JUST STUFF II

Hi everybody! I tried to post something last night but there must have been some Gremlins having a party on the internet because my computer was doing strange things and I couldn't get on blogger to write anything. I have been sick the last 2-3 weeks with a nasty and persistent cold. The week before Thanksgiving I was out Tues,W,and Th with a fever and cough and stuffy nose. I finally went to the Dr. Thurs. but all he did was ask me if I had gotten the flu shot. YES. He gave me a Rx of Psudoephedrine and an expectorant and sent me home. I hate P because it makes me feel worst than the cold. I went to work on Fri of that week but I probably should have stayed home. The problem was I had used all my sick days. I felt awful because of the drugs, but my fever was gone so I went. That is a nightmare week for takeout because of Thanksgiving parties and such, so I missed most of the "fun" (hooray!). Last week I worked Mon and by the time I got to work on Tues. ( I was on time) all of the take out for Tues and Wed was done. I worked a total of 2 hours and then went home until this morning. Th and Fri were paid holidays, but I only had 4 hours of vacation time left, so Wed was an unpaid holiday. I got a lot of rest over the weekend and feel quite a bit better now. I still can't breathe much and every once in awhile in am seized with a horrible coughing fit, but I can finally taste some of my food and am getting some sense of smell back. I hope this isn't an omen of how the winter will be! I did manage to sweep the floors and even cook a meal or two fancier than a can of soup or a TV Dinner. I planned to put up the Christmas tree, but it is still waiting on the back porch to be set up. All I have to do is take off its shroud and plug it in. Instant Christmas tree, all I add is ornaments, which never did get on it last year. Sigh. I am caught between getting me a digital camera or a pair of glasses (to see out of not drink out of) The camera would probably be cheaper. I have been looking at eyeglass frames and some of them run at $500 WITHOUT the lenses. I will probably get glasses but the cheapest ones I can find that still are presentable. Speaking of Christmas presents, does anyone know what the Lang boys need or want, this includes David of course. Send some suggestions my way. I have some ideas of what to send Dave but the boys are another story. Help me please!

MY SAT AND SUNDAY

Hey Alf's boy, your pictures tell the story. Sat I work up at 7:30 WITHOUT the alarm. What a bummer. I put in a batch of laundry, then convinced myself to go back to bed; (it wasn't that hard). I had a sore throat and icky body aches. I got up at 9:50 and then I had to hurry and get dressed and get to the eye Dr. to make sure my new contacts were fitting well and that I can see. They were and I can. I took $60.00 out of the bank for spending money. Promptly $30.00 went to gas. I bought 2 maple bars for our breakfast and went home. I put laundry in the dryer, fed the dog and the cat and myself and DH. Read the paper then went back to sleep for 2 hours. I paid bills online. I went grocery shopping. Spent $168.00. Came home and put away groceries, with DH help. Cooked a frozen pizza, well I told DH when to put it in the oven. It cooked in ten min., but it took DH 30 or more min, to cut it up put it on a plate get my pills and call me to dinner. It was ice cold then. Oh well. I watched TV and finally went to bed at some early thirty time in the morning.I finally took an aspirin instead of Tylenol or rather I took one aspirin and one Tylenol, That is essentially what Excedrin is only one of each is cheaper and is the same thing, along with caffeine which I did not take. This morning I got up about 7:30 and put in another batch of laundry and promptly went back to bed. Church starts at 11:00 but that is often to early. Go figure. I made it in time for RS at 1:00. All during RS meeting I was looking for my wallet so I could pay tithing. I went through my purse several times and couldn't find it. PANIC. I was having visions of my blank checks being forged and sent out all over Provo. The last I had seen it was at Smiths when I wrote a check for the groceries. I am afraid that I didn't pay much attention to the lesson. It was about Joseph Smith and it was really good but I am sure I would have gotten more out of it if I had been less distracted. I said a silent prayer that I would find the wallet after church. I DID, it had fallen out of my wallet when I took it out of my purse and it was laying at my feet the whole time. WHEW!! I made dinner of pork ribs (Boneless and no BBQ sauce) apples (raw with raisins and craisins) and a side of teriaki noodles with veggies. I watched "Gunsmoke" reruns until "The amazing Race" cam on. then I did some indexing on the computer for the church. That is the tale of my weekend.

