Happy New Year!

I can't believe that today is the last day of this year all ready. If I can get thru the next month or two I'll be able to get some rest and the store will look wonderful in time for Inventory in Feb. We are doing the fabric mark downs on the Calico wall today and getting a good bit of the fabric move done as well. Lots of calico on clearance and then half off will be hard to resist! But I don't have anytime to sew or craft anymore so I should resist... will see if mind or will wins on this one.

Better get the day started.

Flu Bug and family loss issues

I have several gals ill with this years cruddy flu and then one gal just lost her father. It's going to be another ruff week but thankfully Shannon is jumping on board quickly and is becoming a BIG help. Lenora is ill with THE CRUD! So she will be out sick for another day or two if not more. Hopefully if it's longer than a couple days she will go to the Dr. If we can get thru this next month it will be smooth sailing from then on... I hope - KNOCKING ON WOOD! We have Inventory in February and we are also supposed to be "model STore" perfect by Feb. 1 - we are getting there but there is still a LOT to do! Sometimes I get to wondering "what on EARTH are you doing being a store manager"! Oh well - most days I LOVE it and enjoy the work; more than anything I need some time off to regroup and rest and then my energy will be back again. Scott has been so wonderfully - keeping the house up and bringing me meals at work when I can't leave the building. HE has become a real LAUNDRY KING! A better husband can NOT be found in my book. Greg is missing me and wants to go see a movie with me. I've got to get things settled at work so I can have some time with my family again. I so want to get up to our property and walk around a bit as well.

Time to get this day started - LOTS to do!

SO Tired!~

I would LOVE a couple days to just sleep and sleep! And this morning I have a horrible headache so I'm thinking I'm coming down with THE CRUD everyone else has had. But I have to work today and tomorrow and the next day. UGH! Things will get better! LOTS to do over the next month!
Becky

Surprises!

Last night I got this wonderful surprise at work! Adele and Tom sent me congratulatory flowers; aren't they lovely?!

Doing what it takes!

I put in a ton of hours last week and this week is looking just as bad. Hopefully by next week I will have another key holder or two in place so that I can have some hours at home to sleep and regroup. I plan to be at the store for opening and closing with my new key holders for 2 to 3 weeks to be sure they are trained and able to do everything with confidence. The store is looking so good and the customers are saying how nice everything looks. Draping fabric and doing recovery properly everyday is the key to keeping the store looking good. I've got to draw up maps on seasonal and floral and make up the next two weeks schedules today. LOTS to do! And lots of training to have those things done correctly. It's going to be exhausting but I will do what it takes to get everyone on the same page and there will be no excuses on not being trained. I need to work with everyone on fabric flow, colorization and draping. Luckily Christmas is nearly over so we will be slwoing down enough trafficwise so there will be time enough to train everyone. Better get ready for another day.

AGH!

I'm now the store manager! Not sure how that all happened but I believe I can do it. It's still scarey as hell but I want to do a good job. Now I just need to get enough key holders so that I don't have to work open to close everyday of the week. Hopefully I will have that situation remedied by Tuesday or Wednesday... I hope.

Rosemary tree

I wish I could remember whose blog I saw these on but was so excited to find this idea as I have a HUGE rosemary bush in the middle of my garden and am always looking for ways to use some of it up. SO.... if the owner of this idea pops in please post a reply to this message so people will know where I found this idea.

LIFE - Always changing!

None of us truly know what tomorrow will bring so the whole concept for living for today is sounding like a pretty good idea. I think a lot about future plans and then they get pushed aside as life takes over. It is so easy to loose yourself in a job or the mainstream consumerism that plagues our country. Scott and I so want to return to a simpilier way of living - smaller house, fewer things and more time together working on our land producing a majority of our food and making things with our hands. Striving for self sufficiency and growing old together. Going on hikes to interesting FREE parks like the Clay Pits not far from here where they used to pull clay to make bricks long ago. Peaceful places to sit and refleck all along the way. The photo above was taken there the last time we hiked around the clay pits. It's one of my favoite photos.

Something is up!

I think there is something going on at work that I don't know about but will know more soon if I'm picking up on things like I usually do. This next week I beleive there will be some changes in my life at work. But only time will tell what they are. Kinda scarey but I will survive it all.

Boy oh boy has it tuned C-O-L-D here; feels like upstate NY where I grew up and I have to be to work by 6 AM and it's 5:25 now so I better get dressed and start the truck up so my windows are cleared. Will write more this evening.

PROGRESS on Christmas

Well I got all our Christmas cards in the mail. Deep cleaned the hall bathroom that our son uses for the most part and it looks and smells a LOT better. I also got our laundry caught up and went grocery shopping. I even made a nice dinner last night and a batch of No-Bake Chocoalte-Oatmeal cookies. Scott was so happy! I still have a lot to do to be ready for Christmas but I am glad to say some things are completed.

