Friday, December 14, 2012

I Have No Words

Thoughts and prayers for the families and the children in Connecticut. We hold you in our arms tonight.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

YOu Guys Were Right - As Usual :D

Thanks for the cheering up Tadpoles.

I felt better after I wrote that [and took a short nap] so Pooldad and I hit the mall to see if we could find a dress I saw online at JCP.

Amazingly enough we did. It was the last one they had and even more amazing? It fit.

This is the dress:
Don't ask me why I thought feathers were a good idea, but hey! They WORKED.  The dress fit like a glove and when I stepped out of the dressing room Pooldad's whole face lit up and well. . .let's just say he followed me back into the dressing room. ::wink:: No, really - he did. But only to help me try on the next one.

I did have several more to try on, but this was the first and ultimately the winner. I paired it with sheer black hose, low heeled satin pumps and pearl stud earrings.  I wore my hair down which was nice because the back is scooped lower and my hair swept over it.  I also wore my red coat with black velvet trim for a bit of Christmas pop and cheer.

It appears short in the picture but even though I have longish legs it didn't look or feel too short for me, even at 46.  I do have chicken legs now so it wasn't doing me too many favors in that department, but the fit was snug enough to make what little body fat I have appear to be curves. heehee I even cheated a bit and wore an old push up bra.  The added padding really gave me a boost. In more ways than one. ::big grin::

Most of his coworkers have never met me and really only know me as the lady who fries chicken and bakes.  They were very gracious and seemed to be a lot of fun.  It's not a terribly large company, about 40 employees, but they are a pretty tight knit group. Very respectful and caring of eachother regardless of pecking order in the skill ladder.  A pool cleaner is just as valuable as a mechanic or a office worker to all of them and it is nice to see a group get along so well.  We sat a table with many of Pooldad's staff and he was whispering in my ear about each of them so I would be able to know a bit about them.  The one thing he kept saying was what hard workers, good workers they are.  For a man that has been in this business for almost 4 decades and the woman who has heard it ALL, that is a rare thing to be repeated about each and every employee he pointed out.  There is usually one or two [okay, several] bad apples in the bunch in this industry. It's the nature of the work I suppose, but it is refreshing that after moving from his previous company, where he had worked for over 20 years, he has such a great group of coworkers and friends.  What was really fun was seeing how wonderful the men looked dressed up and how pretty all their wives and girlfriends were.  Everyone really went all out for this once a year shindig. It was fun. [As the night wore on the open bar of high shelf liquor made it even more fun for some of the gang.  Pooldad had two sips of one mixed drink and said he couldn't finish it because the bartenders were being more than generous with their pours.  I offered to get him more mixer - cola - but he passed because the food came up. . .and well. . .]

The food. YUM! The food looked fabulous, in fact the restaurant itself is really neat.  It is a local organic farm with an attached restaurant [the farm came first] and they only serve what they grow, raise or what they can locally source organically.  The menus are seasonal so there were a lot of delicious root vegetables as as appetizers or as sides and the mains were a choice of bay scallps, organic beef sirloin [my choice if I had eaten], chicken breast or a vegetarian dish.  Really I cannot do the menu justice but it was worthy of 4 stars. And from what I can gather from all the award plaques hung on the walls in the Ladies' bathroom it often receives those types of reviews.

After the toasts were made and before the main course was served I had to make my apologies and to go to the van to lie down.  It was simply too long a day for me and dummy me I forgot all my medication.  Still, Pooldad keeps telling me that he really appreciates me making the attempt and going and he thought I looked very pretty.  Which is really all I wanted - not to be told I was pretty, no, although it is a nice bonus, but I wanted to go and be by his side as his wife. This is the sixth Christmas party he has attended since he began working there and it was my first.  I think if I had known they do it up this well I would've dragged myself from bed rest and shown up in a bathrobe before now. I do have some pretty swank bathrobes come to think of it. I kid, I kid.

I really don't get that down in the dumps very often and I am sorry I felt the need to vent here, but I was finally at the end of my tether with it ALL. And that does happen occasionally.  I usually keep it in my handwritten journal, but. . .you all helped me immensely and I thank you. It is nice to have friends you can count on no matter what.

We are almost finished our Christmas shopping. First year in three years I managed the mall at Christmas time under my own power. That was nice and very freeing.  Although there is something to be said for riding in a wheelchair - like you can run over all the people who are rude to the poor clerks or who try to cut in line.  Plus you are a good place to put all the packages, so you become an asset. heehee

Christmas cards and baking are next and then we are done. Squirrel comes home Saturday so that will be nice. YAY!  I hope y'all are enjoying the season and all your wishes come true. I will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

Hugs to y'all and thank you again. See ya' on the flipside Tadpoles.



Friday, December 7, 2012

Wish Me Luck! :/

I just wrote the wordiest post - It was wordy even for me, so you know it was wordy - and then I deleted it in favor of bullet points.

