Today was a good day off. If you read yesterday's post (and I'm sorry for my whining if you did), you could probably tell I really needed a day off. Or two, or three. But I'll have to settle for one right now.
I went for a walk this morning and started listening to my audiobook (Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber). I walked 3 chapters. I am going to really like listening to books while walking, I can tell. If you have any favorite audiobooks available on LibriVox, let me know. When I got back, Violet and I went out to Walmart. I bought new running shoes. I didn't have good shoes for walking, and I'm really considering running too, so I needed decent shoes. And I bought some athletic socks. Oh, and I started stretching for 10 minutes in the morning and evening. Gee, I may just break out in health!
Our main reason to go to Walmart was to look for summer clothes for Violet, especially shorts. She tried on a total of 7 pairs (plus a shirt) and bought 3 pairs of shorts. She prefers them to be longer and actually cover her butt cheeks. Those are hard to find for young girls. But we did find some nice ones that she'll be comfortable in.
She also looked at the bedding and picked out a new comforter and sheet set and used a gift card she'd gotten for Christmas from her Grandparents on them. They are cute, bright colors, geometric designs. Very Violet. I don't know if I mentioned, but we got her a loft bed this winter. Very teen. And it was time to update her sheets and comforter. I mean, Hello Kitty is cool and all, but the same Hello Kitty you've had off and on since you were 4, not so much. She's going to donate that set (her idea).
I've been trying to expand my cooking horizons and made salmon with a marmalade and soy glaze, couscous, roasted brussels sprouts and glazed carrots for dinner. All pretty good. I tried a new glazed carrots recipe and didn't really care for it. I loved the salmon though. The recipe called for orange marmalade but we had a three fruit marmalade so I used that instead. Very tasty. Interesting, as I look at the links for the recipes (I used my Cooking Light magazine hardcopy when I made them) the salmon got 5 stars, the carrots 1 star. I'd agree.
Back to work tomorrow. But at least I'll be working from home. Easier to hide there when needed.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Pressure
I hate pressure. I hate stress. I long for days when I have nothing to worry about. I'm sure that will never happen. I've had a horrible stabbing pain in my neck and shoulder for 3 weeks now. I'm sure it is job stress related.
One thing I dislike about my job is the last minute, high pressure, intensity of it. You'd think I was a trauma surgeon or on the bomb squad. But no, I'm an accountant. When I went off to become an accountant I never dreamed there would be stress and high pressure involved. It is just crunching numbers right? Sit in your little cubicle and make sure the columns and rows all add up, then go home. Nice and neat and tidy.
I was wrong. People yell. They get intense. They put off stuff and it becomes your problem. They yell more. They make promises that can't be kept then make you keep them. Even though I don't actually crunch numbers anymore, the pressure is there all the time. Different pressure, but there.
I don't recommend a career in accounting to anyone. I got my degree following the advice that I could work anywhere with it and always have a job. Probably true. But no one said anything about the yelling. Or the pressure and stress.
I've figured it out, I wish to work at the mini-golf place. Handout the putters and score cards. Sell bottles of water. Sweep the greens. Hose off the castle. Occasionally repaint the windmill.
But no. I went the safe and easy route. Please tell them it isn't my fault we don't have enough people to get all the promised work done. I said we needed help. They insisted we were properly staffed. They are going to work me until I have a stroke.
If you need me, I'll be pulling golf balls out of the alligator's mouth and washing bird poop off the giant gorilla. Or at least dreaming of it.
One thing I dislike about my job is the last minute, high pressure, intensity of it. You'd think I was a trauma surgeon or on the bomb squad. But no, I'm an accountant. When I went off to become an accountant I never dreamed there would be stress and high pressure involved. It is just crunching numbers right? Sit in your little cubicle and make sure the columns and rows all add up, then go home. Nice and neat and tidy.
I was wrong. People yell. They get intense. They put off stuff and it becomes your problem. They yell more. They make promises that can't be kept then make you keep them. Even though I don't actually crunch numbers anymore, the pressure is there all the time. Different pressure, but there.
I don't recommend a career in accounting to anyone. I got my degree following the advice that I could work anywhere with it and always have a job. Probably true. But no one said anything about the yelling. Or the pressure and stress.
I've figured it out, I wish to work at the mini-golf place. Handout the putters and score cards. Sell bottles of water. Sweep the greens. Hose off the castle. Occasionally repaint the windmill.
