The $114 Pen

Shortly before 8:00 this morning, the DH woke me up and I slowely got dressed in a sleepy daze. I staggered out the door, we hopped in our SUV and I drove him to the hospital. I now know that I am capable of operating a vehicle with my eyes closed. JUST KIDDING! We arrived in perfect fashion and began our "arrive-on-time-wait-an-hour-anyway" experience. At long last, the woman who initially greeted us stopped gossiping with her co-workers long enough to ask "Hasn't anyone helped you yet?" She helped the DH fill out his paperwork and then asked us for our co-pay. She then invited us to help ourselves to the jar of pens on the counter. "Your co-pay is $114 and you might as well have something to show for it!", she said.

... Um... yeah. And then they wisked DH off to surgery.

In the end, they told us that he is suffering from a hiatal hernia.

It is nice to finally know what has been causing all his discomfort. Hopefully it will respond well to treatment and he can finally return to a normal routine of working. It's kind of important that happens since he's already used up all of his vacation days for 2007. No trips anywhere for us this year! The recovery time from the procedure was swift. On the way home from the hospital we stopped and he bought fast food. (!!) Wish I could regain my appetite that quickly after surgery. I must be a poosy.

Ms.B

The NBA

Without sharing where I'm from, since I prefer to remain anonymous, I must share the glee with which I have watch the NBA finals this year. Every single series has just been... WOW! So many upsets. So many close games. A few blow-outs. It's what every basketball lover dreams of. And that is what I am- a basketball lover. I'm one of those freaks that can surf past good, in my opinion, shows like CSI and Law & Order and end up captivated by a battle between some random eastern teams like the Hornets and the Pacers even though I AM a western conference girl. I just can't get enough. In college, the hot boys on campus would come to our dorm room to see my cute roommates and I AND to get the latest scores around the league. *chuckle* Pretty sure I was more exciting for my knowledge of the stats than my cuteness. Maybe that's why I made it through school and stayed single. AHH! Yet, I could very well be responsible for the marriages of all my friends from college. I lured the men in and they rounded them up. I think someone, somewhere, owes me a free dinner!

In any case! GOTTA LOVE IT! There are two more games tonight. I hope my dear husband can tolerate all the hoops action in our home between now and early June. He's been patient thus far, bless him, but he's not into basketball. Even though he's 6'4" and could have been a hoops star in another life, he is from Canada and somehow decided HOCKEY was the sport of choice. Hockey. ... Hockey?

Hello Fence, Goodbye Neighbors

Sometimes it takes a desperate situation to bring about good results. Thus it is that the fence we rushed to finish in an attempt to keep our dogs from being eaten by the pit bulls next door will do its job... for three days.

As we were busily attaching slats yesterday, the neighbor popped his head over the fence and chatted with us for a few minutes. We learned that by Wednesday evening he and his family will be completely moved out of the house next door. Because of clashes with their landlords they've decided to move in with his mother and eventually find a new place. No more neighbors, no more dogs eating the fence. I will NOT miss the damn dogs, but their people were good folks and "Good Folks" can be hard to come by. I'd rather have crazy dogs behind our new fence and get along with the people next door than have some crazy, dirty, nasty people move in.

Fingers and toes are crossed that the new renters will be equally enjoyable. And maybe, if we are lucky, they'll be 'cat people'. :-)

Classy Criticism vs. "I Have No Life" Criticism

This weekend, during my breaks between "Build this Fence" adventures, I relaxed on the computer and watched a little television and happened to catch the RHS (Real Hollywood Story) coverage on Rachael Ray. It was a sweet, harmless ditty on her history both personally as well as professionally. It showed her start in the food business as well as the path that seemingly dragged her into the spotlight. The only part of the show that seemed a little "off" was the coverage on an anti-Rachel website called "Rachel Ray Sux".

Let me just express that I have watched some of Rachael Ray's food shows. I've seen episodes of them all. Some I like, some I don't. 30-minute meals is fun. Tasty Travels annoys. I've never tried any of her recipes and I could go the rest of my life without hearing the terms "Yum-O" and "E-V-O-O" (Extra Virgin Olive Oil). HOWEVER, Rachael Ray is far more pleasing to the senses than the sour, fat, bitter woman who runs the website linked above. They only showed her for 30 seconds and that was enough for me. Ugh.

