Vacation and Casinos

I'm on vacation from work this week.  Except for Thursday when I have to go to a meeting.  But at the meeting I'll find out what my bonus will be for the year.  Crossing my fingers it is at least as big as last year.  One year I got zilch.  Didn't know I was going to get zilch.  It was a surprise.  "If I woke up tomorrow morning with my head sewn to the carpeting I couldn't be more surprised than I am now Eddie," surprised.  I didn't even get the Jelly of the Month subscription.

(Don't get the references?  Well, too bad.  Okay, I'll tell you, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.)

It has been a hectic last few weeks.  I had 2 out of town trips and a day from hell in the office.  Have you ever been late to a meeting you weren't invited to?  It brings staff meeting to a whole new level of awful.

One of my trips took me to a casino.  Not the actual casino, the hotel that surrounded it.  I don't gamble, so I didn't go in.  You know how some people don't drink, period.  That's me with gambling.  I don't.  It's a thing.  Anyway, staying at a casino was definitely an eye opener.  Did you know that casinos are open until 5 am?  And reopen at 8 am?  At least this one did.  At 3:30 in the morning I heard a housekeeper knocking on a door on my floor.  Maybe gamblers don't sleep.  I have heard they pump extra oxygen into the casinos to keep people alert and gambling longer.  I don't know if it is true or not.  I didn't ask.

I found it quite humorous that they hotel directory in the room had information on Gamblers Anonymous "in case you need help."  Yeah, I'm sure they are real concerned about their addicts there in the casino.

In the morning I didn't have to meet my boss until about 10:30, so before I put my suit on I threw on denim capris and a work golf shirt and went to the lobby to get coffee.  On my floor a lady was reading my shirt.  Oh great, I thought, a client.  I came back up with my coffee and she was still there.  She said to me, "You clean the rooms?"  (She was Filipino and had an accent. There are many Filipino women in my industry.  I figured she was probably with the conference.)  I said no, I wasn't the housekeeper.  Thinking, "I'm not your housekeeper, I'm your speaker!"

Well, I met my boss (after I was dressed up) and told her the tale.  She found it hilarious.  I decided perhaps I was dressed a little too casually.  Perhaps I need to rethink what I wear in the hotel, even "off duty".  When we did our presentation I scanned the audience (nearly 200 people!) but thankfully didn't see my lady there.  She was just another hotel guest. 

I probably should have asked what she needed.  Maybe I would have gotten an extra tip. 

The end of 7th grade

I'm behind in posting, so I thought I'd spend a little time and write a post on each of several topics.  Today's topic is the end of 7th grade.

I wish we could have done a big finale celebration, but instead we kind of crawled to the finish line and just stopped.  We did a marathon reading of A History of Us to finish book 10.  We're going back to ancient history in the fall, so it made no sense to save 1/4 of the last book for then. 

We also did a sprint to finish the Botany Unit study, then we even set some experiments aside to do in the fall.  We spent a weekend cleaning up the garden and planting some seeds.  I hope they grow.  And if they grow, I hope the rabbits don't eat the plants.

Supposedly math is going into the summer.  So far, it doesn't look good for actually getting any math done.  I think her summer schedule is just too busy.  We'll see.  If she's busy learning and doing stuff, I don't mind letting it slide at all.  If she is sitting around bored and not wanting to get up and DO something, then we'll push it.

So we kind of petered out with school.  Which made for some awkward conversations when well meaning (busy bodies) asked her if she was done with school yet and she answered, "sort of."  Because she was "sort of" done.  Really, I wish adults wouldn't try to make small talk with kids.  "Got the day off from school?" makes me want to smack people!

We were mostly done by May 25th, and completely done by June 1st.

And I think, like 7th grade, this post is just sort of petering out.  We're done.  8th grade is a summer away.  And we are both firmly in summer mode.