But no. I went the safe and easy route. Please tell them it isn't my fault we don't have enough people to get all the promised work done. I said we needed help. They insisted we were properly staffed. They are going to work me until I have a stroke.
If you need me, I'll be pulling golf balls out of the alligator's mouth and washing bird poop off the giant gorilla. Or at least dreaming of it.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Rain Again
The rain is back tonight. I've been periodically checking the skylights to make sure they aren't leaking. They did once several years ago and we had to have a guy out to caulk them. It was a temporary solution and one of these days we'll need to do it again. But so far, today's not the day.
I've started walking again, now the weather's warmer. I prefer to walk in the morning, after people have left for work and school. It is so much quieter out then. Sometimes have to walk after dinner. I don't care for that at all. I did download an audio book for my phone, I'm going to give it a try to listen to it while walking. I've chosen Dawn O'Hara by Edna Ferber.
My eye appointment went very well. For someone who can never seen anything, I have very healthy eyes. My prescription didn't change and she recommended continuing with the contacts and readers as needed. Works for me, they are going to order the contact for me and have them shipped to my house.
This afternoon Violet and I seemed to get a cooking bug. We made grilled chicken (indoors in a pan), grilled asparagus, sweet potato fries and couscous. I had sweet potatoes and asparagus that weren't getting any younger. We decided a sauce was needed, so we looked up recipes and found one for a Dijon mustard vinaigrette that Violet thought sounded good. But we didn't have an Dijon mustard. So we found a recipe for that too. Violet made the Dijon, then the vinaigrette with that. Tasty. Really tied the chicken, couscous and asparagus together.
Tomorrow is digital movie maker day. I hope to drop Violet off with Mr. Incredible at his office, then if he doesn't have much going on after they are done, she'll hang out there and ride home with him. I'll go have a wild and crazy time and hit the library to get some holds, Walgreens and 2 grocery stores before coming home to put it all away and work. But, if client issues come up and he needs to make stops after he leaves the office or will be a long time, I'll just get the groceries and go back for her before coming home.
I've started walking again, now the weather's warmer. I prefer to walk in the morning, after people have left for work and school. It is so much quieter out then. Sometimes have to walk after dinner. I don't care for that at all. I did download an audio book for my phone, I'm going to give it a try to listen to it while walking. I've chosen Dawn O'Hara by Edna Ferber.
My eye appointment went very well. For someone who can never seen anything, I have very healthy eyes. My prescription didn't change and she recommended continuing with the contacts and readers as needed. Works for me, they are going to order the contact for me and have them shipped to my house.
This afternoon Violet and I seemed to get a cooking bug. We made grilled chicken (indoors in a pan), grilled asparagus, sweet potato fries and couscous. I had sweet potatoes and asparagus that weren't getting any younger. We decided a sauce was needed, so we looked up recipes and found one for a Dijon mustard vinaigrette that Violet thought sounded good. But we didn't have an Dijon mustard. So we found a recipe for that too. Violet made the Dijon, then the vinaigrette with that. Tasty. Really tied the chicken, couscous and asparagus together.
Tomorrow is digital movie maker day. I hope to drop Violet off with Mr. Incredible at his office, then if he doesn't have much going on after they are done, she'll hang out there and ride home with him. I'll go have a wild and crazy time and hit the library to get some holds, Walgreens and 2 grocery stores before coming home to put it all away and work. But, if client issues come up and he needs to make stops after he leaves the office or will be a long time, I'll just get the groceries and go back for her before coming home.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Tired
Again. It seems all I do is run, run, run. I'll be glad when our school year ends and I have one less thing to do for a few months. We have a list of subject matter that we want to get through before calling 8th grade over. In the next couple of weeks we should start making good progress towards the end. I hope to have most of it done by mid-May, and everything done by mid-June. Pre-Algebra will take into June to complete.
Tomorrow we have Juliettes. Just one more meeting after that one. Tomorrow is garden stones, painting clay flower pots and making s'mores bars. The last meeting is "ironing day". They can bring their sashes and I'll help them iron on their badges and patches from the year. Also, they'll bring back their pillow cases that they started during the last ironing day. They trace designs on iron-on paper, iron them on the pillow cases, then use the fabric markers to decorate them. It was a huge hit last time and they wanted to do more. Also, we never got to the fuse beads last time, so I'll get those out again if they want. (The link has the full description from before. It is basically the same plan.)