Please understand that I do respect that people in the public eye are never going to appeal to everyone. That is what makes the world exciting. I get that, and I even dig it. Variety is a wonderful thing. But if you hate something or someone why would you invest so much time in them? Spending hours each day on a website, watching every episode you can so that you can pick apart what she says, hanging on every word, buying her magazines so you can criticize the articles, purposely attending her husband's shows at nightclubs so you can mock his music... Can anyone say "STALKER"? No one should spend that much time persevorating on someone unless they are secretly in love with them. Rachael Ray could legitimately be the healthiest relationship that the webmaster of RRSux has ever been in. And that, my friends, is very sad.

Lovely

According to USAToday, Peter Jackson has purchased the movie rights for the book Lovely Bones. It is slated to begin filming later this year.

I find it fascinating that he is the man who won the bidding war to bring this story to life. I first heard of this book about a year ago and did research on it. It is the story of how the murder of a 14 year old girl changed the lives of those who knew her, narrated by the girl herself as she looks down from heaven. It is interesting that the man who will direct this film recently finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. Peter Jackson, you multi-faceted genius, you!

Ms.B

“Sweet as Spice”

Moving out of your parent’s home is a major milestone in any child’s life. I don’t mean “move out to college and come home” kind of moving, but the “left and I’ll never be going back” sort of move. This occurred for me in the summer of 2001. For reasons I am still not completely sure of, I explored some online advertisements to see what kind of housing options there were. I had a good set-up with my parents. My bedroom was on a different floor than the rest of my family and I was well behaved enough that I didn’t have any kind of curfew or restrictions. There just comes a time in the life of most 20-somethings when you fly the coop. And so I did. I responded to one of the ads I saw and a nice gal called me a short while later. We arranged for a moving day and before I knew it I was settled in a two bedroom, one bath condo. My roommate, DeeDee, was a divorced gal about two years younger than myself. We got along rather well at the start. We’d hang out frequently and she always invited me to go clubbing her with her friends. Some times I went. Other times I declined so I could hang out with my boyfriend at the time, Mr. PBM. For about three months everything went great. She had a cute hound dog, Cindy, that was a lot of fun. DeeDee gave me permission to get a cat (Gizmo, the start of my current zoo!) and he and Cindy were the best of friends. Girl talk was entertaining. I’d watch her go online looking for boyfriends and we’d have long talks about how much money a guy should make to be worth a girl’s time. I learned that she only wanted to marry a blonde or brunette guy (no non-whites, please!) because she wanted little blonde babies that looked like her. I never quite understood that logic, but I didn’t worry about it since it didn’t affect me. Besides, all the more hot, dark strangers for me, right? RAR! She also gave me pointers on how large a man’s penis should be and how often a girl should let him put it in her. Advice on what to wear and how to look was non-stop, and she said I should have a job that paid me more money so that I could accumulate the luxuries that she had, like a “big girl” bed (size queen or larger) as well as a washer, dryer and a wicker couch. I always wondered how patio furniture in a living room could be considered a luxury. The only argument that we ever had was during her birthday party when she was extremely drunk and got mad that I was a little annoyed with all the drunk people creating havoc in our home. Someone there called the cops and she was sure it was me. (It wasn’t, though I had seriously considered it!)

