Election tomorrow

There isn't a whole lot to say here.  You have the right to vote.  You should go and vote.  At this point, I don't care who you are voting for, and I'm not going to get into the politics here, because it's not my forte.  I just know that as an American, I was given the right to vote, and I have exercised that right.

I voted by absentee ballot.  If you haven't done that, it's wonderful.  The ballot is sent to your home, so you can actually take your time and thoughtfully fill it out.  You can read about the amendments, about who is running for mayor in your town.  You can take time to decide if you should really vote to allow them to put slot machines in your local dog racing park etc.  I am completely for absentee voting.  Take advantage of it if you can!

My boss asked me who I voted for.  Can you believe that?  He actually wanted to know, and then since it was different than who he voted for, he basically wanted to know why I voted that way and back up my choice.  It was surreal.  THEN he asked me who the girl I work with voted for too.  I have very strong opinions, and I'm not always that great at putting them into words, but I was very proud of myself for defending my vote today.  (Not that I should have had to, but that's another show.)

I'm very proud to live in America.  I am blessed with many things, and the right to vote is something I never take for granted.

Get out there and vote!

Char

Pretty toes make me feel good

Now if we can just get rid of these headaches...

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"Cute toes & sandals...

Waiting for the doctor"

So Frustrated

I haven't been writing lately because I've been sick, and I haven't felt like it.  There I said it.

I've been sitting here today, Sunday, for about two hours now pretending that I'm fine.  I'm not.

I've been sitting here today willing the headache first not to come, then to go away.  It isn't working.

I'm paralyzed to my chair.  I want to do some things around the house.  I can't find the strength.

Everyone I know - all the doctors I have seen... they worry, they try this and that.  Nothing is working.

So now I'm going to take some more medicine and will it to help.  Even though it just takes the edge off. 

Then I'll will it to go away again.

In the meantime, since I'm sitting here... I have been taking some pictures when I can, so I'm going to back post those to brighten this place up a little bit.

Char

Happy Birthday to Me

If you know me well, you know that my favorite holiday of the year is my birthday. I try to milk it all month too. Oh and it's important that you know that Valentines day is NOT the same as my birthday, and you bes not make that mistake ;-)

Anyway, my husband has this gift thing DOWN! He got me this gorgeous necklace for my birthday today, plus two awesome birthday cards. I love him so much.






Love's Embrace Birthday Necklace

  
I got over 45 birthday wishes on Facebook, and both my sisters, my mom, one of my aunts, MY COUSIN, MY BROTHER and GRAMMIE called me today.

I learned a few little juicy tidbits of information... Grammie (who is 84 BTW) is dating a guy named Lou, they have a set date every Thursday night - because that's the only night that she's available.  They generally go to the Moose Lodge to play games and they eat dinner there or sometimes they go out.  That's pretty cool!  He lives in the same park as Grammie.  I'm so happy for her.  I firmly believe that the best thing that she could have done after Grampy died was to move to the place she is now.  She's got a complete and full social life, and all of us around if she needs us.

The other juicy tidbit I learned today is that someone in high school had a crush on me... How CRAZY is that???  I'm seriously shocked, and flattered!  This is how it went down:

High School Guy (HSG): Charlene do you remember me from highschool?

Me: Hi HSG! I remember your name and your face, but I can't remember a lot of specifics :) But I don't remember a lot of specifics from High School... I think it's my mind protecting me ! Heehee! How have you been? Is there anything that I should remember that I don't? How come we aren't friends yet? What have you been up to?

HSG:  I was quiet and shy in highschool but had a huge crush on you . I got expelled senior year for stealing Rival School's mascot with SR lol I used to hang with JD, CJ, MS etc

Me (Truly shocked): Wow! I had no idea you had a crush on me!!!!! How come you never said anything to me? That's funny about stealing the mascot! I don't recognize J, C or M's names. I'm much better with faces though. I guess I'm going to have to dig out the yearbooks... (although I have no idea where they are!)