Believe me, you really should thank me. heehee

  • Tonight is Pooldad's office Christmas party at a fancy restaurant.
  • Key word: fancy
  • We have to dress up.
  • I have lost 27 lbs since July.
  • I now weigh 107 lbs.
  • [I threw my scale out the window.]
  • I used to wear a 4, but now I wear a 2.
  • [Then I dropped a big honker rock on it.]  
  • I have nothing to wear.
  • It was so difficult to find the few size 4 pieces I bought for fall.
  • I am without hope of finding a size 2 in something dressy and age appropriate today.
  • In the next 8 hours. 
  • I have about 2 hours of reserved energy.
  • I haven't slept well, I am in constant pain and I feel defeated before I have even gotten dressed.
  • I truly want to do this right, I WANT to look pretty for Pooldad [I know it sounds silly, but I want to make him proud].
  • I don't want to look sick and gaunt.  My color is good. . .but . . .
  • I'm asking for the impossible.
  • Instead of a fun shopping trip I am depressed at the thought. 
  • Really, terribly depressed. And crying.
  • I hate being me right now. And I hate admitting how awfully sad I am.
  • I hate being sad over a piece of clothing. . .but . . .
  • This is about so much more than the dress.
  • Wish me luck?
They say there is such a thing as "shopping therapy".
Well then? I hope this is a very, very good session.

See ya' of the flipside Tadoles, [of what I suspect is going to be a complete and utter meltdown in the dressing room at Nordstrom's. ::wink::]

Saturday, December 1, 2012

That'll Clear A Room

I probably shouldn't write this post.  I know Pooldad is going to be mortified that I "ratted" him out and ::gasp:: actually made him look less than the wonderful, perfect, glorious husband everyone thinks knows he is, BUT. . .

He WRECKED MY CAR!
Yep.
My NEW car.
Oscar.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

We keep Oscar in the garage because it is below 25 degrees in the morning and when I leave at 6:15 am he is significantly warmer [oh, by about 30 degrees] so it is really nice to not have to heat him up on my two mile drive to church.  Unfortunately [for Oscar] I wasn't in any shape to get out of bed and put him in the garage one night so Pooldad went ahead and did it for me.

HooBoy! Did he.  Realize [please] that Oscar is a sub-SUB compact car. He is smaller than a sub compact. [Figured that out all by yourself didn'tja? giggle]  He is not only not wide, he is not long, so I still have no idea WHY my husband thought it was a spectacular idea to look BEHIND him, out the back window, instead of in the TWO side mirrors [to line Oscar up] while backing into the garage.  When Oscar is backed into the garage he can be parked and almost accommodate another Chevy Spark.  Alas, Pooldad didn't check the side mirrors, which would have confirmed that he was centered [or not] in the doorway, thus providing several inches [or not] on either side for clearance. Nope, he tossed his right arm over the passenger seat and while steering with his left hand watched through the back window at the back wall of the garage.  God only knows how fast he was going because. . .that sound of shattering glass and crunching, molded plastic?

THAT would be Oscar's driver side mirror disintegrating.  He was going fast enough [backing UP!!!!] that he couldn't have stopped when he heard an initial scrape - which he would have heard IF HE HADN'T HAVE BEEN GOING SO FAST and NOT LOOKING.  He would've had a chance to stop before close to a $1000 worth of damage had been done to the car.

When you are backing Oscar [not our mini van, our sub-SUB compact car] into the garage you don't worry about length - you worry about width.  That is what is driving me bananas about the whole thing.  Oh, that and the almost 1,000 dollars that we are paying out of pocket so our rates don't go up or we get cancelled by our insurance company.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[You should've seen the kids clear the room when they saw Dad come into the bedroom to tell me. They already knew he had done it and they skeddadled faster than a scurry of squirrels being chased by Spot.  In all fairness I simple sat there, in mute shock. When I didn't say anything Pooldad left the room and I cried.  I know, I know - "first world problems" and all that bullsh*t, but it really hurt because I rarely get new things and Oscar means more to me than just being new. He IS my independence.  So, yes, it hurt.  And I didn't actually raise my voice at Pooldad until he tried to talk to me again -before I feel asleep- about it and I yelled through the bedroom door to leave me alone.  I didn't want to say anything mean while I was still upset and he wanted me to make him feel better. I wasn't quite there yet.]

Since I can't justify exchanging gifts or budgeting for the annual "Snowman a Day" in December thing we do, I decided I would go ahead and replace my wedding set.  The wedding set I had to sell many years ago to afford payroll at a company we were management of, for which I was never reimbursed [that's a whole other story, but I digress.....].  Anyhoodle, I do have my wedding band and a stunning diamond engagement ring from my Mom, but I went ahead and bought this set:



My original set was 18K gold and had a gorgeous marquis cut center stone with a wrap comprised of smaller diamonds.  The set I bought this time is pretty too, but I chose a platinum setting instead. The diamonds aren't real - OF COURSE they aren't real. I'm not crazy with that kind of bill staring me down - but hopefully they will look just as nice.  They are simple CZs - and like I said, the rings look pretty to me.

So, that's it in a nutshell for this week.  Please go ahead and leave your comments for poor, poor suffering Pooldad and tell me that it was just an accident, and he didn't mean to do it, and all men are goofy sometimes and to cut him some slack and whatever else you care to, mmmkay? [You know you want to ::wink::] And just because I know everyone is curious ::ha!:: he is no longer on the couch where he SELF exiled himself, okay?

I hope you have a great weekend.
I'll be in the garage. Putting band-aids on my car. ::sinff-sniff::
See ya' on the flipside Tadpoles.