Hooray! I finally made an ice cream cone that didn't look like a cone with a vanilla toad squatting on top of it. Don, the manager, was almost as excited as me. I've learned to use a commercial fryer. It's not nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be.
This new job is turning out to be a lot more hours than I thought it would be. Of course, I keep volunteering for all the unclaimed hours on the schedule...
Daisy Quean is a seasonal type of thing; busy in the summer, much slower in the fall and winter months. I endeared myself to the manager by telling him that fewer hours when business is slow is okay with me. Why would I want to go thru the hassle of going to work in the wintertime?
I am working toward the goal of new brakes for my car. I hope to achieve that by the end of June.
I'm still feeling like adapting to a new schedule is taking me forever to accomplish. Besides the housework that needs doing, there are things that I want to do. Like posting to my blog daily.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Ice Cream and Old Lace
Every job has a different set of occupational hazards. I realize as I sit here writing that I brought one of them home from the new job.
I have spatters of ice cream on my reading glasses. Dried soft-serve ice cream; it'll take a bit of soaking in hot water to loosen it up.
I have spatters of ice cream on my reading glasses. Dried soft-serve ice cream; it'll take a bit of soaking in hot water to loosen it up.
Scheduling Life
I am adapting to a different schedule. I must be getting old cuz it seems like it's taking a long time. I'm trying to find an hour in which to do some housework. All I want is 15 minutes to vacuum, 15 minutes to wash dishes, 15 minutes to fold laundry, and 15 minutes to de-clutter.
I want this hour of housework to occur before I go to work. After work my feet hurt so damn bad that I can barely stand up, let alone do housework.
I like the hours with the new job: 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Civilized hours...anything after 10:00 AM, is my definition. That way I have time to drink coffee, feed dogs, bathe, dress, read e-mails, and play a couple games of Scrabble online. I didn't mind rushing the pre-work process when I was younger; 15 or 20 minutes was plenty of time. Now I want a couple hours before I go to work.
I want this hour of housework to occur before I go to work. After work my feet hurt so damn bad that I can barely stand up, let alone do housework.
I like the hours with the new job: 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Civilized hours...anything after 10:00 AM, is my definition. That way I have time to drink coffee, feed dogs, bathe, dress, read e-mails, and play a couple games of Scrabble online. I didn't mind rushing the pre-work process when I was younger; 15 or 20 minutes was plenty of time. Now I want a couple hours before I go to work.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Time, Money, Transportation
Time, money, and transportation... three things I can't ever seem to have at the same time. It's been like this for decades and it is beginning to irk me.
I simply cannot manage to have those three things all at one time. Any combination of two of them is allowed, but never all three at once.
Now, for instance. We finally could afford to get my car fixed. That solves the problem of transportation. A month ago I started a paper route, and two weeks ago got a part-time job at the local Daisy Quean. That solves the problem of money. The job at Daisy Quean and the paper route don't leave me with a lot of TIME, however.
I simply cannot manage to have those three things all at one time. Any combination of two of them is allowed, but never all three at once.
Now, for instance. We finally could afford to get my car fixed. That solves the problem of transportation. A month ago I started a paper route, and two weeks ago got a part-time job at the local Daisy Quean. That solves the problem of money. The job at Daisy Quean and the paper route don't leave me with a lot of TIME, however.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Compare and Contrast
This is about now as compared to ten years ago.
Now I have a job where I'm working six hours a day and I come home exhausted from it.
Ten years ago I had one full-time job and two part-time jobs and came home exhausted from them.
Now I walk to and from work, about a mile round-trip.
Ten years ago I walked to and from work, about a two mile round-trip. My full-time job was preceded by a two-mile walk on a morning paper route and followed by a four-mile walk on an afternoon paper route. The morning paper was seven days a week, the afternoon paper six days a week.
Now I'm overweight by about 40 pounds.
Ten years ago I was gaining weight even though I walked 8 miles most days. The weight gain wasn't becuz I was starting up walking; I'd been doing the four-mile route for three years. I believe it was a shift in my metabolism due to pre-menopause.
Now I'm recovering from three years of various injuries to my knees, ankles, and hips.
Ten years ago I would get up and walk away from a twisted ankle that resulted in a fall.
Now I know what a 'sedentary lifestyle' is.
Ten years ago I wasn't sure that I was 'active'.
Enough of compare/contrast. I've been writing mostly about physical ?symptoms?. I haven't written about the emotional storms that affected me. Ten years ago I was much stronger emotionally and spiritually than I am now. I am recovering my strength in those areas also.