*evil grin*

One day the tide turned. DeeDee was a lonely girl. She went through numerous boyfriends while I lived with her as well as a few random sex partners. Most memorably, a super nice guy with kids (who she broke up with due to his small penis) and a rich doctor guy who was just using her for sex. The nice guy was actually a keeper (small penis aside) but she messed up the relationship with him by telling all her friends about his tiny member. That, and she blew him off to date the rich doctor, or RD, as I’ll call him. RD moved to the east coast about two months after I first met him. DeeDee drowned her sorrows in alcohol and then decided that she was going to join the Air Force. Unfortunately she had a rare genetic issue with her hand that made her incapable of hold a firearm correctly and the Air Force denied her application. She tried to stifle this disappointment by re-connecting with the nice guy she had given the shaft. Fortunately for him, by that time he had met a new woman and it was his turn to blow DeeDee off. Oooh, she was mad. She began drinking more and more. Unfortunately, there I was, with a job I loved, a boyfriend I enjoyed and no worries in life. No worries except for her. She became a horrendous bitch literally over night. I couldn't move out of there fast enough. But not before she stole some money from me, charged me for bills I had nothing to do with and, in general, made my life hell. I moved to a small apartment of my very own and lived happily ever after. Okay, so maybe not happily ever after, but sanely ever after. Through mutual acquaintances I heard that shortly after I bailed on her, RD contacted her and suggested she come out to see him. With no hesitation she sold all her furniture, appliances and major belongings and moved to the east coast only to turn around and move home again less than a month later when the doctor broke her heart. All this drama by a woman that was such a pro at giving ME advice on my personal life.

This blog entry is an educational one for me. It has taught me that I am, in some cases, a bitter, unforgiving bitch! You see, about a year ago, as I was leaving the checkout at a local store I saw her. I didn’t stop to say hi, honestly I am not even sure if she saw me. I just hustled out the door to avoid having to talk to her. I am sure we would have given each other fake smiles and done the “so great to see you” bull shit that we always do with old acquaintances. She would have asked if I was dating anyone and hidden her jealousy when I said I was married. She’d ask about my husband and what he did for a living and I’ve had secretly wished I had the nerve to blurt out something about his size 16/wide feet.

The close call did peak my interest, I must confess. As I pondered if she could be married by now, the memory of her online dating attempts crossed my mind. “What are the odds she’d still have a personal ad after all this time?”, I thought. First thing I did when I got home was hop onto Yahoo personals and do a little search. It didn’t take me long to find her under the title “Sweet as Spice”. There, under her requirements for a man were“white and rich”. I book marked her ad and put the link in a random folder on the computer. I periodically surfed to her page every few months when I would find the link. “Oh YEAH!”, I’d think. “ I wonder if she’s still on there.” and I’d take a peek.

Today was one of those random days. With the Internet finally working again here at the office I have been cleaning up my old bookmarks. There was her link. I couldn't’t resist the urge. She's still “Sweet as Spice”. Still wants her Caucasian man. But good news to all you single guys out there. She now has “any” marked on the income bracket. Could the years of desperation have finally made her more open to new options? Did she find Mr. Right only to find he was looking for Mrs. Right? Or maybe she’s just living on the wild side. In any case, the tides are turning and it’s your lucky day, men!

I now present to you, her Yahoo Personal’s Profile, cut and pasted in its original format. (Okay, I confess that I updated it a tiny bit for accuracy reasons, but I didn't let my anal tendencies allow me to fix her spelling errors.)

……….….

“Sweet as Spice”

Okay first off -- I am a girly girl BUT I can still get drunk dirty with the best of them! I love heels, dresses, skirts and all things wicker pink. One Most of my friends at one time or another have told me I look like Beverly Mitchell (Lucy from 7th Heaven), but I think she looks like me. :) I drink laugh at myself on a daily basis - without laughter and smiles life is nothing. I am desperate a sucker for a guy who can make me laugh!

I am drunk funny, attractive, intelligent, and super fun!! I love to travel -- I used to be a flight attendant so I've done lots of it! I enjoy alcohol a good book, movies, the outdoors (in small doses please), walking my dog, yoga, spending time with my nieces/nephews and good conversation (especially if it comes with a good cup of coffee or a good glass of wine).

Money Chemistry is a must! I don't believe in love at first sight, but I believe in attraction at first sight. I am old enough to realize that those "sick to your stomack butterflies" fade and you have to have something deeper to build on. I've got a small dog (what happened to her hound dog?), so you must like her! I love my high heels, so tall guys get extra brownie points! Please note I AM NOT LOOKING FOR A ONE NIGHT STAND. I am in search of something more meaningful that one or two nights of a good time. Let's be honest, if I just wanted a piece, I wouldn't have to look on here for it!! I have a dull great life with a good job and even better friends, so I hope you feel the same about your own life. I am looking for someone to support complement me, not complete me.

