"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Sunday, November 30, 2014

No Twitching Allowed

After our big Black Friday purchase (see last post) we came home and I pulled the Thanksgiving turkey carcass out of the fridge.


I had stuffed it into my large stock pot the day before figuring I'd make some soup.  Since it was a bright, sunshiny cold day (low 40's) I thought the time was right to do a slow boil for a few hours. 


SM was Mr Restless wandering around the house and googling on his laptop.  Eventually he made his way in to me.


"I'm thinking about going to the Ohio State - Michigan game."  SM announced.


He had been checking out ticket prices online.  You see, SM usually heads up to Ohio over the Thanksgiving weekend to visit family and friends and "get away" from his own particular grind.  (ie: Me) 


To which I responded with an enthusiastic "GO!" since I also like to have a few days off from my own special grind (ie: Him)


And then the waffling began.  Yes, No, Yes, No...


SM wandered out to the back porch and stood in the sunshine.  "Whatcha gonna do?"  I inquired.


"I don't know.  It's such a long drive and I'd have to drive back Sunday."


"Well, you're driving me crazy, you're so twitchy.  If you don't think you're going to go, how about you work on the stair railing?"


I'm not one to tolerate nervous energy very well.  Since SM was spinning his wheels, and since I was about to bean him in the head, I figured I might as well put him to work. 


Surprisingly SM looked around and said "Sure."


Bhwa Haa Ha.  My plan was working brilliantly!


Uh...Well maybe not.


I'd just volunteered myself to help him. 


It's a good thing that soup can wait.  The turkey guts had to cool off anyway.


So SM and I spent a pleasant afternoon out in the cool sunshine building the stair railing.


"Not bad for a couple of amateurs."  SM announced, standing back from his handiwork.



"Good enough."  I agreed and headed back into the house to clean up.


Well crap!  I'd completely forgotten about the turkey carcass!  It was still hot but needed to be sorted through. 


So my day was not yet done.  I cleaned myself up and then cleaned the carcass.  Sure is a good thing that soup is easy to make.  SM enjoyed a couple of bowls and I enjoyed a couple glasses of wine.


And all was right with the world again.


Saturday, November 29, 2014

Toilet Talk

A year or so ago we did a few updates to our Master Bathroom.  We replaced the toilet with one of those new fangled power flushers that I really didn't like at first. 


I was used to the slow sounding flushes.  Kinda like those lazy river rides.  It'll get you there but it takes awhile.





This new sucker sounded like a power washer.  Whoosh and it was done in 0.3 seconds.  We also made the mistake of buying the "taller" version that the sales guy said everyone was installing. 


Now you might not think there's much difference between a 14 and 16 inch bowl height but there is.  


It's weird sitting on a taller toilet. 


Anyhoo, the reason we're talking toilets is because the one in our guest bathroom needs replacing.  It's 25 years old and is on the fritz.  The flush slows to a trickle and that's when I call in the troops.


SM gets to deal with it.


SM is a funny man.  He won't pick up dog poo in the yard but has no problem being my go-to toilet guy.  He's replaced toilets in every house we've ever lived in.  Not a word of fuss out of him but ask him to take a dog for a walk and clean up after it?  Hell, no.


So we head out to the big box store yesterday to shop for a toilet. 


"Do you think they'll be a Black Friday Sale on toilets?"  I wondered.


We walked into Lowes.  Very quiet.  The toilet we wanted was considered a "special order" and would take a month to get in.  Really?  I just wanted a standard height with an elongated bowl.  In white.  Not hot pink or yellow.  Just white. 


"Sorry, Ma'am.  It'll be here December 22."


So we headed over to Home Depot.  People everywhere!  Helpful staff everywhere!  Freaken balloons in the aisles.  What's going on?  A party?


We started to head over to plumbing but we got distracted by the appliance sale they were having.  SM and I were eyeballing stoves (which I need) and refrigerators (which I don't). 