It's back to work today! UGH! OH well! Life moves forward. I need to write my schedule down for next week. I get off at 4 this afternoon so I am hoping to get some presents made tonight. I need to write down all the employees names as well. BUSY BUSY!

Busy Day!

It's going to be a busy day today! I've got to do a deep clean on the house; laundry, grocery shopping, Christmas card writing and I need to get some gifts made as time is running out. Greg wants to go to the grocery store with me so that means I'll be buying more than I would without him but at least we will have things in the house that he will eat and he won't be calling me saying he is hungry! You'd think at 20 he'd be able to hunt his own food... LOL!

I also wanted to go out and do a bit more Christmas shopping without Scott or Greg tagging along as I can't buy things for them while they are there being noisey! Scott took a sick day yesterday hoping he would get to feeling better but last night he said he may have to go to the Dr to get over this one. Probably another sinus infection. He did heal well from the stitches incident and took the stitches out himself. It's a barely visible scar now.

Well writing on here isn't going to get my work done and I have to return to work tomorrow... better get BUSY!

WEE Morning Hours!

It's about 3:30 AM and I'm awake for some unexplanable reason; perhaps it has something to do with being so congested. I also went to bed at about 9 last night as I was beat from working 7 AM to 5 PM yesterday at the store. Was only supposed to be there until 2 but we were swamped and it was all new girls with Diann and I just couldn't leave her with that mess. Day before yesterday Tiff got hit by a car so I'll be covering her hours today so that she can recover. She was lucky and didn't get any broken bones but is brusied up pretty badly and has had difficulty in breathing. Hopefully nothing serious develops. I'm supposed to be off tomorrow and Wednesday but may have to go in and cover some of her hours; time will tell.

I need to get some Christmas gifts made and soon as there are only 21 more days until Christmas. YIKES! I have done some shopping but still have a ways to go. Greg has asked for some really expensive items this year and I am afraid they are just too far out of our budget unless I can locate them at closeout prises and then he may get just ONE item under the tree this year.

Scott called me a "blankey hog" last night and said I took all the covers and could he PLEASE have some back and since then I had been uncovered so who is the BLANKEY HOG!? My back is stiff from being exposed to cold air so I have the little space heater running next to me trying to warm up my back. Little Nickie has decided that I actually turned it on for him and he is curled up in front of it now. He has been sneezing the last couple days so I may have to take him to the vet Tuesday or Wednesday. Tesla has also let out a couple small sneezes so he may have caught it as well. Tara has been staying outside a LOT these days and only comes in to eat. I keep thinking with it getting colder she'd want to be indoors but not yet.

I guess I will try to get a little more sleep now.

UGH! Assigning registers today!

I was short in two drawers last night and will be assigning registers today to try to find the "problem". This happened the last time I closed as well and I'm sick of it! Time to weed someone out before loss prevention weeds me out for not finding the problem!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Tonight we drug out the extension cord and plug the lights in on the BIG cedar tree out front. You can really tell that the little tree has grown a lot over the years as the lights are nearly invisible. I outlined the tree in this photo as it's so dark and I wanted the edges visible.

OUCH!

What away to get pulled out of a meeting at work - Scott called to let me know that I had to come home right away to take him for stitches. So now he looks like Greg's cat with his fat bandaged thumb. He had to have 3 stitches to close the hole he made with a pair of needle-nose pliers while fixing my weed-eater.

Turkey Day Week!

We will be going to dinner at Scott's Moms' this year as I have to be to work at 5 AM the day after Thanksgiving and Julia asked us first. I'll be making a broccoli casserole using Julia's recipe:

BROCCOLI CASSEROLE

2 pkgs frozen broccoli, chopped (10 oz)
2 eggs, beaten
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 onion, chopped
1/4 stick margarine, melted
Ritz crackers

Cook frozen broccoli according to package directions, drain. In a 2-quart, greased casserole dish, combine the next 5 ingredients with the drained broccoli (you may want to mix this together in a large bowl and then put it into your casserole dish). Just before baking mix the melted margarine with a stack of crushed Ritz crackers and put this mixture on top. Bake at 325* F for 30 minutes.

This is WONDERFUL!
I bought some Thanksgiving napkins from work and will be taking a package with me to add to the table. Scott's brothers and sister will be there with their partners/spouses; not sure if the nephews will make it in from TN or not.

I've got to get together a "wish list" as everyone will be asking for them at dinner thursday. HMMMMmmm... will have to think on that some. Perhaps after the meeting at the store today I will get Scott to go out and do some window shopping with me.

It's a GIRL! ... WAIT!

No it's a boy! Thats right the girl I made these booties for is actually having a BOY! SO back to the crochet hooks. But aren't they cute?!

Project

Thought I would post a quick photo of my latest project. I'm also crocheting baby booties for a co-worker and will post a photo of them when I get them finished.

20 year old needs to find some direction

Our son is searching for his place in the world; he is currently unemployed and about to loose insurance on his car and thinking about joining the Navy or Coast Guard. I worry for him and am hoping that his life takes some direction and soon. I also worry about him joining the service of any type as he is our only child and I would hate to loose him; I think it would devastate me completely.