If I've piqued your interest or think you can pique mine, drop me a line!

…………….

If only I had the balls to post the link to the real deal. But that would be a little too evil, even for me.

Ms.B

Can It Be True?

After about two months with no Internet or server access at work, the net is finally working. MIRACLE. Although the server access is what I really need, having the Internet again is exciting enough to make me want to dance around while clapping my hands and giggling like a school girl. Of course, instead, I will sit here and pretend to be mature.

I have now added all my old blog entries that were saved here on the computer at work. Hooray for blogging! I had forgotten about half of these topics. It's amazing what one can find to write about depending on one's mood.

In all fairness, I should do some updates since some of my blogging was done while I was in a rather emotional state.

*J is doing well. STILL living with his roommate with no signs of moving back home again. He says he's being trained as a manager. Wouldn't it be great for him to be able to land a great job and excel at it!

*Our kitten is so darn cute! The first week we had her I thought we'd made a huge, I mean HUGE, error. She was grouchy and whiny. Then we decided that her tummy was a little hard and she wasn't pooping enough so we took her back to the vet and they gave her an enema. Ever since then she's been adorable. We weaned her off the bottles of KMR and she's reached a point where we don't have to monitor her for every second. I look forward to the day that she learns to jump up into the litter box so that we don't find little "presents" everywhere around the house. Eeewww. At least the dogs are nice enough to clean those up for us before we find most of them. EEEWWWW!!! That's a whole other blog entry in itself but I will spare you the details... for now.

*Hired one person from the expo. That's one more than we've gotten the past few times we went. She's still here after a couple of weeks and seems to enjoy her work. I am still crossing my fingers that she'll settle in and really enjoy it.

*I had forgotten about my Bampoo entry. It reminds me of the dogs with the kitten turd. Recyling really is all the rage right now. I suppose I shouldn't fault my dogs for being so "new age".


Ms.B

RIP evil Dog

Today, as we were working away at trying to return our fence to its upright position, the neighbor next door came out to offer some assistance. Really quite a nice guy, for the record. 3 of his dogs were in the kennel they made recently. I pointed out their playing and commented on how large the "puppy" had grown. I called the other dog in the pen "Odie" and the man corrected me saying "That's not Odie. Odie isn't here anymore". He then told us that they used to have FIVE dogs but Odie killed one of them so they took him to the pound to be put down. He then said the two remaining pit bulls shouldn't be rough housing like they were since it could lead to them hurting eachother, getting taste for blood and then killing like Odie had.

Never was the motivation to finish the fence so strong.

!!!


We're hoping that the current repairs will last long enough for us to continue our slow rebuilding. Once that is done we'll be able to anchor any other posts that are weak, ensuring that we don't have any further adventures like we did today. I feel badly for DH. He works a graveyard shift tonight and he's had NO chance for any nap today. He's exhausted already and he'll be even more tired tomorrow. I suppose I could go work a graveyard shift at work myself and offer some comfort in the form of mutual miserable status. <---I just made up that term. It will most likely cause English Majors to squirm but it makes me happy. Yay.

Let it Snow... again

Weather forcasts are sometimes our friends, other times they are our enemies. Today it is the latter. While fixing the fence, we've had to battle mother nature as well as a that blasted piece of wood. Who knew that a broken post would want to hang on to its anchor in a reataining wall so badly. With the help of our neighbor, (the owner of the damn dogs), we've managed to prep the hole for a new post. Our only obstacle now *knock on wood* is that we need to rent a drill that works on concrete so that when we mix cement and place our new post in, we can support it with some L Brackets. We can then attach the fence pieces and re-claim our yard. Of course we will continue to do all of this amid snow and rain. YUCK!!

I'm not much help since I've been fighting off getting sick for a few days. Last night I felt rather icky but I've been slightly better today. It only hits me now and then. We'll see what spending several hours outside in the storm does for my health tomorrow. I'm supposed to go back to work in the morning. Vacation is over.