Wednesday we're going to my folks' house for the day. I've got an eye appointment with my eye doctor from way back. My dad likes to drive me to the mall where his office is, hang out then have lunch afterward. And since they always insist on dilating my eyes to the point where I can barely see to sign my credit card slip, I appreciate the lift.
It is finally starting to get warmer and stay warmer. Maybe. The rains have mostly stopped, but there is still a lot of flooding around. Our yard desperately needs attention. I'm hoping next Sunday I can get to it. During the week I have homeschool, work and activities every day. I spend all day Saturday at the office. So that just leaves me Sunday. Today I spent the day cleaning the house for Juliettes, getting out projects and helping to make a super hero costume.
The movie Mr. Incredible is making with Violet, Butterfly and Wright has Violet cast as a superhero. We made her a cape today. She made her own mask. Her character is a normal teen who fights crime, so we just had to find her a pair of jeans and a shirt that would work with it. Violet had designed this character a few weeks ago in her digital art class. Then, as they were writing their movie, the kids all said "we need a superhero" and Violet said, "I have a superhero character I can be." Let's just say the movie experience has been very good for all 4 involved.
Have a good week.
Tomorrow we have Juliettes. Just one more meeting after that one. Tomorrow is garden stones, painting clay flower pots and making s'mores bars. The last meeting is "ironing day". They can bring their sashes and I'll help them iron on their badges and patches from the year. Also, they'll bring back their pillow cases that they started during the last ironing day. They trace designs on iron-on paper, iron them on the pillow cases, then use the fabric markers to decorate them. It was a huge hit last time and they wanted to do more. Also, we never got to the fuse beads last time, so I'll get those out again if they want. (The link has the full description from before. It is basically the same plan.)
Wednesday we're going to my folks' house for the day. I've got an eye appointment with my eye doctor from way back. My dad likes to drive me to the mall where his office is, hang out then have lunch afterward. And since they always insist on dilating my eyes to the point where I can barely see to sign my credit card slip, I appreciate the lift.
It is finally starting to get warmer and stay warmer. Maybe. The rains have mostly stopped, but there is still a lot of flooding around. Our yard desperately needs attention. I'm hoping next Sunday I can get to it. During the week I have homeschool, work and activities every day. I spend all day Saturday at the office. So that just leaves me Sunday. Today I spent the day cleaning the house for Juliettes, getting out projects and helping to make a super hero costume.
The movie Mr. Incredible is making with Violet, Butterfly and Wright has Violet cast as a superhero. We made her a cape today. She made her own mask. Her character is a normal teen who fights crime, so we just had to find her a pair of jeans and a shirt that would work with it. Violet had designed this character a few weeks ago in her digital art class. Then, as they were writing their movie, the kids all said "we need a superhero" and Violet said, "I have a superhero character I can be." Let's just say the movie experience has been very good for all 4 involved.
Have a good week.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Paint Induced Magic?
Violet and I recently finished reading the Psammead series by Edith Nesbit: The Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet. In the series the children experience all sorts of magical happenings including meeting a sand fairy who grants wishes, a flying carpet that will take you anywhere you want, an amulet that will take you to any time you want, and a phoenix. The books were written in the early 1900's and are considered classic children's fantasy. Definitely a read worth your time.
As we got towards the end of the last book, we found the children sitting at home painting. Then they started eating the paint! Yes, the books clearly state that the children we sucking the paint off the end of their paintbrushes and tasting it. The various colors of paint tasted different. They only did it a couple of times, and the text made it seem like it was just normal. But it had Violet and I looking at each other and wondering:
As we got towards the end of the last book, we found the children sitting at home painting. Then they started eating the paint! Yes, the books clearly state that the children we sucking the paint off the end of their paintbrushes and tasting it. The various colors of paint tasted different. They only did it a couple of times, and the text made it seem like it was just normal. But it had Violet and I looking at each other and wondering:
Is all magic in early children's literature simply a result of lead poisoning??
It would explain a lot. Narnia: nothing more than brain damaged hallucinations. Oz: Dorothy and the others who "visited" probably were peeling the paint off the walls shortly before their trip. And why don't most children today get to experience such out of body adventures? We've eliminated virtually all toxic children's art supplies. I think this is worth exploring. Perhaps when Violet is in graduate school it can be her dissertation thesis.