1997 was a hell of a year. Accent on the 'hell' part.
*My son was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
*Lost my job of 17 years due to a plant closing.
*Started junior college fall of '97.
*My father died in December.
My son's imprisonment at 19 years of age was devastating to me. Followed six months later by the death of my beloved father... more than I could handle.
In April of 1998 my kids' paternal grandfather died; a man I'd known since I was 5 years old. In January of 1999 my stepfather died, 13 months after my father passed away. I was nowhere near recovering from my dad's death after a year. When my stepdad died I still felt as if it were yesterday that my dad had died.
On the advice of a trusted counselor I began taking Prozac. That was interesting, to say the least. I know that other anti-depressants have been developed since then and some are way more effective than Prozac. Safer, too. But Prozac did what I needed at the time, which was to give me some distance from the emotional pain.
My friend Pudgy was concerned about the changes Prozac made in my personality.
He said "I don't know who this person is in your body."
I replied "This is the person I need to be. Cuz this person doesn't hurt so much." He had been thru all the trauma and grief with me, my dear friend, and understood.
He told me "I like Janice. I'm sorry that she hurts so much." I said "Me, too." So we turned a tear-jerker into a bit of sarcasm and knew that all would be well.
I do not know how I managed to continue to go to school or do anything else. Certainly I felt paralyzed by grief. I guess years of doing what had to be done got me thru that time. While I did take Prozac for six months, thru all that time of grief and emotional pain I did not drink alcohol.
Now I have a job where I'm working six hours a day and I come home exhausted from it.
Ten years ago I had one full-time job and two part-time jobs and came home exhausted from them.
Now I walk to and from work, about a mile round-trip.
Ten years ago I walked to and from work, about a two mile round-trip. My full-time job was preceded by a two-mile walk on a morning paper route and followed by a four-mile walk on an afternoon paper route. The morning paper was seven days a week, the afternoon paper six days a week.
Now I'm overweight by about 40 pounds.
Ten years ago I was gaining weight even though I walked 8 miles most days. The weight gain wasn't becuz I was starting up walking; I'd been doing the four-mile route for three years. I believe it was a shift in my metabolism due to pre-menopause.
Now I'm recovering from three years of various injuries to my knees, ankles, and hips.
Ten years ago I would get up and walk away from a twisted ankle that resulted in a fall.
Now I know what a 'sedentary lifestyle' is.
Ten years ago I wasn't sure that I was 'active'.
Enough of compare/contrast. I've been writing mostly about physical ?symptoms?. I haven't written about the emotional storms that affected me. Ten years ago I was much stronger emotionally and spiritually than I am now. I am recovering my strength in those areas also.
1997 was a hell of a year. Accent on the 'hell' part.
*My son was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
*Lost my job of 17 years due to a plant closing.
*Started junior college fall of '97.
*My father died in December.
My son's imprisonment at 19 years of age was devastating to me. Followed six months later by the death of my beloved father... more than I could handle.
In April of 1998 my kids' paternal grandfather died; a man I'd known since I was 5 years old. In January of 1999 my stepfather died, 13 months after my father passed away. I was nowhere near recovering from my dad's death after a year. When my stepdad died I still felt as if it were yesterday that my dad had died.
On the advice of a trusted counselor I began taking Prozac. That was interesting, to say the least. I know that other anti-depressants have been developed since then and some are way more effective than Prozac. Safer, too. But Prozac did what I needed at the time, which was to give me some distance from the emotional pain.
My friend Pudgy was concerned about the changes Prozac made in my personality.
He said "I don't know who this person is in your body."
I replied "This is the person I need to be. Cuz this person doesn't hurt so much." He had been thru all the trauma and grief with me, my dear friend, and understood.
He told me "I like Janice. I'm sorry that she hurts so much." I said "Me, too." So we turned a tear-jerker into a bit of sarcasm and knew that all would be well.
I do not know how I managed to continue to go to school or do anything else. Certainly I felt paralyzed by grief. I guess years of doing what had to be done got me thru that time. While I did take Prozac for six months, thru all that time of grief and emotional pain I did not drink alcohol.
Friday, April 20, 2007
One Cat
Pets can be almost as exciting as children. A mixture of pets guarantees a bit of excitement.
I've written about dogs previously, but we do have one cat. Go-Go is the cat's name and she is about six years old. She is a unique cat, in my experience, being an indoor/outdoor cat. Most of the spring and summer she will spend outdoors. She's got a cat village on the north side of the house among the ferns. I know it's truly winter when she wants to come into the house.