...and on it went from there.  He's married with three kids, and I'm married obviously.  We live thousands of miles apart.  But wow... what an ego boost.  What a crazy feeling.  I never ever thought guys in HS gave me a second look (I never dated HS guys, always guys I met at the beach or at clubs - outside my HS - usually hispanic HA!).  It was great to connect with him and hopefully we'll keep in touch.  What a strange world we live in these days.

Hope you all enjoy my birthday month as much as I am.  OH, and don't  worry... I still have to tell you about the Drag Queen Show I was surprised with last Friday night from my husband and sisters for my birthday.  Crazy fun!

Stay tuned!

Char

Limoncello Martini

So if you read my laundry list of stuff I want to blog about down below, you saw that I made myself a fantastic drink when I got home Friday night.  (That reminds me, I REALLY need to do some laundry.)

I wanted something lemony, and I remembered the homemade Limoncello that my wonderful BIL made for us.  It's been in the fridge, so I pulled it out and mixed it up in a shaker with some Ciroc Vodka (My fave), some Grand Marnier and lots of ice.  It was absolutely delicious!

Go get you some!

I just love me a nummy cocktail!

Char

Ponderings

There's a lot of crap in my head right now and I want to get it all out, but I can't seem to get my thoughts together.  Here's a list of some of the stuff I want to blog about, but haven't yet:

1 - Getting pulled over on the way home from work Friday night by a cop by a motherf'er that said that I had road rage and at the same time I was on the phone with OnStar having them contact the cops for me because this guy was freaking me the hell out.

2 - The Lemoncello drop martini that I made myself promptly after getting home Friday.

3 - Still upset/sad/moping/depressed about my ex being pregnant, and I'm not.

4 - Money issues that are pissing me the hell off ~ mmmm probably won't  be blogging about that, but it's on my mind anyway, so there.

5 - Rushing around on Saturday morning and making myself appetizers for breakfast and not being able to eat them because of my lap band.

6 - Why my ex-boss never asked me to make coffee for him again.

7 - How another ex-boss complained about how they have no money and then go on a two week trip to California wine country among other ridiculousness!

8 - The great smoked oyster challenge

9 - Squeak and her food issues.

10 - My first time making falafel from scratch, and the recipe.  WIN!

11 - My hair and the annoyance it causes me on a daily basis, plus the cut I just got on Saturday.

12 - Baby carrots.

13 - Staying in bed until 12:30 on Sunday.

14 - Cooking (drying out) an eye round on the big green egg on Sunday.

15 - A word on religion and did you know that some Jewish temples charge people to go there on the High Holy Days?

16 - Mass mailed resumes and my awesome bosses.

17 - Things to do to fight depression.

18 - How the world is too PC these days and how I want to move to California so I can embrace the "Do what is right for YOU ideal".

19 - How people balance the "Do what is right for YOU" ideal when the whole world thinks they are more important.

20 - How you really SHOULDN'T talk about really personal stuff with your bosses, especially health stuff, because it ALWAYS gets thrown in your face.

21 - How I gave my dad three time out chances last night before I was going to send him home in a cab and he only used 1 1/2 of them.

22 - My thoughts on Breaking the Cardinal Rule in the office.  

23 - How all this crap (and other crap) in my head has me very overwhelmed.

C

Blood letting

Why the hell is it that the people who draw blood from you think it is better to move the needle around inside your arm to find the vein they missed instead of just taking it out and trying again?

:-(

C

The Neighbors Pig ~ We'll call him BACON

So, I don't want you to get me wrong here.  I AM an animal lover.

BUT, when I went outside this morning, because I couldn't figure out what the sound was outside... and found a brand new PIG PEN installed in my neigbors back yard, 30 feet away from my hot tub, and he was grunting and squealing... I was NOT a happy camper.  Seriously.

Hi, my name is BACON (snort, squeal, grunt)

So yeah.  I don't know how long he's been back there.  But I don't think it's been very long.  It doesn't smell yet.  By the looks of the pen, it's going to very soon.  I am REALLY not a happy camper!!

I'm also hungry for some bacon.

Damn.

Charlene

Well this puts a fine point on the end of the year.