*sigh*

Thar she Blows

I woke up this morning after having slept in a little late and methodically put two of our dogs in the backyard to do their "business". I then wandered through the house and after finding my husband and his mother MIA, I called DH's cell phone. His mother answered and said they were at the local hardware store. "Why?", I asked them. "Did you happen to look at the back yard?", she asked me. Uh... no, no I didn't. A quick peek out the window sent me running for the back door. Luckily, the dog I was most worried about having go for an adventure in the neighborhood was cold and decided to stay near the door so she could get inside. The Sheltie, however, had jumped through two sections of downed fence and was taking a huge dump in the far corner of our neighbor's yard. OYE!!! And so begins my day.

...........

Side note: I normally get the urge to blog at work during my breaks. Annoyingly enough, the internet has been down for several weeks. I've continued to blog, but I've been forced to save the entries on my hard drive until things are repaired. Hopefully, in the time I've been on vacation, they'll have sorted everything out. *crossing fingers and toes for luck* Eventually this blog will be hit with a barrage of entries that will make me look like I've been REALLY busy. HA! Hope I remember how to back-date everything. I hope, I hope.


Ms.Behaved

Expo Adventures

Yesterday the local community college held their annual job expo. It was the first time I attended it since I took over Human Resource duties at the care center. On the positive side, things stayed semi-busy. There were more students interested in my booth than it seemed there were the last few times we attended (a few years ago when I was still the Recreation Director). The downside was that no coworkers went with me. I sat there all alone except for 45 minutes near lunchtime when a friend came over to bring me more brochures and applications. Mr. PBM arrived shortly before the end to see what was going on but didn’t stay long. The short stay could be added to the positive side list, I suppose.

Already, I would deem this expo a success, especially compared to previous ones, since I have scheduled my first interview resulting from yesterday’s efforts. Monday morning will hopefully yield some new additions to our staff. They really need some help on the floor. I am praying that the new additions will be made to feel welcome. Let’s all cross our fingers! If newcomers are chased away I am going to approach the supervisor and gesture to my ass.

Do you see this? I sat on it for 8 hours trying to reel you in some caring people! Now you can kiss it!

*ahem*

Some day my bitterness will go away. And then what on earth will I have to blog about?

Ms.B

Crazy Furballs

The Care Center where I work used to have tons of animals running around. Kittens have been born left and right in the field behind the building and we even had a dog for a short while. Sadly, the dog had to be re-homed since a couple of our residents were inappropriate with it. (The story behind that simple sentence would be a zinger of a blog entry, however I am trying to stay PG-13 or better as much as possible!!) There haven’t been many kitties running around lately either.

At least until this week.

Tuesday morning started out like any other. I arrived at work around 10:00 and prepared to do my training and paperwork. Part way through the afternoon a maintenance staff came into my office and asked me if I had any cat food.

Cat food??? !!!

Apparently, a mother cat had decided that the care center’s filthy, cluttered junk storage area was the perfect place to raise a litter of kittens. Beautiful, sweet-faced, longhaired kittens. Skittish, fearful, wild kittens!! Since I didn’t happen to have a stash of cat food in my desk (Why, oh WHY would I have a stash of cat food in my desk??) I ran over to the local grocery store and picked up a bag of Purina One. When I got back someone showed me the area where the kittens had last been spotted. I put some food in a bowl and set it down on the ground near a water dish. I stood there quietly for a few seconds and then made some kissy, meowing sounds. Seconds later a small white kitten peeked out from beneath a pile of old boards and wheelchair parts. SO CUTE! The white one was followed by a couple of grays and a black/tan blend. It was hard to tell their true colors since they were all covered with dust and grime. Of course they didn’t let us near them and a few of them hissed when some of my co-workers put their hands down near their space. I admired them for a few minutes and then returned to my desk.