Until then, we are theorizing that the sand fairy was a stuffed monkey, the phoenix was a parrot, and they simply hallucinated time and space travel from within the nursery. And never eat your art supplies. Just in case.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Losing my Gung Ho
Well, I started out great walking. Made it 5 days in a row. Then the temperatures dropped and it started hailing, icing and snowing. It is not supposed to do that in April! Especially the second half of April. And yet, here we were the last couple of days being snowed on by little icy pellets!
Yes, Sabrina, it will eventually warm up here in Illinois. In fact, it will likely go from this icky, cold, wet weather straight into hot and humid. So keep your shorts and sandals around.
The flooding is crazy here. I know several families with leaking basements and/or roofs. Luckily our sky lights are holding up so far. The fields are flooded. A couple of nursing homes had to be evacuated. Roads were closed. Did I mention, it rained a lot.
So, I haven't been walking in 3 days. I just couldn't bring myself to go out in 30 mile an hour winds with periodically heavy rains and ice pellets coming down. That doesn't cooperate with your umbrella very well. Sigh.
Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and sunny. (Today was sunny and cold, but I was at work all day.) I must take myself out for a nice walk tomorrow.
I've got to get my gung ho back.
Yes, Sabrina, it will eventually warm up here in Illinois. In fact, it will likely go from this icky, cold, wet weather straight into hot and humid. So keep your shorts and sandals around.
The flooding is crazy here. I know several families with leaking basements and/or roofs. Luckily our sky lights are holding up so far. The fields are flooded. A couple of nursing homes had to be evacuated. Roads were closed. Did I mention, it rained a lot.
So, I haven't been walking in 3 days. I just couldn't bring myself to go out in 30 mile an hour winds with periodically heavy rains and ice pellets coming down. That doesn't cooperate with your umbrella very well. Sigh.
Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and sunny. (Today was sunny and cold, but I was at work all day.) I must take myself out for a nice walk tomorrow.
I've got to get my gung ho back.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
It has rained practically non-stop for weeks now. Everything is flooded. My phone keeps getting flood warning alerts. (I'll have to tell you about my new smart phone, I finally joined the rest of the world - but don't tell Violet I said that, she claims she's the only one on the planet without a cell phone at all.) The backyard is soggy. The bird feeder has an inch of water in it. The fields all have ponds in them.
Today it was thunderstorms with hail. Lots of lightning. Huge thunderboomers (for those of you native Chicagoans). So what did we do? We headed out into it all with our umbrellas and tried to see the taping of Restaurant Impossible. We did see it. We spotted Robert and Tom both in the restaurant they were rehabbing. We saw their tents and crews. So far they hadn't taken the stuff out and we have no idea where they are going to put it. Perhaps when Mr. Incredible gets home from work he'll have an update.
So there we were standing in the park across from the restaurant, under trees, with umbrellas. BOOM! We went to a used bookstore. Violet scored some Sisters Grimm books she's been trying to find. We stood under the awning with a bunch of other people debating what to do. We went for it and walked around the square, peering in the restaurant. BOOM! We walked a little faster through puddles and raging waters on the sidewalks and streets. Then Violet and I went home and Mr. I. went back to work. Shoes, socks, jeans all soaked through.
Was it worth it? You bet! Because you know that story is going to get built up over the years until we practically have Robert and Tom stopping by our house for coffee and cookies. Wish the weather were better for it. But hey, if you watch the show, you know the weather always stinks on the days the rehab a restaurant!
BOOM!
Today it was thunderstorms with hail. Lots of lightning. Huge thunderboomers (for those of you native Chicagoans). So what did we do? We headed out into it all with our umbrellas and tried to see the taping of Restaurant Impossible. We did see it. We spotted Robert and Tom both in the restaurant they were rehabbing. We saw their tents and crews. So far they hadn't taken the stuff out and we have no idea where they are going to put it. Perhaps when Mr. Incredible gets home from work he'll have an update.
So there we were standing in the park across from the restaurant, under trees, with umbrellas. BOOM! We went to a used bookstore. Violet scored some Sisters Grimm books she's been trying to find. We stood under the awning with a bunch of other people debating what to do. We went for it and walked around the square, peering in the restaurant. BOOM! We walked a little faster through puddles and raging waters on the sidewalks and streets. Then Violet and I went home and Mr. I. went back to work. Shoes, socks, jeans all soaked through.
Was it worth it? You bet! Because you know that story is going to get built up over the years until we practically have Robert and Tom stopping by our house for coffee and cookies. Wish the weather were better for it. But hey, if you watch the show, you know the weather always stinks on the days the rehab a restaurant!
BOOM!
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