Checking in

The pinched nerve still hurts, but it is so much better.  A lot of the time it is just a dull ache.  And when I get sharp pains, they aren't as bad.  Mostly just sitting at the computer and driving are problems.  I have to drive about 3 hours next week to my next conference.  I'm a bit worried about that long in a car.  I've been trying different set ups with my computers, keyboards and mice (yes, plural, one set I own personally and one work issued).  I think that is helping.  Plus some mild exercise and less mild house cleaning and gardening.

Anyway, here's what we've been up to.

School is completely over!  Yahoo!  Violet starts her first sewing class on Monday afternoon.  They meet Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon this week.  They'll learn to use the sewing machine and will make a pillow case.  I think she'll learn a lot and really enjoy it.  Monday night I'm going out of town, but will be back Tuesday evening.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do while she's in class on Monday and Wednesday (Tuesday I'll give a presentation about the use of nurse practitioners in skilled nursing facilities and drive home - a little glimpse into my professional life.)  The sewing class is next to a Starbucks.  And it is a block from Mr. I's office.  I'll have to get his key and alarm code if I want to go there and he isn't in.  Otherwise, I guess it is Starbucks for me!

Girl Scouts is on summer break too.  The girls had their potluck and badge ceremony on Friday.  We had a nice time.  Violet's stuffed shells were a big hit.  Even the little sister, who doesn't like anything, loved them.  We took that as high praise.  This year the girls did a journey, 4 badges and an earned patch from our council in honor of the 100th anniversary.  And they had lots of fun.  The group that meets at our house (yes, she's in 2 separate groups - we may merge them eventually, but so far it works like this) earned a journey, 3 badges, the GS Forever Green patch, and almost finished another badge.  Busy year!

Freddy and Humphrey the hamsters are doing good.  We got a second ball so they could both run around at the same time.  They love that, they crash into each other and roll all over.  But when they go back in their cage they fight for a couple of minutes.  Then they settle down and are friends again.  In the morning we find them curled up sleeping together.  So far no blood has been drawn or large clumps of fur pulled out, so sharing the cage seems to be working.  We'd just all rather they didn't fight.

Violet and I have been trying to clean out the garden and get some seeds planted.  Today we enlisted Mr. Incredible's help and advice.  It is really his garden, but he hasn't had time to work in it.  Tomorrow he's going to help us with some bigger projects.  We'll have to see if anything actually grows.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Pinched Nerve

I have a pinched nerve in my neck and right shoulder.  I get sharp pains in my shoulder and when they aren't sharp, just a dull ache.  It is particularly bad when I sit at my computer or drive.  It has been going on almost a week.  I've had to drive to Michigan and back with it.  While in Michigan I had to sit in uncomfortable chairs for an educational conference.  Now that I'm home, I'm avoiding both driving and my computer.  So, I apologize dear readers, that I've been ignoring you.

In a nutshell:

We are pretty much done with school.  Juliettes has wrapped up.  Violet's other Cadette group has a field trip this week and their end of year potluck/badge ceremony.  I've spent the holiday weekend trying to clean the house.  Since computering hurts, I've been catching up on my pile of magazines.

The neck is getting better I think.  Our health insurance stinks, so if at all possible I'd like to avoid the doctor.  I just don't have the disposable income to dispose on a doctor who will tell me to rest it, ice it, do mild exercise and give me a prescription for drugs (which I probably can't afford) that will put me to sleep.  I'm doing the exercise, rest and ice on my own.  Right now, I'm sticking to that regime and not plopping down over $100 for an office visit.  He'll have to find another way to make his Mercedes payment this month.

(Not that I have anger issues or anything - which are probably contributing factors to the stabbing pain.)

Mr. Incredible has some different ideas for moving my computer changing my seating arrangement, we are hopeful that will help.

In the meantime, I just wanted to let you all know where I was (I'm here) and why I'm not posting (it is painful).  Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

Tough week

I am ending the week feeling like I didn't get anything done, and those things I did get done I didn't do very well.  Sigh.  I try to do too much.  But I just don't know what I can stop doing.  I could give up my few measly hobbies I have left or stop spending a few minutes reading at night, but gosh I don't want to.  I have given up most household cleaning.  I think it is time for the rest of it to take a back seat.

