all the dishes washed (for those of your who are unaware...this is an accomplishment because we don't have a dishwasher). Mark changed the sheets on the bed, I ran the Roomba (aka Elwood...yes we named the vacuum cleaner) in the front of the house, and I burned a couple tarts to freshen things up. For those who are interested I burned Summer fresh in the back of the house and Ocean Breeze in the front. Tarts are great for freshening up the house and a house this old needs that on a regular basis.

In addition to all that (which now that I'm reading it...doesn't sound like much) I downloaded some new digi-scrap stuff and did another page...which I'll share at the end.

The downside is I feel like I'm trying to get sick...and I don't have time for that! Our new employee started on Friday and I'll be training her this week on top of going to see some customers. So I really don't have time to be sick. Hopefully it's just allergies, and I'll get past it. With all the cleaning that I've done I've probably stirred up all the cat fur and that certainly doesn't help things.

Ok, I'm rambling, aren't I? It's about bedtime. I've got a big week ahead of me...so I guess I should go get that laundry put away and get some sleep. I've tried to post the scrap page, but, as usual, Blogger won't let me. I'll do it tomorrow. Have a great week!

I just have no title for this one. I'm drawing a complete blank. It's been another busy day. The bid I worked so hard on yesterday was due today at noon. They were sealed bids. Jimmie dropped it off at noon and went back for the bid opening at 4:00. They awarded us the bid right then and there, much to the annoyance of the other people that submitted bids. What can I say...my powers of persuasion are highly developed (you can also read that as I am an excellent BSer). Apparently my bid comparison did the Xerox guys in. Poor them. All I have to say is if you're going to write a BS bid (and they most definitely did), it's probably best to know what you're talking about, and that guy most definitely did not. Alright...enough gloating. I'm just glad that paid off for the company because it really may the past couple of days hellish for me.

In other good news. We hired my replacement today. This girl was extremely excited to get the job, so I'm hoping she doesn't call and quit before she starts like the last girl. This one starts tomorrow. Woohoo!! I'll be so glad to not be at the front desk anymore. Let's hope that tomorrow is a rather calm day. I'd hate to scare her off right off the bat.

AND...Blogger finally let me post a frickin' image. Thank God for small miracles. So, what do you think?


Credits:

All from Gina Miller's Hampton Kit
Font SP Inspired

Stupid computers!

Wow! I've had a terrible day with the computers in my life! I have managed to lose not 1, not 2, but 3 documents today! I have no idea why I lost the first 2, both of those were things at work. The third was a scrap page I was working on when Photoshop decided to lock up. Apparently it doesn't like PNG files. Usually I remember to change things to PSD files, but I guess I forgot, and there it went. So, I don't have to start from scratch, I HAD saved it, but I'm back at the beginning. I didn't really like the direction it was going anyway. So, now I am completely free to go in a different direction...not that I wasn't already free to do that.
The work files I lost were a BIG DEAL. So, I ended up staying until 6:15 recreating them. Somehow I got stuck working on a bid for one of our sales reps. Luckily it's the sales rep I like, otherwise I would've been way more ticked off than I already was. This was thrown in my lap first thing yesterday morning and I've been working on it for 2 days straight...the bid's due tomorrow at noon. That's for the advance notice on that one guys!! It's not like I have a job already or anything. Let me just drop everything to work on this bid that I am NOT going to make commission on. NO PROBLEM!! I'm good with doing this once...or at least I think I am. Nan and Jimmie (the sales rep in question) had to go out of town to visit a prospective account's Middle Tennessee locations. So, I was ok with stepping in, sort of. I really just hate having stuff dumped in my lap at the eleventh hour. I hope I didn't screw anything up...I am not, after all, a sales rep. If this kind of thing continues to be put off on me, you can guarantee the talk of commission will come up!!
Wow, sorry for the rant! Ooooohhh, one more thing. We hired my replacement yesterday and she called first thing this morning and told us that something had come up and she wasn't going to be able to take the job. Well, great!!! Now they're quitting before they even start!! WONDERFUL!!! We've got one more candidate, let's hope she wants the job still!!
Alright! I feel so much better now that I've vented a little!
Since you sat through that rant...here is my latest scrap page for your viewing pleasure...or not...Blogger seems intent on keeping my computer curse going...I'll try to post the scrap page again tomorrow. Aren't you all sad you'll have to wait until then for the unveiling of my latest masterpiece? Ah, the torture!