A Few Updates

Hello one and all!

Not my broccoli

Today the weather is so nice that I just don't want to be caged in an office all day.  I know what will end up happening.  I will go pick up Raven at the sitter's house and go straight to my garden to pull weeds.  That is what happened a few days ago after work.  It felt so good.  I love just staring at the plants, watching them grow, smelling the flowers.  I am happy to say that the 4th corn seed finally sprouted so I'm back to a block of four plants.  My broccoli are doing great as is my mint that I can't keep contained....my own fault for not planting it in a container.. lol....  I think the chives are doing better.  They haven't totally died yet, so the transplant was ok, I think. Oh, and I also saw the ever tiniest tomato sprout this morning when I went out to check.  My row of lettuce has sprouted and doing really great.  The only thing I am waiting on is my row of green onions which may or may not take off.  My green onions that I transplanted are still alive, but they don't seem to be growing very much.  I guess I should be thankful they aren't dead.  The morning glories have sprouted and are doing fine.

Not my chives

Ya know, it is such a satisfying feeling to be able to watch things grow from seeds.  My dad usually buys plants that have already been seeded and ready to transplant.  While I can see the convenience of doing a garden that way, saving time and stress, I think that whenever possible I will plant from seeds.   Perhaps that is part of my Marigold downfall.  I planted them from containers.. hehe..  Which reminds me, I still need to replant them.

Ok, enough of the garden... on to other things having to do with humanitary (is that even a word?)
service.

The Boise VA Hospital

Yesterday I went in to the VA hospital and picked up a volunteer packet.  I'll be volunteering once a week on Mondays.  I think I have managed to secure care for Raven on a weekly basis.  Yay for neighbors.  The volunteer coordinator seemed really nice and I think that I can make some sort of difference, and if not, then it will be good for me to get out of the house on my days off.  I refuse to have another day like I did on Monday.  I did nothing, not even get dressed.  Sheesh!

I have been stressing a little bit over Raven's daycare this summer. I was trying to find a less expensive route, but I think that I will end up paying a bit for her daycare in addition to having her at the daycare.  My neighbor, a stay-at-home mom says that she would be willing to help me out on Thursdays and Mondays.  Sweet, I say.

So, altogether, things are coming along really good.  I am still climbing out of the financial hole I dug myself a few weeks ago, but otherwise, I am doing great.

I am looking forward to my cousin's graduation in June.  My mom is coming down.  She hasn't seen Raven since the D.C. trip a few years ago.  It will be good to see her again.  We're having pictures done. I hate having pictures done most of the time.  I need to dye my hair before then and find something suitable to wear.  It's going to be summer and all I have are jeans.  bleh.

The last little bit of news is that I have volunteered to head up the TVW's Murder Mystery Dinner this year.  I've never done one before, but I am going to assist our group's leader who usually does it, and it is going to be so much fun!  If any of you reading this are in Boise, be sure to stay tuned.  It will take place in November sometime.  No other details have been set in stone, but when they are, you'll be the first to know!

I can't wait!

It Was Mother's Day or Something

Happy belated Mother's Day to all my fellow mothers out there.  Yeah, not having a home computer really bites right now, so this is of course, late.

As for me, I didn't do much of anything for Mother's Day.  Raven made me a few things in school, and brought home a live snap dragon that we proceeded to plant in the garden.  It was a little lopsided and really in need of planting by the time we got it home, but I think it will be ok. I put a plant holderupper on it, so it should grow fairly straight and strong.

I managed to call my mom and tried to call my stepmom.  She was unavailable as she was visting her mom and dad or something like that.  My dad did say that she got my letter, though, and enjoyed it very much.  My mom didn't get her letter until yesterday, but she still liked it.

Even Vile called me on Sunday to wish me a happy Mom's Day.  I don't usually call him for Dad's Day because let's face it, he's not much of a dad to Raven.  He did tell me that he thinks I'm doing a great job, like he would know, but it was nice of him to call.

Yesterday was a day of doing nothing.  I didn't even get out of my jammies.  I didn't write any letters, which I am a little bit behind.  I watched movies all day long.  I didn't even going out into the garden.  I really feel like a lazy lump on a log. I hate days like that.  Raven spent most of the time in her room because it was too windy and cold to go outside.  I really don't like days like yesterday.  I have tomorrow off, and I am vowing to NOT have a day like yesterday.

Tomorrow I am going to spend some time in my garden, write several letters and get my living room finally cleaned up.

If I am feeling extra adventurous, I'll clean out my card.  I still haven't totally unpacked it from the Reno trip in February.