Coming into the house used to be a chancy thing for her; way too many dogs in here. A year ago in January we had four dogs. April of 2006 we had our beloved Lily euthanized; she had a cancer that had invaded her spine. June of 2006 our sweet Meekaleek was euthanized; she had a tumor on her liver. Thus our dog population was dramatically, and sadly, reduced.
Our Princessa, Lily, barely tolerated other dogs, let alone other species. As the alpha dog goes, so go the lesser dogs. With two dogs however, Go-Go is willing to take her chances. Some back-up from the humans helps, of course. In the past six months she's gotten reacquainted with the inside of the house. Enough so to have evolved a routine of sitting on MySpouse's lap while he reads his daily blogs.
Although we feed her, she continues to hunt. The Saturday before Easter she had a headless baby rabbit in front of the porch door. I said to MySpouse "Everybody bites the head off the bunny first." I was glad I hadn't eaten yet. When we returned from shopping the rabbit corpse was gone, thankfully.
Mostly Go-Go hunts and catches birds. A lot of starlings, I think. MySpouse says they are extremely stupid birds and dislikes them intensely. I've never encountered any brightly colored plumage in her leavings; no evidence of bluejays, cardinals, or flickers being the meal of the day.
This morning I saw her trotting down the walkway with a bundle of dull feathers in her mouth and promptly forgot what I'd seen. I came in from the backyard intending to pass thru the house to the front yard and do a flower walk. When I opened the front door the dogs burst out onto the porch, Go-Go jumped onto the chest freezer, and the bird flew into the house.
The bird bumbled about in the living room, then found it's way into the kitchen.
I put the dogs out in the backyard. Brought Go-Go into the kitchen and said "Find your prey and get it out of here." Then I took a cup of coffee to the backyard and said to the dogs "Deja vu, kids; I think we've done this before." I stayed outdoors long enough to drink my coffee, about 15 minutes.
Hopefully that was long enough for Go-Go to find her bird. Now all I have to do is figure out where in the house she may have taken the bird and put it outdoors. Before I bathe and get ready for work...
I've written about dogs previously, but we do have one cat. Go-Go is the cat's name and she is about six years old. She is a unique cat, in my experience, being an indoor/outdoor cat. Most of the spring and summer she will spend outdoors. She's got a cat village on the north side of the house among the ferns. I know it's truly winter when she wants to come into the house.
Coming into the house used to be a chancy thing for her; way too many dogs in here. A year ago in January we had four dogs. April of 2006 we had our beloved Lily euthanized; she had a cancer that had invaded her spine. June of 2006 our sweet Meekaleek was euthanized; she had a tumor on her liver. Thus our dog population was dramatically, and sadly, reduced.
Our Princessa, Lily, barely tolerated other dogs, let alone other species. As the alpha dog goes, so go the lesser dogs. With two dogs however, Go-Go is willing to take her chances. Some back-up from the humans helps, of course. In the past six months she's gotten reacquainted with the inside of the house. Enough so to have evolved a routine of sitting on MySpouse's lap while he reads his daily blogs.
Although we feed her, she continues to hunt. The Saturday before Easter she had a headless baby rabbit in front of the porch door. I said to MySpouse "Everybody bites the head off the bunny first." I was glad I hadn't eaten yet. When we returned from shopping the rabbit corpse was gone, thankfully.
Mostly Go-Go hunts and catches birds. A lot of starlings, I think. MySpouse says they are extremely stupid birds and dislikes them intensely. I've never encountered any brightly colored plumage in her leavings; no evidence of bluejays, cardinals, or flickers being the meal of the day.
This morning I saw her trotting down the walkway with a bundle of dull feathers in her mouth and promptly forgot what I'd seen. I came in from the backyard intending to pass thru the house to the front yard and do a flower walk. When I opened the front door the dogs burst out onto the porch, Go-Go jumped onto the chest freezer, and the bird flew into the house.
The bird bumbled about in the living room, then found it's way into the kitchen.
I put the dogs out in the backyard. Brought Go-Go into the kitchen and said "Find your prey and get it out of here." Then I took a cup of coffee to the backyard and said to the dogs "Deja vu, kids; I think we've done this before." I stayed outdoors long enough to drink my coffee, about 15 minutes.
