Happy Birthday Mark!

Today is my friend Mark's birthday-like me he turned 40. We live in different states, but he's my closest friend. It's hard to believe we've known each other for almost 18 years. Here's wishing you the best!

Weird Dreams

I had weird dreams all last night. I was canoeing in an ocean for one, trying to get the hair dryer away from a noisy wedding guest at a hotel, and giving away items to a theatre group, which led to people from the trailer park doing the same, which led to a disgusting horror show on TV. Weird. Was it something I ate?

Parnerships

When partnerships are going well they're great-but in the long run I think it's best to do things on your own. I co-own a horse. There's no way I could afford one on my own. It was the other woman's idea and she was the one making sure I wouldn't back out after 6 months. Well, it's been a year and a half and now she wants out! While most people think she should just sign over her half to me (and I'd find someone to half lease him-so that my monthly bills would remain the same) she wants money out of the deal. "I spent $xxxx on him." Duh, I spent the same amount. In fact, she was trying to get me to sell him saying how expensive it is and how I really only go out there twice a week. HELLO?!?! You think I don't know that. I was so mad. And what if she couldn't find a buyer, then she's telling me to go online and find someone. What you dump this on me and expect me to do everything?! It's just a lousy situation and I'm so pissed off at her. Hopefully things will work out without me being out a lot of money. What are your thoughts?

As a side note, to vent some of my anger I figured out Wii boxing and won by a knockout!

Photo Phriday

I think my rue really likes where it's planted! They say a Polish girl should have rue in her garden and I have had wonderful luck with it, both here and in Texas. This plant propagated itself, so I dug up the baby today to give to a friend. With all the rain we've been having you'd think the soil would be easy to dig. HA! It was hard as a rock. I kept digging and digging, those roots were so long, I thought I'd dug all the way to China. I finally got the baby rue out. I guess it didn't want to go!

Day Off

I took today off work. I know, I just had vacation, but work is so awful and I have so much I need to accomplish at home, I really wanted a 3 day weekend. We had enough people at work, so I got the day off. I slept in and have an almost headache, so I haven't accomplished much yet...but I will...I have to! I have dishes to wash, one rat cage to clean (I did the other cage the other day), and litter boxes to scrub. Those things I must accomplish today. I have a ton of other things too-but those are my main goals. I want to spend time with Harley tomorrow and most of my work must be done before Saturday, when my folks will be up. I think I'll do all my running around tomorrow, today I may just stay in my pjs all day and work inside-although I do have gardening to do...we'll see what happens!

Carded

In the early hours of this morning, ie, right after work last night, I went to the grocery store. I picked up a few items including a 12 pack of beer. I was checking out and the woman asked to see my ID. So, I gave her my driver's license and she inputted my date of birth, then the cash register said NO SALE! She was confused, I was confused, the kid worker hanging out was confused-then she told him, "I put in her birthdate-6-10-88." "88? I was born in 68 not 88" "That explains it, the kid said." I said, "I just turned 40-not 20." The checker said, "well you don't look it." And the kid agreed. I guess that's a pretty good complement!

Crazy

Work is crazy. The people are crazy, and I don't mean the patients, who are also crazy. We had a good evening, aside from one patient throwing her dinner tray-and there was really nothing to that. It was the staff. Oh my God. I don't know how people can be this incompetent, yet think they know it all and won't listen. Then, because they're mad at you, try to start other problems. It is absolutely unbelievable. One of my guys said to me tonight cured him of every wanting to be a supervisor. I was so mad at one point, another of my guys was commenting on how hot I was and I told him to go get the marshmallows! I can laugh a bit about it now, but some people. They really need to quit-or be fired!

Guilty

Wii CAN be very dangerous. I was bowling and I swung my arm back only to hear a thud. I had hit Barrett right between the eyes. He had come up behind me and I never knew he was there. When I turned and put my arm out to check on him, he flinched as if I was going to hit him again. I felt soooo bad. I still do. He's forgiven me, but the look on his face, coupled with his shying away from me in fear... I don't think I want to bowl anymore.

Spoiled

Vacation spoiled me a bit. I woke up today and thought of all the things I could do...then I realized that I had to go to work. Yuck. I have so much I want to do at home...and the weather is nice...and work is awful. Oh well, I have to work and bring home the bacon, and heaven's knows I need the bacon!

