I'm back!

I had to take a little trip to Tunica for a seminar for work. I left Monday night and I got back about 5:30 this afternoon. It was a quick trip, but MAN am I tired!! I'm not much of a gambler, so Tunica wasn't exactly my dream location, but it was seminar. It was also not my dream to attend this seminar. I did have fun though. I went with Jimmie, our sales rep. It was her birthday and she won $400 playing quarter slots, so I was glad she had fun! I, on the other hand, lost the $40 that I brought to play with and then stopped playing. This is why I don't gamble...I don't like to part with my money unless I'm getting something for it. To me, an hour or 2 sitting at a slot machine or playing video poker is NOT getting something for my money! We did get to hang out with one of our favorite guys from Sharp and that was fun. This guy has always been exceptionally nice and helpful to me, so I enjoyed getting to chat with him (and Jimmie) in a more informal environment. I think we all had a good time. I didn't even stay up that late or drink that much. I just didn't sleep all that well. I hate hotel beds...especially hotel pillows.

I won't dwell on the seminar because I know how that bores everyone. I rather enjoyed it. It was geared more towards people in my position, so while Jimmie's eyes were glazing over, I was rather interested. I learned some stuff and that was good. Work discussion over.

What was weird to me is (and this is going to be slightly sappy...those with a weak stomach, scroll down, LOL) I started missing Mark before I even left. He went off on service calls at work and I went off to do some customer training before we left, so I saw him last around lunch yesterday. It's weird when he's not around. Since we work together and are married, we see eachother so much that it honestly feels like something is missing when he's not there. Not that I was crying about it or anything. It's just rare that we're apart even for just one night, so it just seemed odd. Ok...that's weird isn't it? Moving on...

My kitty, Hambone seems to be somewhat better. Not quite 100%. He's starting to play with the other cats now and play with the cat toys, so I think he's at least feeling more settled. I'm going to give him a few more days off of all medication before I see if we need to go back to the vet. I've got to take him to get his second round of shots next week anyway. So, I'm going to try to get by without taking him until then. I think being in the car just upsets him and I don't think that's helping anything.

Mark once again made steak on the George Foreman grill tonight. It wasn't quite as good as the last couple times, but I'm a steak girl, so I liked it. I made mashed potatos. I'm going to put all modesty aside here and just say that my mashed potatos are the greatest!! It's not like that's a hard dish to make or anything, but I've had bad ones before. I make mine like my mother made them and they are delicious! Ask anyone who has had them...they'll tell you. Although I'm probably my own biggest fan as far as that goes. Anyway...I love me some good mashed potatos!

Still no sushi...for those of you concerned. I'm going to work on that...maybe I can get Mark to take me this weekend. If not to Jackson, then to Dresden. I've gotten a few comments on this...and while, yes many of the Chinese restaurants around here do have sushi...it is most definitely not sushi that I'm willing to eat. Of course, you have to understand where we live. Everything around here is a small town. We have PLENTY of Chinese (and Mexican-for those keeping track) restaurants. They like to put their sushi on the buffet. I am not eating sushi that's on a buffet. It may be good, but I don't know how long it's been sitting there. Of course, those who know me best know that I'm doing good to eat anything off a buffet. It just doesn't seem sanitary to me. Ick. I'm pretty picky about sushi anyway, so buffet sushi is not the sushi for me. The place in Jackson I'm familiar with and so far it's always been good...and fresh. Fresh being VERY important in the world of sushi. Ok...enough of my sushi rant. I will get some sushi if I have to drive down there and get it by myself. If that happens, I'll pissed, but I'll do it!

Let's see...I've covered work, gambling, cats (or rather just one cat) and sushi. What else. I haven't given a farm report in a while. Not much to tell since it's winter and I don't get out there much. The chickens are still there, Mark still gathers the eggs. Someone asked in a comment what it was like living on a farm with chickens. First, we don't have that many chickens...we have about 20. In the winter they stay in their coop more, so I hardly know we have them. The rest of the year they crow ALL the time. I think out of the 20 almost half are roosters, so when you get all of the roosters crowing at once it can seriously get on your nerves. In the summer they start crowing as early as 3 in the morning. Since I was not raised in this type of environment, when I first moved to the farm I woke up as soon as they started crowing. Now, I just don't hear it...it's background noise. They are fun to watch sometimes...they really are strange little creatures. We have at least one hen that will eat out of Mark's hand, but most of them really don't like people that much. They just move out of your way if you walk towards them. We don't kill our chickens for meat. We do collect eggs for us and to give to family and friends. We don't make much, if any, money from the chickens. They are almost more like pets. I think it's just a project that Mark thought would be fun...and we never have to buy eggs!
That's all I really have to say about that...other than my friend Beth likes to tell the story about me walking out to the chicken coop in my heels after work one day and collecting the eggs using the hem of my shirt as a basket. I'm sure that was quite a site. Very city girl goes to the country. Very Green Acres! Other than that...there's nothing much to report on the farm...still have 4 cats, still have 1 dog. Apparently this morning we had a skunk visitor, but I (luckily) was not around for that.

Ok...that's it for now! I hope everyone is having a great week!