I'm at the doctors office and I'm not happy about it either.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

O Christmas Tree

Yes *I* put it up. I hope that *we* will put it up next year. I have to admit it does feel more like Christmas with the tree up.

C

Sticks and stones break my bones, and I'm trying not to let you hurt me...

I'm having a hard time putting on my happy face today.  I just can't handle two things in life...

1 - When someone calls you a liar when you are not.  and
2 - When someone says that you were impolite,rude,insensitive,unhelpful,(insert other negative adjective here) when not only were you not, but you bent over backwards and went above and beyond for them 

This is an incredibly hurtful thing to do to me.  Someone always told me when people lash out, they sometimes have other things going on in their lives, and in this case they do, serious things... so I'm trying to be understanding.  But really... you have to attack my character and my integrity. 

That hurts.

 It hurts to the very core.

Char

The macabre terpsichorean like unfolding of a car accident...

The macabre terpsichorean like unfolding of a car accident, you know that moment while it is happening.. at least for me... it's in slow motion... you hear the car skidding, even though you have your foot slammed down on the brake pedal as hard as you can... you feel the anti lock brakes pumping, you look left and right to see if there is any escape...you start to see the hood buckling, you hear the horrible sound of metal crunching and plastic parts popping in an awful melody of screech.bang.crunch.pop.hiss.sputter...you look down at your legs, you look up out the windshield...glance to the left, glance to the right...lie back in the seat and look straight forward at the horror that has been wrought upon you, the horror you have wrought upon yourself.

That was my Friday morning.

Fortunately... or not... I happened to be following my husband in to work to sign health insurance paperwork, so the person that I rear ended was him.  The bumper of his truck has been sliced and permanently tattooed with the imprint of the front of my car.

Not two minutes later....screech.crash.bang.pop.crunch.hiss.sputter... a four car pileup right next to us.  This is a new light in this intersection.  Clearly they don't have the timing right yet...

I called my dealership, the service department people that have taken care of me for many years... they said if it is driveable to drive it in, I would be in good hands... my dear friend, and prime handholder JR was on vacation.  Dave did take good care of me.  ... I called work and spoke to the receptionist... the bosses are out of the office today... I called OnStar and had them connect me to the police department the police department give me crap because i called OnStar and didn't hit the red police/fire/emergency button...I'm not damaged I tell her...I hit my husband... do I have to report it... well that depends on your insurance company, in this instance you only have to report it if your insurance company requires a report... called the insurance company... no report is necessary, take it to the garage. Told them where I wanted to take it... where I already had arrangements to take it.. Oh your garage is on our approved list (thank God!)... We walked down to the other accident scene to talk to policeman handling the other accident, explain the situation... he waves us on our way...

Driving slowly and carefully with a buckled hood...morning rush hour... i can feel everyone is staring... why is she driving that pretty car in such a state... they are probably wondering... hisss....smoke puffs.... hisss..... call dealership, thankfully my new BFF Dave answers... uhm I think I punctured the radiator... smoke is coming out pretty hard now... I'm at X and X - less than five minutes away, do you think I can make it to you, or should I pull over... Pull over, here's the number to the towing company we use.  It'll be okay, don't worry, you're in good hands...

Call the towing company... I'm a mess, I can barely talk, the dispatcher can't hear me... I say about three times where I am... John is outside my window holding my hand...I'm pretty sure I'm still in shock...dispatcher tells me to close up the car, leave a note on the window saying that "X Towing company" is coming to get it and leave the key under the mat... uhm..... i sputter... sputter... ma'am... are you ok???  Well I'm afraid to do that... won't someone steal my car... oh...I look out the front windshield... well I guess they won't get very far will they... that was a dumb question... well I don't know... he says "it'll be ok, people do it all the time.."  He says someone will be here within 45 mins to get the car....I mumble again and hang up... I tell John... he asks if I want coffee.... I say YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!.  He goes and gets coffee... I send an email to family letting them know that we won't be going to have a little getaway I had invited everyone to at the beach this Saturday, because I had an accident instead... I'm ok, but my car isn't... (Thanks to Summer and Daisy for the phone calls btw.  I love you two SO.DAMN.MUCH.)