So Much

There's so much to do over the weekend and I just want to relax. It's the basic stuff too. I need to go grocery shopping, but that's not going to happen. I need to clean rat cages, litter boxes, do laundry. Plus some not regular stuff that needs to be taken care of as well. Plus there's all the stuff I should start doing-cleaning off tables and organizing. I want to take a nap!

Photo Phriday

Seneca was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism today. I have hypothyroidism. Couldn't we just share and both be normal?!

Blood Work

I'm getting ready to go back to the vet. Seneca had her annual physical exam yesterday and the doctor was very concerned as she's lost 2 pounds in the past year. She's been steady with her weight prior to this. Although not old, she is considered a senior (she's 11 years old). She looks good, eats well (she's become quite a beggar, in fact. We sometimes call her Miss Greedy Guts!) and acts normally. She's been fasting (everyone's been fasting and Aleister is not too happy about that!) and we're going to get some blood work done. Hopefully all will be well. Please, keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Shocked

I am shocked...and stunned. I just got an e-mail from my local paper crafting store. They're closing. I am shocked...and stunned. I simply can't believe it. Just a few days ago I got an e-mail about a contest to make a birthday card for their 3rd birthday. The actual birthday is July 29-their door will close for good July 31. I discovered this place not too long ago and was really enjoying it. It's only about 10 minutes from my house and I was getting involved in their contests and other events, like the monthly demo days. I'm going to miss that. There's another local stamp store that I like-but it's all the way across town. I thought the store was doing well, but the landlord was raising the rent-by a great deal. The owner decided not to look for another location due to competition from the big box stores as well as the general economy. I'm going to miss the camaraderie, actually seeing other crafters and talking. It's a blow. I'm shocked...and stunned.

Quizzes

Fanpop has done it again. They've added a quiz section. For each spot you can answer and/or add quiz questions. Then there's the superquiz which has questions from all spots. There's a leaderboard so you can see how you rank among other fans. You can also see if people of whom you're a fan have answered specific questions. You can also see how people are answering the questions you submit. And there are virtual prizes. I'm answering all kinds of questions-but I'm creating them too! That takes some effort as I like to include pictures. So, I have to find appropriate photos, copy them, then upload them. Now I'm spending even more time there. Of course, now that I'm back to work, my time spend there will diminish. Sigh. But if you're in the mood to try some trivia, check it out!

Last Day

Today is the last day of my vacation. Boo Hoo. I don't want to go back to work. I've also been putting off some business, which I'll have to deal with tomorrow. I don't want to do that either. Can't I be independently wealthy with someone to handle all the unpleasant things for me? Is that too much to ask?

At any rate, I had a good lesson with Harley. I couldn't give him (and me) a shower afterward due to thunderstorms, so I was too sweaty to get my hair cut. I did go to Target and get some new sneakers though. I plan on doing some stamping, playing some Wii, and goofing off on the computer. Sounds like a pretty good day to me!

Good Lunch on Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! I wish all of the dads out there a wonderful day. Mine is having a relaxing day at his house, practicing his trumpet and watching golf on TV. Unfortunately, my present for him is lost in the mail somewhere-hopefully it'll turn up soon, it was shipped June 2!

I had an idea for a new lunch and it turned out quite well. I had some boneless turkey breast steaks. I made a mixture of flour, salt, pepper, and fresh sage from my garden. I rubbed each piece with a sage leaf then coated each steak in beaten egg, then the flour mixture and placed them in an oven safe pan I had sprayed with cooking oil. I then topped the steaks with the sage leaf and some whole cranberry sauce. I baked it it the oven at 345 degrees for about 25 minutes. They were done! I served it with cranberry sauce and Cranberry Bog wine. I was debating between the Cranberry Bog from Montezuma Winery and a wine from a new winery in NY called Sparkling Ponds, their wine, Woman Pleaser is made from Niagara grapes with a bit of cranberry. After a taste of the turkey, I felt I could go bolder and went with the Cranberry Bog, which is cranberry wine-no grapes involved. I had to season the meat a bit more, but it was a great meal which I'll repeat...even after the leftovers are gone!