Shame on me!

Dear Supervisors of the Almighty Floor...

There is nothing worse than being in a position where you have to make sure that there are certain things happening, and when you try to make sure they do happen, you get questioned for trying to figure out why they aren't happening they way they should be.  That is pretty much my job description.  And, frankly, I'm getting tired of it.  I am tired of being told my my bosses how to do something, then get questioned by the people that aren't my bosses and when I answer their questions, they just ignore me anyway.  Or make some dumbass remark about what I have to do.

I am NOT here just to answer chat and fill in a report every 15 minutes.  It's my job to wonder why advisors aren't on the phones when they should be and to let the supervisors know when that is happening. It is my job to be the eyes of the floor, even though technically I can't even SEE the floor due to the ugly grey wall they constructed.  It is my JOB to let you know when you have an advisor in an unauthorized aux code.  It's my JOB to let you know if you have an advisor that hasn't logged on yet or is back late from lunch or to deny a late arrival.  It isn't my job to hear a bunch of crap about how I do my job.

I wold appreciate a little bit more respect when it comes to making these decisions. I would appreciate you not going behind my back and letting them do whatever they want anyway because you can erase it later.  We still get questioned over why it happened, and that is something that you, Supervisor, don't understand.

I am frustrated with this place.  I will have been here two years on the 18th, and I can't say that it will be a very happy anniversary.  I've been at this job a little over a year.  If I had known that it would be this bad, I would have stayed on the phones.

I think it is time to actively seek employment elsewhere.  I don't really want to because I like the pay here but it isn't worth the constant stress and the constant disrespect and pushback that we keep getting from the supervisors.

I would give just about anything to be able to work a "normal" schedule where I wasn't working 12 hours on Saturdays, too.  I don't mind working on the weekends, but 12 hours is a bit ridiculous.

Yeah.... that's what I've got to do.....

Spring Cleaning Part Deux

Yesterday didn't go quite as planned.  I was really looking forward to getting my living room and kitchen cleaned.  Instead, I opted to clean my room.  My room isn't huge, but it is a bit bigger than my last room, which makes it huge.  And, it was covered with nothing but dirty laundry.  Shame on me.  I straightened and rearranged and I even vacuumed the floor with that annoying smelly stuff that you dust on your carpet.   It didn't even help the room to smell any better. I think I've had it for so long that the sniff evaporated out of it, but I can always pretend.  I did light some Egyptian Cotton incense, and wow, does that smell great!

But, unfortunately, I'm not finished with my room. I still have all that laundry that was on my floor to do, as well as washing my sheets.  On the plus side, I did get around to finally putting on the pillowcases that I washed a month ago.  That felt nice against my head last night.

I did manage to get a load of dishes done, but ran out of detergent for the dishwasher. I suppose I will have to go back to the old ways and wash them by hand.  I am also out of laundry detergent.  I am NOT going to do my laundry by hand.  I can just imagine myself trying to pull a "Snow White" or something and try to wash them on a whateveryoucallit.

Raven's room is pretty much done. I suppose it will be time to go through her clothes that are up in the closet and pull down the shorts and tank tops and such.  I think it is also just about that time to go through her clothes and figure out which ones can be donated due to her growing like a weed the past season.  Most of her jeans have holes in the knees, so they will make for perfect cutoffs this year.  I might not have to buy anything but new jeans for her.  Wouldn't THAT be awesome!  Oh, and I need to vacuum her room.  She has been doing a great job keeping her room and even her bed free of clutter.

So, I guess the next part will be to clean my kitchen or living room on Sunday.  Yeah, that sounds about right.  I don't like spending a WHOLE day cleaning, even if it does get it over with sooner.  I want to have some fun or just relax to a movie or something.

Well, it is back to the grind for me.  I swear that I will go blind looking at a computer screen all day long....

Spring Cleaning, Part 1

There is something in the air today.  Well, the last few days, really.  Actually, I just look at my home surroundings and about want to throw up, it's so cluttered and filthy.  I haven't been able to do much since I sprained my ankle last week, but I have just decided that it is time.....


Spring Cleaning!!



Yes, it is that time of year again when the animal get twitter-pated, or perhaps that was a month ago, I don't even know anymore, but what I do know is that spring is FINALLY in the air, and so is my desire to clean my apartment.  I have spent the last several weeks looking around at my habitat and I've decided that it is time to make my place a home again.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm living it a total pigsty, although my mother would probably say so.  It isn't the cleanest for sure, but it isn't the messiest, either.  Raven has actually done a great job keeping up her end of the clean room bargain.  I did have to get after her a few days ago, but she did her job, and now it's done.  Now, it's my turn.