My sister, Robin came over for a visit yesterday with her two children and it was so nice to see them again. Gwen and Drake are growing up so fast. Gwen had been in Georgia to perform in an Honors Choir and was talking about how bad her chest hurt from singing for 3 straight days. Drake had to get home in time to practice on his instrument of choice and talked about his last soccor game. They are both very artistic and in a lot of activities.

Today I am supposed to have lunch with a friend and I am thinking about trying to get into see my Dr as I awoke with an awful ear ache that feels quite watery. I also want to work on some Christmas gifts as that isn't really that far away either. Always 101 things to do on my day off.

Illness

Well it looks like all the illness from work is finally catching up to me and my head is killing me this morning. I'm going to try to get a Dr's appointment for my lunch time today as I can't let this get me down with the Christmas Season upon us at work. There is simply too much to do at the store. Hopefully there will be another Manager there so that I can go to the Dr. I'm pretty sure it is a sinus infection and the sooner I get on some antibiotics the better.

One of the girls bought up a bunch of ornaments for her Christmas tree all ready. I've been thinking about looking thru my old craft magazines for some ornaments to make for Christmas gifts. Time is becoming an issue with me working so many hours; Christmas really is not that far off at all. Greg will be getting some new clothes for Christmas this year that would be appropriate for wearing to job interviews and such. All his clothes look so awful; it's no wonder no one will hire him. I may also look into getting him a gift card to Autozone as well. Scott is going to take some thought as I would love to surprise him but he always figures things out on me before Christmas arrives.

Time for a shower I think as I've started sneezing.

HE'S COMING HOME!

Scott will be home from Belgium tonight and I will be driving to Charlotte to pick him up. I can hardly wait to see him. It's been a hectic week and I've missed my best friend - my husband! We may stay overnight in Charlotte or we may try driving on home; it will all depend on how tired we both are. I'm looking forward to hearing about his trip.

We are doing trick or treating at the store today so that'll be something different. Tomorrow night I'll be working overnight trying to get the freight to the floor. Tim our District Manager will be coming to help us and I am hoping we get the stock room about empty. With any kind of good luck we will sell thru on Halloween stuff today so we will have space for all the Christmas that has come in. I got the stock room more organized again so that will help - I hope.

Belgium

Scott left for Belgium yesterday and will be back on Saturday evening. I miss him so badly and a cold front moved in hard last night so that this morning I REALLY missed his warmth. It is so very nice to have someone to hold in the early morning while the furnace catches up on heating the house. More blankets on the bed tonight I believe.

I need to wet my hair as I awoke with BIG head this morning but don't want to have wethair on the way to work this morning so people will just have to deal with my natural waves. I've thrown a headband on to tone it down a bit but it hasen't helped too much.

Got to feed the dog and get to work.

Table... what table!

OK! So this is supposed to be our dining room table but I NEED the crafting space. I really need to get the train stuff packed up and those tables taken down so that I can use that space for crafting/sewing storage and move my actual crafting back into my sewing room. Perhaps then we could use the table to eat on again and I could get more projects finished. Thats the plan for my next couple days off.

While I worked!

While I worked yesterday Scott took the tractor up to our property and mowed some and actually ran over a cotton rat or two doing it. Once we get up there and can mow more on a regular basis perhaps we wont see too many of these. I'm sure they would attract some BIG snakes.

Friday is here!

Well I survived the training trip to NC and learned alot. Now we just have a TON of stuff to do to make our store a "Model Store" completely by Feb. 2nd!No stree there! HA HA! Oh well we will start knocking it out section by section - starting this Sunday night.

I have to go in at 6 this morning to help unload the truck and then back in to close tonight; a nap is souding GREAT right now.

Next week Scott will be going out of town for 3 days on business so I will have to stay busy so I won't miss him as much. I've got LOTS of projects still waiting to be done so I shouldn't get bored. Got to get somethings done as Christmas is just around the corner now. YIKES!

YEAH!

If I can get thru today I'll be off til SUNDAY! YEAH! I can hardly wait to be away from there. Things are quite stressful with the Christmas season upon us once more. I need to get some sewing projects done and some other crafts as well. I definitely want want to make up some scrapbooks for my siblings for Christmas. I started on them last year but lost my focus. Hopefully I will do better this year. I've signed up for a couple fun exchanges on IFQ as well. A Christmas Cracker and a Kit N' Kaboodle sewing kit. I have ideas in mind but need to get busy! Scott's ship reunion is this weekend so we will be in Charleston Friday to Sunday and we are looking forward to the time away. I need to get this house cleaned up this morning as well as the mountain of laundry out of the way. There is always way more to do than there are hours in the day.

Fall has arrived with a nice crisp morning this morning. I LOVE Fall - it's colors and scents and sounds of migrating birds. The opportunity to make homemade soups and breads is always welcome as well.

All caught on sleep!