GoodReads

Do you ever wonder what books your friends are reading? Do you want to have book discussions? If so, you may want to check out GoodReads. A friend recommended it months ago and I recently signed up. It's pretty neat. You can list the books you read, are currently reading, or waiting to read. You can rate and review them as well, and see how others have rated them. You can also receive updates on what your friends have been reading. To quote the site:

Goodreads is a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. Don’t stop there – join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing.

I find the site a bit difficult to use at times. I may just have to play around with it a bit more. I really like its idea though. If I can't find my notebook of Books I've Read (and yes, I have a notebook or two missing!) I can see what I've read here. Check it out!

Photo Phriday

I took a cruise along the Erie Canal today aboard this vessel, the packet boat, Sam Patch.

Wii

Whee! I love my Wii!!!! I'm having such fun. My folks got it for my birthday and I'm really enjoying it. So far I only have the Sports game that came with it and Wii Play. But both have several games within them to try and explore. I haven't tried everything yet. So far I really like the bowling. I'm pretty good at it too. I tried the Fitness test on Sports. Sigh. It told me I'm 47. Doesn't it know I just turned 40?!? The main problem was the darn baseball. I couldn't hit that thing to save my life. In all the throws, I only hit it once..it was a home run, but still only one hit. It took me quite awhile to hit the tennis ball too. Finally I could hit it, out of bounds, but, hey...after baseball, at least I hit it! I did wind up hitting the ground a lot too. Thank goodness the bowling was next. I'm sure I helped my age there. If I was lousy at that too, my Mii would be able to enroll in AARP and possibly even collect social security!

After ready reviews and talking to some people I'd like to get My Horse & Me (even if the horse is always on the wrong lead...LOL..you'd think they'd fix that!), Endless Oceans, Carnival Games (I didn't have interest until I read some reviews-now I want it!), and, as soon as it comes out at the end of July I want Order up, a cooking game. There is a cooking game now, but this new one seems like it may be better. So I'll wait.

Do you have a Wii? What are your favorite games?

Thank You!

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special this year. This was the first year, in I don't know how many years, that I actually got to spend the date of my birth with my folks. I had a great time and the fun continues. I still have plans for the rest of the week. I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who gave me wonderful gifts (and those who've told me they're on the way, LOL), great cards and e-cards, and phone calls. I even got a birthday greeting from a woman in Greece who saw on Fanpop that it was my special day. So thank you, everyone. I have a great group of friends and family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me! This year I hit a milestone-I am now 40! It's hard to believe. I'm halfway through my special day. My folks came up and we opened presents, had champagne and pastries. Yumm. They had a special gift for me-but delay after delay occurred so instead of being a birthday present, it'll be a Christmas gift. They wanted to get me something special though-and they did. I got a Wii!! Whee! I can't wait to hook it up and play. Seeing as I'm 40 now-I need to take a nap before my folks come back and we go out to dinner. Thanks to everyone for the lovely gifts and wonderful birthday wishes!

Last Day

Today is the last day I will spend in my 30's. I went to the barn, but it was too hot to ride. Still I hung out for awhile. I then went to a nursery looking for my Heuchera Dolce Peach Melba-with no luck. I found some heucheras, but not the variety I need. I got a mango freeze at Taco Bell-pretty good- then came home. When I checked my mailbox there was only one birthday card, but then my blood ran cold (hard to do when it's over 90 degrees, but it did). There was a letter from the IRS. They found something goofy on my 2006 tax return and say I owe money-I'll get a bill in 4-8 weeks. I found all the numbers they were talking about, but I don't know if I made the error, or not. It's all to do with withholding and real estate taxes. I'll copy everything and mail it out to them-and then we'll see. Just what I needed before my birthday!

Trapped!