I still don't have a computer at home, so part two won't come for a few days.

Stay tuned. Who knows, I might even take before and after pictures.

That's Not Where the Tennis Ball Goes

A lot has happened the last few days.  Oh where do I start.  I guess I will start with the hole I dug myself with my bank.  I got a letter stating that they had reversed the provisional credit.  Which to me meant that they had already done it.  Yeah, I won't make that mistake again.  Suffice it to say that my account is now almost $300 in the hole and I've got rent due and all of that nonsense.  I'll be able to get back on track around the end of May.  Don't know exactly how that happened, but oh well.  Lesson learned.

I also did a number on my ankle on Wednesday.  As I was getting out of my car and walking with books in hand to the library on my second step, I went head first into the parking lot rolling my ankle in a HUGE pot hole that I didn't see next to my rear tire.  I spent yesterday at home nursing it, missing a day of work.  Hopefully they will use some of my paid time off to cover for those missed hours.  I can't afford to be out any hours right now due to my bank account being so empty.

I had considered the thought of getting a payday loan to cover the missing balance, but that would be a major headache that I really don't need right now.  I'll just suck it up and go from there.  I probably would have been ok if I hadn't gone ahead and made that daycare payment so freaking early, but it was either then or never and they require the payment up front for the first month's care.

I'm sure I mentioned that Raven's daycare is closing today.  That really sucked, to be sure, but it is what it is, and that's all I can say about that.  It was a really great daycare, too.  I wonder if I could get the daycare to reverse the amount of the care for the month and then get it to them when I have it.  That wouldn't matter, though because I would still be out that much money anyway.  Oh man, whatever am I going to do!  Suck it up like a big girl and keep in mind that money doesn't grow on trees.. LOL I just tell myself that it could have been a lot worse.

So, I sprained my ankle on Wednesday, and I ended up hobbling to the library.  It took a good ten minutes for me to realize what happened while I was in the parking lot.  I tried calling for help, and Raven in turn was yelling, "Someone help my mom!"  It was quite adorable, really when I think back to it, but I didn't get any help.  I was dirty and banged up pretty badly.  I'm sure I looked like a fright when I finally did make it to the counter.  I asked the librarian who I could sue for the pothole in the parking lot.  I didn't really mean to sue anyone, but I wanted them to know that I had been injured in their parking lot.

I went to the bathroom and cleaned up.  If I didn't absolutely need to get the names for SA, I would have left. I was three names behind, and I wasn't leaving without them and a few new books for Raven.  I think that the adrenaline was getting the better part of my judgement.  I was only there less than five minutes, though, which was good.  The lady that was sitting next to me at the computer tables had gotten up and was talking to the head librarian.  She came over to me and asked if she could pull my car up for me so I didn't have to hobble all the way out to it.  I handed her the keys, logged off the computer, checked out Raven's books and waited for my car.  I thought that was really nice.

I don't have medical insurance, so I didn't go see a doctor.  A friend of mine brought me some crutches last night.  I had taken a scalding hot bath to try to ease the pain which helped while I was in the water, but ended up not lasting long afterward.  I took some Tylenol Arthritis (650mg) each, and that helped a bit, too.  I took some this morning, but forgot to bring the rest with me.  I am thankful to have a desk job right now.  I'm actually not using the crutches because they slow me down.  Yeah, I know I should stay off my ankle, but I do have a nice ankle brace on it, and I managed to get my shoe on this morning even though my ankle is still the size of a tennis ball.

So, I am hoping that I have enough cash to get gas for the next week.  I don't get paid until a week from today.  Needless to say I won't be going anywhere on my days off.  I have about $11 to get me gas until then.  Can I do it?  I think I can.

Stupid gas prices.....

Death by Steak Knife/Drowning by Water

Sadly, I have to report another "death" in the family.  Death by steak knife probably isn't the best way anything can go, but that is what happened.  On Saturday evening I decided, against my better intuition (ugh!), that I was going to try to install the software for the printer that my friend gave me.  It got through about three or four of the installation items, then stalled.  I tried to get the disk out.  I called a friend who knows a lot about mac minis.  We couldn't together get the disk out.  I finally decided that I would need to take drastic measures to get the darn thing out and grabbed a steak knife from my kitchen and after an hour of prodding, trying begging and frustrating, I finally got the disk out.  It was scratched up beyond recognition and will probably not be readable in any future disk drive.  I tried to turn the mini back on, and the light went on, then immediately went out for the last time.  Goodbye, dear mini, you served your purpose well.  I will miss you.