Hopefully that was long enough for Go-Go to find her bird. Now all I have to do is figure out where in the house she may have taken the bird and put it outdoors. Before I bathe and get ready for work...
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Car Dogs Don't Make House Payments
It's wonderful to be married. Really.
It's wonderful to be married to someone that I have things in common with. Like sarcasm.
Was a long day for both of us. Ending with a trip to an auto salvage yard where a transmission will be installed in my car. I proposed that we eat at the Oriental buffet cuz I knew we were both too tired to cook at home.
Most often MySpouse strikes people as being very quiet. He is quiet with people he doesn't know well. I'm outgoing, outspoken; the social bumblebee of the two of us...opposites attract, let us not forget. We make a good couple, he and I.
We took a little detour on the way home so he could see in daylight where the city had cut down some trees. Admired the Canadian geese down along the creek. I wondered aloud if they're the same geese that were there last year when I was walking Meekaleek near the creek. I got to see the fuzzy goslings gather around their mama when we startled them with our presence last spring. I recall being surprised that Meekaleek, the inveterate water dog, didn't wade into the creek after them.
We talked a bit, stopped at that spot, then continued on to our home. Pulled into the driveway and I waited until MySpouse shut the truck off to point out a bird in the maple tree and ask "Does that look like a blue jay to you?"
He squinted up into the tree and replied "Yeah, I think I see a crest on it's head."
He rolled down his window to open the truck door on his side and I groaned.
"What? You in a hurry or something?"
"Oh, no, no hurry here." he replied, "I'm perfectly happy to sit in the truck in the driveway of our home."
"My feet hurt too much to move. Let's just sit here for a couple of minutes." I whined.
"Okay", he agreed.
"And by the way, thanks for running all over the county for me today. I'm so glad that you're such a good husband. I'm so glad you're my husband." I told him. I was tired enough to be a bit mushy.
"Well, I'm lucky to have such a good wife."
I retorted "Of course you're lucky. You've got a great wife. Pretty, smart, got a job or two, likes dogs...you are one lucky guy."
As I recited the list he nodded his head and said 'uh-huh, uh-huh'. I looked over at him as he continued to nod and say 'uh-huh' and saw a familiar rhythm to his nodding. I asked suspiciously, "Are you imitating a car dog?"
He replied "Nooooooo. Car dogs don't make house payments. I'm just agreeing with my lovely wife."
Yeah, we're married.
It's wonderful to be married to someone that I have things in common with. Like sarcasm.
Was a long day for both of us. Ending with a trip to an auto salvage yard where a transmission will be installed in my car. I proposed that we eat at the Oriental buffet cuz I knew we were both too tired to cook at home.
Most often MySpouse strikes people as being very quiet. He is quiet with people he doesn't know well. I'm outgoing, outspoken; the social bumblebee of the two of us...opposites attract, let us not forget. We make a good couple, he and I.
We took a little detour on the way home so he could see in daylight where the city had cut down some trees. Admired the Canadian geese down along the creek. I wondered aloud if they're the same geese that were there last year when I was walking Meekaleek near the creek. I got to see the fuzzy goslings gather around their mama when we startled them with our presence last spring. I recall being surprised that Meekaleek, the inveterate water dog, didn't wade into the creek after them.
We talked a bit, stopped at that spot, then continued on to our home. Pulled into the driveway and I waited until MySpouse shut the truck off to point out a bird in the maple tree and ask "Does that look like a blue jay to you?"
He squinted up into the tree and replied "Yeah, I think I see a crest on it's head."
He rolled down his window to open the truck door on his side and I groaned.
"What? You in a hurry or something?"
"Oh, no, no hurry here." he replied, "I'm perfectly happy to sit in the truck in the driveway of our home."
"My feet hurt too much to move. Let's just sit here for a couple of minutes." I whined.
"Okay", he agreed.
"And by the way, thanks for running all over the county for me today. I'm so glad that you're such a good husband. I'm so glad you're my husband." I told him. I was tired enough to be a bit mushy.
"Well, I'm lucky to have such a good wife."
I retorted "Of course you're lucky. You've got a great wife. Pretty, smart, got a job or two, likes dogs...you are one lucky guy."
As I recited the list he nodded his head and said 'uh-huh, uh-huh'. I looked over at him as he continued to nod and say 'uh-huh' and saw a familiar rhythm to his nodding. I asked suspiciously, "Are you imitating a car dog?"
He replied "Nooooooo. Car dogs don't make house payments. I'm just agreeing with my lovely wife."
Yeah, we're married.
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