I'm feeling well rested today as I got to sleep in this morning. I have to work tonight and then back to work at 6AM tomorrow. Christmas season is upon us and we have a lot to get out to the sales floor. Lots and lots to do!

Next week Scott and I will be attending his ships reunion in Charleston and we are looking forward to getting away from Columbia. We will probably go on our own little adventures during the day as all the "planned" events are things that he and I have all ready done in the past. I'd love to walk on the beach and see the Market down there.

Our 3 cats

Fat orange cat - Mr. Tesla
Long haired orange cat - Little Nickie (son's cat)
Calico - Mistress TARA

All "owning" our bed trying to lure me in for a nap.

Sept. 23rd EXCITEMENT!

I got a call from the store on my last day of vacation telling me I HAD to get up there as there was a FIRE! Turned out a fan motor in one of the A/C units burned up and filled the store with smoke. One of my employees had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance as she has asthma and got a bad case of smoke inhalation. She is OK but had to stay in the hospital til 2 AM and got several breathing treatments. I'm so happy that she is doing all right. We closed the store down but stayed til aout 8:30 PM (this all happened about 4) with doors open and fans running. Yesterday we went in and did some cleaning up and clearing sapce in the stockroom so that we won't get in trouble with the Fire Marshal for boxes stacked too close to the power panel and such. I mopped and mopped to get up this fine sout that was on the floor. I wore a blister in my right hand from using the big mop but it did help to clear out some of that smell. We couldn't smell anything on the fabric so we opened for business as usual on Sunday afternoon. I'll be going in for 4 or 5 hours today to make up for the time I missed yesterday. I've got to wait on the washing machine though as I need underclothes to wear to work. LOTS of laundry still needs to be caught up.

I seem to have a stomach bug of sorts as I keep having to run to the restroom. Hopefully it is something that will pass quickly. Thats the bad thing about the season changes; all the illnesses that pop up out of the blue.

I guess I'll go do some other cleaning while the washer is working on the clothes.

Working vacation!~

Well I actually ended up going in yesterday for about 8 hours. I opened EVERY box in the stock room with any luck they'll be able to get it out before the truck is due today so they'll have room for the 397 boxes that are coming. I am NOT going in again until Sunday evening - the first REAL day/NIGHT back to work. Althou I do have to type up a report and get it to our District Manager today. I will type it up next and then plan to drop it off first thing this morning. I DO have an employee coupon for double my discount thats good only today so I may just go in to shop a bit for Christmas.

Scott was snoring so loudly and deeply that I HAD to get up as there was no sleeping.

No rain yesterday after all

I was going to go ahead and mow the lawn yesterday which needs it BADLY But I couldn't get the mower started so I pushed it back in the shed and did some (again much needed) weeding in our garden. I found one pepper plant amoungst the weeds with some beautiful peppers on it that I will need to pick soon and cut up and freeze for later use in chili and stews. This vacation is teaching me the importance of finding balance in everything and not to focus too hard on my work. My dwelling and hobbies have to find a place in my daily routine again. Somehow I have to learn to do this so that I won't get to feeling so overwhelmed and burnt out.

I've begun reading Diana Gabaldon's book, A Breath Of Snow And Ashes another wonderful book in the Outlander series. So far it's repeating the end of The Fiery Cross to catch people up on the story line but thats ok as it takes me back into the book. I love her books as they always make me feel like I'm "there" hiding behind a tree or a curtain watching the story unwind. Today I think I will read and sew while the rain is falling. I did promise to take Greg to lunch at about 11; he wants Taco Bell. Off to read now!

Looking like rain today~

A good day to stay inside and sew. I'd like to just stay home today and get some projects finished but family and friends may lure me out on other grand adventures. Yesterday was my Friend, Gypsye's big 4-0 birthday so she and I went to lunch together to Nonna's on Gervais St in Columbia SC. ABSOLUTELY delicious! We had their special of pimento cheese, tomato and bacon sandwiches on a crecent roll. YUMMY! Will be trying that out here at home with the guys. We also had some cake for dessert and I had a LARGE mocha coffee. After lunch we went to Target on Garners Ferry Road and soat out there clearance items. All in all we had a lot of fun together. I had to be home by 3 as Sears was to come by to give us an estimate. Well He got here a little after 3 but wouldn't do the estimate as Scott wasn't here. He said we would have to reschedule. I called Scott after he left and told him we would not be buying siding and windows from Sears. He was fuming and called them up AND wrote a tremendous complaint letter... we will be looking elsewhere to replace 26 windows... talk about a screw up on their part.
You'd think in 2006 women would hold more weight in decision making even if they ARE married. We were appauld!

I also had to get Wilson Heating and Air out yesterday as day before our A/C quit working. It was wonderful again by last night. They in comparison to Sears are TOPS with us!

Well if I'm to get anything accomplished today I better get started plus Amelia is waiting on her breakfast.

Day 5 of vacation!