So beware if you come over, you'll have to step over things, the carpet won't be mopped (or the floor vacuumed - that was an unintentional mistype, but I liked it and left it), you might want to swish a Lysol cleaning cloth around in the bathroom before using it, and I'd suggest bringing your own coffee mug...otherwise you'll probably have to wash one in order to join me in a cup of joe.

We'll finish school in a couple of weeks, although it seems no where near right now, then I'll have more time.  But tonight, I feel overwhelmed.

Thrift store finds

Violet and I went to the thrift store today, with my parents.  Actually we went twice.  We went once, went out to lunch, and they decided they wanted to go back and look for chairs to go with the table they had already purchased.  We went back, they found chairs.  All of the items are in the back waiting for Dad to pick them up tomorrow in the truck.

But I didn't intend to blog about their purchases, I want to talk about ours!  I found a bunch of yarn.  Since I'm working on a patchwork blanket, it is perfect.  I am making a bunch of squares and will sew them together when I'm done.  Violet found a Webkinz with the code still intact and a Disney picture holder.  I got a measuring cup (I never seem to have enough and the measurement numbers are fading from some of mine - I have to get out the reading glasses to see them!).  I also found a sweater, a hand towel and a book about making puppets.  Violet picked out some rubber stamps, actually a huge bag of them.  Now we need an ink pad. 

And she found a one-yard piece of fleece, red with white stars.  She's going to make herself a no sew blanket with it.  Quick question for my sewing blog readers, can I stick it in the washing machine to freshen it up before she uses it?  I don't want to lose that wonderful new fleece softness.  But we also don't know where it was stored and what crawled all over it before it was donated.  Thoughts?  It looks clean and smells fine.  We have a wonderfully clean and nice thrift store.  But still, ya know?

We hadn't been to the thrift store in a while.  It was definitely a good outing.

Hamsters

This post is for me.  It is so I can remember dates later on down the road.  You wouldn't believe the number of times I come back to my blog to try to find out when something occurred.  Well, if you do it too, then I'm sure you can imagine.

This week, Violet's hamster, Squeaky died.  It was on May 1st, sometime in the early morning hours.  Squeaky was about 3 years old.  Quite elderly for a hamster.  He'd been very active right up until the end.  Then that evening, he dragged himself along the bottom of his house (we never call them "cages" here) and curled up.  He couldn't move very well and couldn't open his eyes.  He fell asleep and didn't wake up.  Isn't that all we can all hope for?

Today, Violet and Mr. I stopped at the pet store next to their comic book store.  They went to the comic book store for Free Comic Book Day.  The pet store had 2 male teddy bear hamsters, brothers.  They'd lived together all their lives.  They seemed to get along and the woman from the pet store said that litter mates generally make good house mates.  So they bought both.  Did I mention they were on sale?  Yep, $2.99 each.  Their sisters in another cage were $9.99 each.  According to the pet store lady, more people want female hamsters than males.  I don't know, Freddy and Humphrey are pretty darned cute in my eyes.

Squeaky's house had been cleaned and the "For Rent" sign hung outside the door.  Freddy and Humphrey took one look at it and moved right in.  (Okay, first they were purchased, then they drove home in a cardboard box - note for Mental, Mr. Incredible drove them home in his Jeep, the hamsters rode home in Violet's lap in a cardboard box, they didn't actually drive the box down the road, I know you were wondering.) 

After exploring the house, they decided that yes they would live there (like they had a choice).  They crawled into a tube and fell asleep nose to nose.

We've never had more than one hamster at a time.  I've always heard rodents don't get along in multiples.  But so far Freddy and Humphrey seem to like being roommates.  Freddy is named for the main character in the book I, Freddy and its sequels by Dietlof Reiche.  Humphrey is named for the main character in the book The World According to Humphrey and its sequels by Betty G. Birney.

While we are saddened by the loss of Squeaky, we are comforted knowing he went peacefully after a long, happy life.  And Freddy and Humphrey are already bringing us joy and entertainment as they try to figure out their new house.  But I think they may need a room addition sometime soon.  That house may get a little crowded.