DH called me a short while later and in the midst of our conversation I mentioned the kittens. Oh, bring one home with you!, he said. Enough gushing about animals has been done on this blog to convey that we have a full house here at the Haven. With the addition of Gus, we had, what we thought was a complete crew. No More Pets, I told my DH. Again, he said Oh, just bring one home with you. We need one more kitty! I jokingly told him that I’d go out to the storage area and if a kitten happened to jump into my lap I’d bring it home with me. I hung up the phone, wrapped up some paperwork and went out to the storage area one last time. There, sleeping on the ground in a huge pile were the kittens. It looked like there were four of them. As I approached, they heard me and scattered like farts in the wind. All except for one.

There, sitting on the ground looking a little lost as to where her littermates had gone, was a small gray and brown baby. I stood there in disbelief that she wasn’t running away and for a moment we just stared at each other. Then I reached down and scooped her up.

For the first few seconds I wasn’t sure what to expect. A co-worker had caught the white kitten earlier that day and it had tried to take a piece of her face off, it was so scared. When a few seconds passed with no major drama, I carried her over to the lawn and knelt down on the ground with her. A light breeze was blowing and after a few seconds she crawled up into my lap and snuggled herself into the folds of the hoodie I was wearing. I called DH again from my cell phone and told him what had happened and he again told me to bring it home! Being the softy that I am, I finally gave in with the stern warning that this was the LAST addition to our zoo.

AND I REALLY MEAN IT THIS TIME!!

The kitty was filthy and the ease with which I caught her had me slightly worried that she might be ill in some way. She was a tad smaller than the other kittens as well which added to my concerns. I placed her in a box and headed towards the pet store near my home to meet up with DH. The introductions in the parking lot were a Kodak moment. DH fell in love the moment he saw her. At the time we weren’t sure if it was a “her” or not but we suspected as much. We picked up some KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement formula) as well as a bottle and a few cans of wet kitten food. We also purchased shampoo foam. The kind that you rub in and wipe away with a cloth; no water required. Then we headed home.

It took three foam scrubs before the black stopped coming off of her and it was a chore keeping her away from our other pets. Ya never know what kind of bugs she might have had, ya know? She took to the bottle faster than I expected she would, which was pleasing. DH acted like a little mother as he fluttered around the house looking for a soft towel for her bed and making sure we had a heating pad handy to keep her warm. To be honest, I didn’t let myself get too attached the first night since I wasn’t sure that she was healthy and I wanted to avoid heart-break if she didn’t survive long.

Wednesday morning was my early day at work so I was in the car and on my way by 7:00. The vet office at the pet store opened at 9:00 and DH was waiting at the doors as they unlocked them. After a quick check-up they announced that she was, indeed, a she and that she was in good health. They gave her a dose of worm medicine for precautionary measures and said that we were feeding her the appropriate amounts of the correct food. It was a relief to know that she was doing A-Okay. DH brought her over to the care center to visit when he was done at the vet’s office. Everyone “ooohed and aaahhed” over her and said how lucky she was to have us, which was a comfort to me since I was thinking we might just be crazy to add another pet to the mix. After much debate and pondering, DH named her Fluffy. I suspect he chose that name to please me since I had a cat with that name when I was a child. It fits her though and that makes me happy.

Fluffy has adjusted amazingly well in the two days that we’ve had her. She loves her bottle and is even eating some of the wet kitten food as well. Gus and Shelly are sweet with her and she follows them around when she’s on the floor. We have to monitor Gus a tad since he’s full of puppy energy and we don’t want him to sit on her. Chloe, the Weiner, is the most enthusiastic about the kitten, however I’m not sure if she wants to get her paws on her for a bath of kisses or if she plans to have a snack so we’ve kept her at a distance. The two cats, Gizmo and Basil, are still coping with the idea of a newcomer. Gizmo hisses and runs when he sees her and Basil just avoids getting too close since he doesn’t know what the heck is going on with her. I’m sure they’ll all be sleeping in a fur pile in no time.

In any case, she’s settling in and doesn’t show any signs of being wild. It’s nice to know that she’s not ill and that her docile attitude when I found her was due to her sweet disposition and not a medical issue.

My parents are going to freak when they find out what we’ve done. Oh, the joys and freedoms of owning our own home. Weeeee!!

Ms.B