Here it is my 5th day of vacation. I am going into work for about an hour for a conference call and then out to coffee with Gypsye for her 40th birthday! I survived it and so will she and having some iced coffee sounds GREAT right now as our A/C is down and we had a long sticky night last night. I'll call today and see when they can come out and do a seasonal check-up and get it going again. It's supposed to rain today and bring cooler temps with it. I hope thats true as I am more than ready for Fall.

Sears is sending someone out to give us estimates on replacement windows and vinyl siding today. We want to get this house ready to sell so that we can get moved up onto our property. It may take longer than we had planned last year but we want to make a good profit on this place.

I've got blocks pinned together for the 1000 triangle quilt and am hoping to work on it some this afternoon while waiting on the Sears dude. We have to have this quilt finished for the winter as our old quilt is literally fallign apart that my Great Aunt Nellie made us as a wedding gift. I need to copy the pattern down from the few blocks that are still intacked. Then I can make a replica of it to replace it and perhaps frame the blocks that are still in good shape. We've had this quilt for nearly 22 years now.

Scott just called he got a ticket this morning just up the street. The Officer said that Scott rolled a stop. He was not happy when he called to let me know about it. He says he will be going to court about it. UGH!

Well I better see what I can do about getting my window up on the truck... it broke on Sunday! So far this vacation has been nearly more stressful than work!

4 more working days!

Then my vacation starts and I can hardly wait! Especially now that we are dealing with a disgruntled ex-employee. She has become a real nightmare. I need to be focusing on getting the store ready for the Holiday season and now we will have to deal with this mess. Hopefully HR can get things straight and quickly.

As for my vacation I have so many fun projects planned and hardly know where to begin on them. And I want to go up to Spartanburg to visit my folks one day. Got to call my Mom and figure out what day would work best for her. I also have Sears coming out to give us an estimate on vinyl windows and siding on Tuesday. We are working on the house trying to get it ready to sell in the next couple years or so. Scott is talking about buying houses to flip to make some money that way. There are quite a few houses for sale in the neighborhood next to ours that are prime opportunities. But we will see. Not sure how we would find time or energy to work on another house to get it flipped quickly.

Last night we went out to eat at LaFiesta with some of my co-workers and had a good time. My husband and son were the only guys there as nobody else could talk their spouses into coming. It was "interesting".

I'm working closing hours today and am hoping to get some planograms done this evening. I can work on them and watch the front of the store that way. The quilting books will take the longest as they have to be totally re-numbered as we moved fixtures and now the flow is different.

A day off! + ONE MORE

I'm off from work today and tomorrow and plan to organize my wreck of a sewing room so that when I'm off for an entire week (third week of Septemer) I can actually get some sewing done in there and perhaps some scrapbooking as well. My "collecting" has gotten a little out of control as you can see by the pictures adn has spread to the dining room table. Today I will do my best to get some of it organized.

August 26, 2006 trip to property

I got off work early enough yesterday that Scott and I were able to go up to our property for awhile. Scott cut a few trees and then mowed the area we haven't been able to get back into since buying the property. The more time we spend up there and the more we do on the property the more we just want to get moved up there and stay. I got to see and hold a box turtle yesterday as well as a very fast moving small brown snake and a walking stick that was about 8 inches long. I can hardly wait to spend hours discovery all the floral and fawny that we have on our place. I also hear want sounded like a coyote howling off in the woods. Well got to get into work; just going in for 4 or 5 hours to stock.

Fall

I am so glad that with September Fall arrives and cooler weather. I hate the heat and humidity of the Summer months. I enjoy Fall colors best with the deep reds, burnt oranges and dark browns. Such wonderful earthy colors. I wish we were all ready living up on our property and that we were planning a BIG garden for next summer. We are trying to get some things done around here to prepare this house for selling next year. As much as I enjoy my job most days I am thinking more and more of returning home once we get moved out to the country. I miss a clean house and yard; Scott is doing his bext to help around the house and thanks to him it's not a complete dissaster area. But I miss my baking and crafting time and I have so many incredible items to use up in my sewing room right now. Time will tell.

Ribbon Embroidery

OK... I now have a new hobby/addiction! Ribbon embroidery! I am thoroughly enjoying learning all about it and practicing the stitches with less expensive ribbon. I think I will add silk ribbon to my Christmas list this year. On the above block I added the 3 "spider web" roses to this block; it is also part of the CQRR that I am currently in.

Hobbies

I have so many hobbies/interests that I can never get too bord. I sew, crochet, quilt, garden, scrapbook, and interesting craft that catches my eye I like to at least try. I am currently involved in a crazy quilt round robin and am learning about silk ribbon embroidery and beading. Such a lovely craft. I made the button heart on the above picture and had a lot of fun adding all the beads to it.

Much Needed Rest

I was finally able to get some much needed rest yesterday and last night. I am ready to go back into work with a little more of my "normal" high energy. THANK GOODNESS! I hate getting tired, stressed and depressed... I HATE weepy days. Hopefully they are behind me at least for awhile.