Today was the day I went to North East, Pennsylvania to meet my friends from Ohio. I pulled into town and got gas at my favorite little station; a great deal at $3.99 a gallon. (Never thought I'd say that was a good price!) Then I found a parking spot so I could get Barrett and the rats some fancy dog treats at the dog bakery. Closed! I was so annoyed, but, it was Sunday and the little downtown was basically shut down. I took some pictures in the Square and then went to the restaurant. I was right on time, exactly 11:30. As soon as I got my book out my phone rang, my friends were running behind and just crossed the state line-they'd be there around noon, or 12:15. I had brought things to do, but the parking lot was so hot. So I drove off. I needed to use the bathroom, but didn't want to go into the restaurant. I thought about stopping at one of the wineries, but didn't want to do that either, so I started heading back into town. But, everything was closed. Then I decided to stop at Mercyhurst College to look around, check out their bookstore, and find a bathroom. Well, the bookstore was closed. Still, I decided to park and walk around, maybe some building would be open. I found a beautiful little grotto, that led me to a building with stained glass. Perhaps it was a chapel...with a bathroom. I had tried a few doors with no luck, but when I got to the front of the building-I found an unlocked door-so in I went. It wasn't the chapel, but offices and classrooms. I wandered around, exploring, and eventually I found a bathroom! I had noticed the exit doors I passed all had keypads attached, all with a red light. I certainly didn't want to sound any alarms, so I went back to the door that let me in to get back out. I pushed-it didn't open. I pushed again...nothing. I looked and saw the keypad with the red light. Uh oh. One more try...no luck. So I went back around, checking out other doors. I finally found one with a keypad with a green light! I pushed and out I went. Freedom! Thank heavens. I didn't look for the chapel as it was already noon and time to meet my friends, but I did say a brief prayer of gratitude that I escaped from the building without raising an alarm!

Denied

It was not to be. Big Brown couldn't do it. Once again, the Triple Crown is denied. I thought it might be possible-Affirmed did it around my 10th birthday and I was hoping Big Brown could do it near my 40th. I just hope the horse is healthy; as Smarty Jones wrote to him, there are lots of ladies looking to meet him! (The picture is from the Preakness Stakes.)

Photo Phriday

Here's my new garage roof with newly painted architectural detail and weather vane!

Planters Trail Mix

I refuse to write about Top Chef as I'm too angry and my language is worse than an ex-con longshoreman who just discovered he's been cheated. Moving on...I tried a great new snack. Planters Trail Mix-Spicy Nuts & Cajun Sticks. Yummmmm. It has seasoned peanuts, cornnuts, cajun sesame sticks & corn sticks, and red chile crescents. Boy is it good! I highly recommend it as a spicy treat!

No Power

I woke up early today to get some things accomplished before going to work. However, I woke up to no electricity! I called the power company on my tracfone and they said it was a known outage-power should be restored by 1PM. So I couldn't check my e-mail, write this blog, or check my neopets. I couldn't put in a load of laundry. I couldn't watch TV, nor set the VCR for my program tonight. I couldn't open my garage...well I could disconnect it, but that's a pain. Then I realized-I can't cook! At least, I couldn't cook what I had. So I wrapped and packed a birthday gift, made a card, and finished a letter. I was about to figure out what food I could eat cold when I saw the stove blinking. Yea! Power restored-and by 11:45! It's amazing how dependent I am on electricity. Let's hope it stays on!

Naughty Dog

Remember how I wrote that Barrett snatched the cat treats off the treat counter, ripped open the package and ate the rest of the box. Well, the other night I came home to find the package of Pupperoni that I hadn't yet opened on the kitchen floor. It was open...and empty. Barrett was still looking for his "I'm back home" treat when I looked into the living room. On the floor were the remains of three more bags of treats. These had been opened prior,but still, he finished them off and chewed up the packaging. And he still was expecting more. It's a wonder he didn't get sick! I guess I'd better find a better place for the treats!

Poor Cats

Poor Seneca and Calumet. Barrett knocked down their treats from the treat shelf, tore open the package, and chowed down on the cat treats. Now the girls are begging-but no goodies for them. I think I have some treats upstairs in the cat room. They'll just have to wait.

Horses are Funny

Horses are funny. They are big animals, but they are still prey animals and can get spooked at the tiniest thing. The other day I was riding Harley in the indoor arena. The dirt had been watered and there were a few puddles. We start in a clockwise direction walking around the arena and through the puddles. We pick up our posting trot and trot through the puddles. At the posting trot we change direction and go through one puddle. As we approach the second puddle from this new direction Harley suddenly starts, shies away and starts backing up. "Oh my God! It's going to kill us!!!!!!!!" I squeeze him on and talk to him and he darts around it. We keep going, through the other puddle without a thought. As we approach the demon puddle I start reassuring him and squeezing him harder. He still looks at it like it's going to swallow us whole, but he goes through it. We did it one more time before we started cantering. He cantered through it without giving it a second thought, but as I walked him to cool him down he wasn't too happy about that puddle. Yes, horses are funny.