On the bright side, the computer that needed the new power supply is in the hands of a friend who is a computer programmer.  Don't know why I didn't think to ask him in the first place, but he has it, and he said he could fix it good as new, OS and all.  Sweet.  He said he might be able to get it back to me today.  I really hope so because the names for LWT are starting to pile up because I can't get to that site at work.  It's been blocked for some reason.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will get the computer back if not today, by the end of the week.  I hope he didn't have any issues.

Yesterday I did nothing.  I didn't even get out of my jammies.  I didn't go out to my garden to do any weeding.  I couldn't bear to look at all the marigold that are now dead due to the morning frost we had a few days ago.  I couldn't bear to look at the corn stalk that withered to a nice lush brown due to that same frost.  I couldn't look at the swimming pool that formed even though I leveled the garden out AND put up a wall to prevent the drain off water from flowing into the garden.  All of the flowers that were on that side of the garden ended up completely underwater except for the watermelon, and that only because it is in a high hill.  Oh well, I can always replant the marigolds in May when I should have, and I can replant the corn.

On the bright side, the bearded iris is doing really good.  I mean REALLY good.  It hasn't sprouted any flowers yet, which is nice because they probably would have  withered and died, too.  The lettuce and broccoli are doing good so far as well.  The morning glories that I planted haven't sprouted yet.  The package said about 7 days.  I think it's been two weeks.  Oh well, they probably drowned.  Gah!

It's another day at work today, in case you were going to try to put a huge hold in my dead computer theory.  Tuesdays are just about the worst work day that there could be.  Except for Saturdays.    I won't even get into it.

I hope that you are all having a great day.  Spread some of the love, would you?

Garden, Daycare and Soldier Mail

It's been a while since I wrote last.  It's been a busy several days.

I have been busy handmaking cards for a Soldiers' Angels card signing this Sunday.  It probably won't be a very big event, I am having a small info booth at a business yard sale, but I do hope to get the word out about SA nonetheless.  People will be able to get information about SA as well as write words of gratitude or thanks on a card for one of our heroes.  I have made over 100 cards, which may not seem like a whole lot, but that will be over 100 heroes who will get extra encouraging words from home.  And who knows perhaps we will get a few more volunteers to adopt a hero.

I've gotten a few letters and an email from some heroes.  It always makes me smile whenever I do hear back from someone I've written.  Speaking of which, I am a little behind on sending out my letters.  I reduced my name intake to 6 names per week instead of 14.  It was just getting unmanageable.  On the bright side, a friend of mine gave me a printer.  An older printer, but one that will work with my mac mini, so I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth.  The only thing I need is to get the cable from her that connects the printer to the computer, and I'll be all set.  She even hooked me up with four extra cartridges of ink.  I'm doing the happy dance.  With that, I will probably be able to increase my names every week.

Concerning my garden; I guess I don't have as green of a thumb as I thought.  For the most part, the plants are doing good, but the heat hardy marigolds haven't liked this cold spell one bit and they are mostly dead.  I was warned about that, so I have no one to blame except myself.  It has been raining a lot, so they probably drowned.  They are only supposed to be watered a few times a week.

The swimming pool did end up coming back even though I leveled it out.  I decided that I needed to take more drastic measures, so I went to home Depot and bought a few of those clamshell border rocks.  So far, they have been working great.  I wish I had thought of that sooner.  And, even though they only border most of one side, they still look good.

Raven's daycare is closing at the end of April.  This is both bad and good.  Bad because, well I hate to see any business close down...bad because they were a great daycare/preschool and Raven learned a LOT of things there and made a few good friends.  Good because I will be enrolling her in the daycare program that is on the school premises where she will be attending kindergarten this year.  I am hoping that she will be getting to know some of the kids in her class before she gets there.  There's nothing like being the new girl and not knowing anyone.  Raven isn't that shy, but I also don't want to put her in that position if I don't have to.  The bad thing is that she will only be going to that site until the end of the current school season.  They don't have a summer session there anymore, so I will have to transfer her to a different site that does.  My friends who pick her up for me on Thursdays and Fridays are going to kill me...lol  When the school season starts, Raven will go back to her school and have care before and after school on the days I work.  When I don't work, I will get a few hours in the afternoon all to myself.  Whatever will I do with myself!!