I got up yesterday with the intention of doing the mountain of laundry and watching sappy movies on the TV. That did not work out as the washer is dead again and had a load of wet dark clothes inside it - YUCK! So I sorted everything into black trash bags and when Greg got up he and I went up the road to the little laundry mat and washed most everything - ran out of quarters before I ran out of dirty clothes. The repair man will be out sometime Tuesday. We will have to work him around Scott's re-check at Dr. Myatich for his hernia repair. I'm hoping that he has healed correctly and won't require anything more but we will wait and see. Scott feels that they missed a sceond hernia and that he will need another surgery to repair that - I'm hoping he is wrong.

Our garden is in a bad state at the moment and needs some SERIOUS weeding but it's SO HOT here and the humidity is awful. I keep hoping for some rain to clean and cool the air a bit.

New Beginnings!

Well Tiffany is back as our manager and I am hoping that things will smooth out and that the work environment will improve. I'm so tired and stressed and so ready for a nice long vacation.

Demise of a lawn mower!~

OK... we've owned the mower we currently own for about 20 years and Scott has fixed and repaired it and kept it up for this long but it has finally reached that stage where I think we ought to let it go and buy a new one. Not sure if Scott is ready to give up that easily. Right now the lawn needs to be mowed REALLY bad and I'm not touching that mower again! My shoulder aches from trying to get it started this morning. I'm off today and figured that it would be the perfect time to at least mow... FORGET IT! Too much aggravation at this point. I'll come in and sew instead... at least my sewing machine works!

PUUURRRRRLLY CATatonic

This is a picture of my son's cat... "LITTLE NICKY"!
Lately he has been living up to his name and has been starting fights and beating up my cat, Mr. Tesla. He trys to start things with Tara but she makes enough nasty sounds to persuade him he ought to go elsewhere.

Oh how I wish I could get this comfortable and relaxed! Everyone says... don't sweat the small stuff; but how are you supposed to do that when everyday holds so many little things that it's down right overwhelming. I'll survive it all but sometimes I wonder how.

New Beginnings

Last Friday my Manager turned in her keys and now it's me pretty much running the show and that is SCAREY! I'm trying to get a bunch of stuff accomplished before Tim's (District Managers) next visit which is next Monday I believe. So much to complete and so little time and the freight needs to move faster out of the stock room as well. Today was supposed to be my day off but I'm going in to open boxes and complete some planograms. I just so want the store looking GOOD before he visits.

We will be getting a new manager the first week of August and I am going to try my hand at interviewing Wednesday and Thursday. Should be interesting; another manager from the Wilmington, NC store will be coming down to help me again; he was there yesterday and cleaned up the office for me which was wonderful as I don't know what to keep and what to pitch just yet. I feel like I'm having to learn 2 years worth of information in just a couple of weeks and it can get mind boggling. I will survive and learn from whomever comes in the store to help me during this transition time.

HANG ONTO YOUR HATS!

Nathalie's Noel wall hanging project

I've started a project called "Nathalies Noel" on the IFQ website and thought I'd share a photo of the first 4 blocks.

Crazy Quilt Round Robin

Charly's block with my additions.
MY STARTER BLOCK!

I'm currently involved in a round robin in which I help 5 other people decorate their block as they are mailed and past between the 6 participants. I started a block and sent it to Arizona and I will send on the other 5 blocks as I finish adding my embellishments.

Pretties from our yard

I brought a piece of the hydrangea from our other home in 1996 and have started several more plants from that transplant over the years and shared them with family and friends. The day lilies were a gift from a lady that used to live up the street from us when we first moved over here.

4th of July

Nothing special planned; we made hot dogs and chili, pork and beans and corn from our little garden for lunch. I also made a yummy cake with pudding and strawberries between the layers. Scott would have rather had a pie but I wanted to try out this recipe I found in a women's magazine. It's been too hot to do much of anything outside close to 100 degrees.
Scott is healing well and will be going back to the Dr on friday to have him check it out and to remove the one big stitch holding it together. At least thats what I am hoping as that stitch is causing him the most discomfort.
Greg mowed Gypsye's lawn today and is now resting as the heat exhausted him. We are definitely going to miss them when they all get moved to NYC next month. I won't have a friend to go out to lunch with or to scope out thrift stores and antique malls with anymore. Perhaps once Scott and I get moved up to the 10 acres I will find a new friend thats into the same fun stuff that I am to do those things with and to craft with as well. I'm still not sure I will keep the job I have once we move up there as it would be a LONG drive everyday. I guess only time will tell.

NEW BELLY BUTTON

I know this picture is kinda gross but it's Scott's new belly button and we are happy to have it in our lives. Hopefully once it's healed from this surgery he will be able to work without causing himself pain on our ten acres; at least in his belly area. I'm sure we will both have aches and pains in arms, legs and backs with everything we have planned to do. Building a small cabin and then putting in a garden and then building a Deltec home. But first we have to get this place ready to sell.Lots of painting and small and large repairs and updates... lots of WORK!