We opened doors and flipped switches, shoulder to shoulder with other folks doing the same.


"This is the best time of the year to buy appliances."  The smiling sales guy dangled temptingly.


"Eyes on the prize."  I said to SM.  "We're actually here to buy a toilet."  I said to the sales guy as we wandered away.


When we got to the row of porcelain beauties, we discovered that what we wanted would be special order here too.  Both stores were only carrying the "tall" toilets in stock now. 





Hmm.  I guess that's what everybody wants these days. 


The good news was that Home Depot could get us good old reliable in a week instead of a month.


Sold!


So what did you buy on Black Friday?



Thursday, November 27, 2014

Z is For..."ZZZ"

That's right! 


"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"


I plan on taking a nice after turkey snooze today.





Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Y is For...YES!

I have today off from work.  And tomorrow.  And all weekend.  I even have Monday off.

Six glorious days off to do as I please.



Yes, there's cleaning and cooking for Thanksgiving. 




And pulling down the Christmas decorations out of the attic for decorating the house.




There's likely to be a bit of shopping involved to take advantage of the weekend sales.




I'm hoping to get outside and work in the yard and the garden a bit.  I have a trunkful of confiscated cardboard and garden beds that need put to sleep for the Winter.

Oh, Yes...I have a weekend full of "me" projects planned.

I expect you do too.  Have a good one!


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

X is For...?

I got nuthin...


Except X-Ray?





X-Men?





X-mas?





Hey, it counts as an X post!


Ooooo....


X post facto?






Monday, November 24, 2014

W is For...Wheeze

The other day I took a small sip of my Diet Mt Dew and it went down the wrong pipe.

I choked, I sputtered, I wheezed.
I couldn't breathe.

I stood up and bent over.
It felt like any air I had coming in and out was through a pin hole.


"You OK?"  I hear SM ask from the other room.


Wheeze.
Wheeze.


Damn it hurt. 

"Am I going to go out this way?"  I thought to myself. 

She choked to death on her Diet Dew. 
I can see the headlines now.
The nectar of the Gods that puts the pep in my step finally takes me out.

Karma.
They do say she's a bitch.



Finally, the pinhole got larger and I started coughing and continued to cough myself raw.

That was the worst choke I'd ever experienced.
Wow.

Hey, there's more W's in this post than I'd thought there would be.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

V is For...Victory!

Do you realize what today is?


V is the 22nd letter in the alphabet.
Ha! 
Victory!





Since it takes 21 days to change a habit, technically speaking, today is the first day of the rest of my blogging life!


I've posted everyday for 21 days straight! 
Well almost. 
 
I did miss that one day this week.


Does that mean I have to start all over again?

Saturday, November 22, 2014

U is For...Upheaval

As we go through life we get to decide, to a certain extent, who we want to be in our professional occupation.


The way I look at it, you get three choices.


Big.
Medium.
 Or small.


I suppose there's also the super-size me option.  But I personally only know two people who chose that option.  One's a judge, the other a CEO. 


Anyway, I have opted time and again to stay small. 


A spinning cog in the clock. 





A honeybee in the hive.





Every now and then I get pushed to grow and move on up the ladder of corporate responsibility but I've resisted these attempts to change my status in life one iota.  The way I look at it, climbing up that ladder is a dangerous thing. 


I'd rather stay small and do my thing. 
It's safer.


The company I work for was bought up a few weeks ago.  Everyone was assured that it was "business as normal" but we all knew that there were now two corporate offices.  Two marketing departments, two HR's... and so on.


And so the upheaval of restructuring has begun and pink slips were distributed the other day. 


Just before the holidays. 
That sucks. 


I'm sure they were well compensated but can you imagine having to be out there looking for work over and over again because of the position you hold on that ladder?


I've seen it countless times and always point to the safety of staying small in this dog eat dog business world whenever I get the "Gosh, you'd be perfect for that position!" comment from my coworkers.


Not for me.
I'm happy with my modest little life, Thank You very much!