I think that is all the updates I actually have.  Sad, isn't it?  Thanks for sticking with me.  I really need to do something more exciting with my life.

An Adventure to the Other Side of the Fence

The last two days off were really great.  Spent time in the garden.  (See previous post).

The other thing we did was to send out all the packages we had ready for our heroes.  All in all, 1 APO box, 2 flat rate bubble envelopes, and three smaller envelope sized packages.  Hey, I do what I can.  Anyway, I decided that I was not going to take the chance on getting the snatch at the regular post office, so Raven and I drove a shorter distance and went to a very large post office in the other direction.

The line was to the door.  I stepped inside to start filling out the numerous customs forms, which always takes at least 20 mins alone.  I have some on order, but they haven't shown up yet.  When I was finished, two elderly people allowed me to go ahead of them.  I thanked them very kindly.  (The first awesome thing about this post office.)

When I finally got to the counter, the clerk greeted me with a smile (the second awesome thing about this post office).  He took my packages and even told me how much I saved with the APO flat rate box.  $12.95 vs 31.+.  Thank goodness for flat rate boxes!

I had two regular sized envelopes, not the short ones, but the long ones, that were full of coupons for one of the teams I am on.  I was certain that he was going to charge me extra because they weren't very uniform, and I thought they might be a little heavy.  The first thing he did was to take out this really cool gadget that has the max width of a letter cut into it.  He slid the letters (both) through the hole, and charged me a whole $0.44 for each envelope with the coupons. (the third awesome thing about this post office.) Wait, what?  That's right.  I got charged the regular price for each of the coupon envelopes.  If I had gone to the other post office, the woman would have made me put two ten cent stamps on each envelope.  The other post office doesn't even HAVE one of those nifty thingamajigs with the hole cut into it to check the width.  I told Ed, that was the clerk, that the other post office needed one ASAP.  It's possible that they just don't use it, but I think they don't have one and if they do, they don't care to use it.

Oh, I totally forgot the best part.  While I was at the counter, and we were in the middle of doing my packages, an older woman stepped up next to me to ask the clerk a simple question.  What makes this the best part?

He answered it.

I really give credit to the Post Office on Ustick and Cole.  They are friendly, courteous, speedy and they keep their calm under pressure.  The line stayed steady to the door, but it wasn't the same people in line for more than ten minutes.

I think I found my new post office.

Garden and more Garden!!

We ended up not going to the greenbelt like I had planned.  It was such a beautiful day that I thought I would spend some time in the garden.  I transplanted one of the watermelon seedlings onto a hill as per the instructions.  I hope I did it right. I also transplanted some of the lettuce seedlings. 

Then......

I decided it would be a good idea to visit the local nurseries, i.e. Home Depot/Walmart and see what I could see.  I hit the HD first.  We were there a few weeks ago and they had next to nothing.  Now they have tons of stuff.  I asked one of the clerks if they had marigolds and she said no. She totally lied to me. hehehe...  I found some yellow ones in the middle of a bunch of other plants.  African daisies I think they were.  I can't be sure.  I left HD with 8 yellow marigolds, a blue viola, a purple and white columbine, 4 purple pansies and 4 white pansies...oh, and a pair of pink/grey gardening gloves for Raven.  She is very proud of them.

What I really wanted, though, was an alternating yellow/orange marigold front line to my garden.  I proceeded to Walmart and sure enough, they had them.  They were MORE expensive than HD, which I thought odd, but nevertheless, I bought them.  I also found a bleeding hearts plant that is so totally perfect for me.  The columbine and bleeding hearts will take the place of the butterfly bush that I thought I wanted.  Apparently, it is common.  I don't like to be too common.  I also picked up some blue morning glory seeds that I planted at the base of the right side of the garden arch.  The left side is reserved for my tomatoes. 

Raven and I spent a few hours planting what we could.  I ended up with a few pansies and yellow marigolds left over.  I will ask one of my friends in the complex if she wants them.  As we were planting the marigolds, I noticed that one of the sunflowers from the bird feeder had fallen out and actually started to grow!  I ended up leaving it there and it will grow between two marigolds. It was really neat. 


While I was at Walmart I picked up 4 solar lights.  They actually work!  Yes, I am surprised when anything from that dreaded place actually works as it is supposed to.  I have a nice large spot in front of Faery Town that needs something, but I haven't decided what I will plant there yet, if anything. 

Below are my best pics from today. Enjoy!

As you can see, there is a lot of what looks like empty space, but believe me that it will grow soon enough.  Now, if we can just keep the weather from turning crappy again......

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