Scott's Surgery!

Tomorrow Scott will be having his surgery to repair the umbilical hernia. Supposed to be outpatient surgery; we will wait and see on that one. I am worried about him but am trying not to let him know tat I am. (I think he all ready feels my "worry beams"). All I can do is hope and pray it goes smoothly.

Whirlwind Romances

Last week my oldest-younger brother, Jack got married to Nichoal a girl he had been dating for about 2 months. Nichoal has a little boy named Dougie and there will be a new baby in our family +/- 9 months. New additions to our all ready BIG family. I've only met her once briefly when I was visiting Mom a few weeks back. Just proves that you never know what tomorrow may bring thats for sure.

Progress!

I have made some good progress this week in the re-doing of the craft department; only yarn/needle crafts, jewelry, Wilton, paint, unfinished wood, and clay left to do - three and a half isles and it will be done. Just got to get some muscle in there to shift loziers over one section at a time. UMPH! What we have gotten done so far looks really wonderful.I hope the District Manager thinks so as well.
Well I guess I better get back to the housework and laundry... what FUN!

Scott's garden!

Here are a few photos of Scott's garden as it is growing now.

AH CAT SCAN!

Life changes... daily

It's a 100% certain that life is always changing. Ashley worked her last officail day yesterday and Lily was hired to take her place. I hope she is a fast learner and a deligent worker.

Our Sunday night overnighter has been cancelled due to the fact that it is Father's Day and no sitter was available for Ash's son. Oh well! I will get what I can done during the week next week. And hope I have a good bit accomplished before Tim's visit Wednesday! I'm thinking of going in on Monday and working 5 hours on just planograms so that I can get ahead a little more. Got to ask Angie about that today.

So much to do around here this morning before I go into work... Laundry and house work mostly. I need to make a run to the grocery store for cat liter and dog food.

I let "Little Nickie": out last night and within just a few minutes that nasty stray was on our front porch beating Nick up and when Scott and I went out to break it up Mr. Tesla lit into my left foot; I guess he wanted part of the fight. OUCH! We cleaned it up good and put triple antibiotic oinment and bandaides on it so hopefully it won't become infected. CATS!

It's looking like it may rain by afternoon. We have definitely entered that hot and sticky time of year... YUCK! Thats the worst part about SC Summers.... HOT, STICKY and hard to breath here in the city.

Tropical STorm #1

We have been experiencing this years first tropical storm this week. We desperately needed the rain but I hate the thunder that comes along with it sometimes. OH Well can't have everything. The plants are thoroughly enjoying the rain and the garden is looking better. Poor Amelia (dog) is miserable and she smells so bad I don't want to bring her inside right now. Perhaps over the weekend I'll give her a good bath and brushing. She hates baths so this will be interesting.

Today is Ashley's last official day with JoAnn's but she is going to help me Sunday night with MAP planograms in the craft department so that we can be done before our DTL's visit next week. Thats really nice of her to do that. Today we are celebrating her and kicking off the new sale with a "chocolate day", I'm also making chicken salad sandwiches. She will be deeply missed.

I took Greg's little cat, "little Nickie" to the vet for his first shots and they must have hit a nerve in his hip because yesterday he would hardly eat or stand. He is doing much better this morning. I kinda hate the thought of taking him back for his boosters; poor little guy.

I got into something up at the property as I'm itching like crazy. Scott thinks it was chiggers but I'm thinking poison ivy or spiders as I sawe a LOT of those while trimming on trees. It'll be interesting to go back up and see if the hydrangea is coming back around or not; it didn't look too hot when we were up there last weekend.You can see that from the picture I've posted this morning. It'll be a miracle if it makes it. That clay is going to take some work to get it fertile enough to grow vegetables.

Well on to the day!

June 11,2006 trip to property

We had a fun day up at the property and got a lot accomplished. Scott mowed the entire section where we want to build our house and I did a bunch of trimming on trees with low branches so that Scott could get up under them further with the mower. We will have several nice shady "islands" in our yard as well as the woods to enjoy once we clean up debrie and thin the trees a little to the ones over 4" around. One clump of trees is the perfect spot to make a living gazebo for a seating area or a hammock. Lots of plans spinning around in our heads these days. And we are wishing we were up there all the time.

BLOOMS!

I walked around our yard this morning and these are some of the blooms that I found.

Healing dolls

These are a couple of the little healing dolls that I've made.

Something new everyday!

Well Ashley is leaving JoAnn's next week and she will be greatly missed. I'm working on a going away gift for her and hope to have it done today before I have to go into work. It's a quillow - a quilt that folds up into it's own attached pillowcase. It sounded like an easy projects but keeping it squared proved more difficult than I imagined. Oh well hopefully she will like it even with a few character flaws. Will post a picture when it's finished. I've also been working on some "healing dolls" for a swap I'm in on the IFQ website. They are really cute!