I call my friend in the insurance business... and ask her off the record how screwed I am...  She confirms that I'm pretty screwed... my deductible is only $100 though... but so is John's.  Great... I ask her what I have to do next... she gives me the 800 number to call and open a claim... Why am I screwed you ask... well they will penalize me for having an accident... on my next renewal... which is in January... of COURSE it is.

I call the ins 800#... the lady is very... professional... she almost seems to be...placating me... John points out that she's being empathetic, and trying to make me feel better... I see that he's right and I loosen up a bit.  Coffee is screaming hot... I open the lid so it cools down... I take a sip of John's with a little something to calm me down.... The phone call with the insurance company takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r!  I will get a rental car allotment of $20 per day.  Great news.

Still waiting for the tow truck... I call him back and let him know that we decided to wait for them to show up... he says it'll probably be around 30 more minutes... ok....

I called one of my bosses who is home*... tell him what happened.. he is extremely sweet and kind and caring, and tells me that I don't have to come in, if I think J can handle it all... I tell him I will let him know what I decide to do.  We decide not to bother the other boss who is on vacation out of town... I'm not dying or bleeding, so we'll tell him on Monday. 

Not really feeling much of anything but sadness and disgust really.  Later my body aches my neck, upper and lower back and ribs... John is off this weekend... drinking and debauchery should be in the plans for the weekend...

Tow truck guy comes... told him, I bet I had a worse day than you today... he says yes today.. but yesterday I had to go to an accident where an old man died.... Well yeah, I guess that trumps my bad day by like a million trillion.... perspective... oh hello there you are....

John packs me into the truck with my coffee and my crap from my car... which oh by the way I had to clean out while we were waiting for the tow truck guy because i'm a slacker and my car was a disgusting mess... but that's another show.

We drive to the dealership and I go over and give my friend Dave a hug and thank him profusely... he directs us over to the body shop... and we sit and wait while the semi-nice lady writes everything up... in the meantime the car comes in... I get another look at her and my gut sinks...  The tow truck driver comes in, and I thank him for taking good care of her.  He was really sweet.  The insurance company will pay him directly.  No charge to me.  Thank goodness. 

I decided to go into work because J and I were planning to go see a movie and I am not bleeding, and I feel obligated to go in... plus if I go home by myself, it will be an incredibly bad idea... wallowing in self pity and disgust and lots of crying and feeling sorry for myself... Work would be better.  I can't believe it, but I went to work...

Day is good at work, but a little busy, we go to the movie... Due Date... lots of Robert Downey Jr, and laughing... just what I needed.

Text message to John later that day... Your truck ate my car... uuurp!... I'm sure it made him laugh.

They tell me that my car will be good as new... after $5207.31 in damages... I can't wait to see her look like this again....

*Ironically the day before I put an emergency contact list on the common drive at work so we could all access it in case someone had an emergency.  I had J get me his number, and she mentioned that she got it from there.  He said that I jinxed myself by doing that yesterday.  Very funny guy he is. :)

If you read all the way to the end.. you deserve a prize.  Email me your address and I'll mail you a piece of my broken car :)

How to Annoy Me - from my spaces.live blog

How to Annoy Me


Tuesday, October 07, 2008, 6:12:40 AM

Change the software for my DVR, so I mistakenly delete the season premiere of NCIS, and I totally miss recording the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.

Char

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Thinking out loud #2 - from my spaces.live blog

Thinking out loud


Tuesday, October 07, 2008, 6:00:54 AM

Should I be upset that - "We will not talk about this again", "You are like a three year old", "I am the boss of you, and you will do as I say" were actually said to me - by an adult - today.

Or should I be more upset that the things I took from that conversation are - "You are more stubborn than any person I have ever known - and I have no chance again that kind of stubborn", "You think very little of me", and "Who is really the three year old here"...

Oy.

C

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Thinking out loud - from my spaces.live blog

Thinking out loud


Tuesday, October 07, 2008, 6:00:12 AM

How much do McDonalds Chicken Nuggets weigh? Do I have to count the sauce.



Char

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