News on Scott - he has an umbilical hernia about the size of a nickel that will require outpatient surgery. Our Dr says it's not life threatening but Scott would have to take it easy so as not to aggravate it and make it hurt. Scott's ready to have it fixed and has an appointment with a specialist later this month to set the surgery up. He knows that taking it easy is not in his vocabulary!

Our washing machines' motor control board has died so we have the part ordered and the guy will be out sometime in the next 3 to 5 days to put it in.

Yesterday we had a new mattress set delivered and it's wonderful! Will take a little getting used to but Scott didn't have as much trouble as I did sleeping on it last night. I came out from the shower and asked how his reading was going and he was out!

At 10 this morning I have to call into a conference call; I'm hoping it won't last too long as I have a lot I want to do before I have to go into work. I'm hoping to learn alot over this call about the dashboard and PNL. I have so much to learn!

Our little garden is growing well thanks to Scott; he actually planted everything thats out there this year and has been weeding it in the evenings. I think gardening will be a tremendous hobby for him once we are out on our property. I think we will just give the TV to Greg and take more time to read and work together.

Scott's new toy

The reason for our trip up to the property was so Scott could "play"!

May 28,2006

Yesterday Scott and I went up to the property in the hopes of accomplishing a great deal but he became ill and I worried that I might have to take him to the little country hospital up there because of the hernia. BUt it settled down and he was able to get the "drive" mowed from the road down to the opening where we plan to put the house next year. I planted out some hydrangeas, an easter lilly and some bearded iris. We took some water for them so hopefully they will make the transition ok even though planting them was a good bit of work by hand as the ground was like cement. We will have to work it alot to make it productive.

Husband and cat issues

I had to call an ambulance last night to come here because Scott called me at work saying that he had hurt himself bad and was feeling like he was going to pass out. The EMT's checked him out and told him to either go with them to the ER or to wait and go to our DR today; Scott opted for our DR today as once he threw up he felt a bit better. He still had a slight knot in his stomach right by his belly button. I've been waking up about every 20 minutes to listen for his breathe sounds so I'm exhausted and glad that I don't have to work today. To top all that off I'm also having to take Greg's cat to the vet as it has an injured claw that looks infected pretty bad. Thats the bad thing about long haired cats... can't see things until they are YUCK!

We have our own driveway!

Scott went up to the property yesterday and discovered the highway department has put in a drive for us so now we can get onto our property without driving across the neighbors yard. YEAH! I wish I was off today so that we could go up there together so that I could check it out. OH well maybe I'll be off one day next weekend.

It's been raining a good bit here and it has really "greened" things up. I will need to mow our lawn when I'm off Tuesday or Wednesday. And the bushes out front REALLY need cutting back! Perhaps I will try to start some cuttings so that we can get some plants started to grow on our property. I've all ready planted a Nanking Cherry tree up there and it is doing really well. I'm so excited about this move but still worry how Greg will manage on his own as he is still struggling with handling money. Somedays I wonder if he will ever grow up and take care of himself 100%.

I'm anxious to get our house plans started with Deltec. I so want to be ready to start getting things in motion by next March. Selling this place and getting up onto our land in our very own round home. We have a LOT to do before that can happen though.

Time to brush off that resume

I think that the next day I get off needs to be a day to spruce up my resume and put in some applications as I don't like the way things are going where I'm currently working and I believe that it is time for a change. I'd love to find something where I can work just early mornings to about 2 or 3 in the afternoon Monday - Friday so that I could be home with my husband on the weekends so that we can work on this place to get it ready to sell so that we can get up onto our 10 acres and I can perhaps start a home based business there. I'm tired of all the little "games" you have to play at this job and all I want to do is an honest days hard work without the games. I'm not into role playing and that is to be THE most important goal for me to accomplish at this moment NOT making the store look it's best but my focus is to be "role playing'... YUCK! Time to move on I think!

Four little needlecases!

21 YEARS... ALL READY?!

Time sure flys! Yesterday was Scott and my 21rst wedding anniversary. We ate breakfast at Lizards Thicket out by the airport and then went up to our 10 acres to clear a spot for a drive to go in by the road and to create a break in the hedge row to the area we want our house built. We met the nieghbors that are fixing up the old farm house next to us and they told us to use their drive as it is maintained by the county since a grandchild of theirs has spinabifada (spelling sucks - sorry) and a home health care nurse has to be able to get back to their daughters trailer where the child lives on a regular basis. So that will save us a good bit of money. We went ahead with having the highway department coming out and putting in a pipe and a drive so we can at least drive in onto our own property if we have to. Scott handled all that today so hopefully the next time we go up we will have our very own entry... no driveway to the back where we want to build but at least we won't have to drive on the neighbors. Things are progressing forward.

Funny things you notice

This morning I mowed the backyard and saw this little house has developed some lovely lichens growing on it's roof and worthy of a photo. I find that simple natural "decorations" like this are some of the most beautiful things on earth and they're FREE!

Memories

Family visits always led to walks on the farm where I grew up in New York State.