CHECK THIS OUT

I haven't done much of interest this week. The week was pretty routine and boring. Halloween DH and I went and got flu shots, went to the post office to mail some bills, then we went to McDonald's for 2 Oreo McFlurries and 2 med Fries for a treat. The treat cost $8.13. We could have gotten 2 quarter pounder with cheese meals for just a few dollars more. Fri when I came to work. Samoa Lady and Former MTC Head cook were at at it again ragging about how Bob was cutting the pineapple. Me and FF had showed him how to cut it like we had always done it, and she was having a fit about it. We wasted too much "meat" cutting it the way we showed him. Her way is much better, and is muuuuuuuch slower and (thus better in her eyes because then all she has to do is cut fruit all day thus avoiding all the other work). Those two women from the MTC and everyone else who works there work until there job is done, and then they sit the rest of the day. They make sure too stretch out what they are doing as long as possible so that is not enough time to do anything else that day. This has been going on for years at that place. Some of the people from Morris and Cannon were transferred over there last Nov. Thank heavens I wasn't, but unfortunately some came to the Morris center with me and FF. Our old manager at Cannon center went there (MTC) April 2006 to straighten up the people over there and make them work. So far they have really dug in their heels and are making life miserable for her (and themselves). I pointed out to her that food is cheaper than time, but by then she and Former MTC lady had dug in there heels. We now have the former MTC chef, who is afflicted with the same syndrome that they have. He was telling us it had to be cut that way. Two or three weeks ago we were given the instructions from manager and chef that it didn't matter how we cut the fruit (except the faster way was better) and that all that mattered was that the food items contain all of the ingredients in the right amount of weights and were in the right containers. Now they are send a mixed message again. Itis very annoying. We are expected to have an open mind, but only 2 of us are. The We were also told there was no supervisor because all of us are of the same pay and power rank, but Former took it upon herself to appoint Samoa as the supervisor even though has no responsibility in the kitchen at all. Bob is a mentally disabled man. He is about my age and holds down 2 jobs in order to support his wife and 5 children. He is limited in his abilities and can only handle certain tasks. He can cut the pineapple the way we showed him, but cannot do it her way because or the way they handle the knife. She was going on and on about it and at one point asked him if he wasn't ashamed leave so much fruit on the rind. Trying to shame him for wasting so much, She said I and he should treat it like we would in our own homes and not waste so much. Well guess what, I would cut it the same way in my home, if I ever used pineapple. which I can't stand.Well I managed to keep my cool but I fumed all morning and then I ached from head to toe all afternoon. I still ache, like a train ran over me! Former had a sore knee so she spent all dad in the kitchen sitting on a stake of milk crates because her knee hurt. I stood all day and always do and both knees ache, my hip hurts, ankles and feet feel like my legs are slowly falling onto them, sort of like the bent feet of a paper doll, my neck is sometimes in a cramp and wont even turn, my head hurts and my stomach either growls with hunger or cramps with IBS. But I get my work done and half of the time do work in other areas that need help. I never could understand how lazy slackers get away with it and people like me slog along, with nary an acknowledgment of their work. I just don't get it. Today I had some hamburger that I needed to cook, But not much else to work with. I was thinking of a Taco Salad or Nacho thingy. I decided to try making it with what I had. It turned out really good so I thought I might share it for anyone who might like it
IMPROV NACHOS
1 Pkg of Taco seasoning
1 lb of ground beef
1 can of diced tomatoes with sweet onions
1 pkg of Tortilla chips
Frozen corn (super sweet)
Shredded cabbage (coleslaw) or shredded lettuce
Shredded Colby/Jack cheese
Onion sour cream dip or sour cream

1. Brown ground beef
2. add Taco seasoning and follow directions on package
but instead of adding water add the tomatoes and frozen corn.
3. Simmer 5-10 min, may need to add a little water.
4. Place tortilla chips on individual salad bowls or plates.
5. Top with, in order mentioned, Ground beef, cheese, cabbage,
and onion dip. Enjoy


OV NACHOS

JUST STUFF

I had a pretty uneventful week this week. I did go and get a flu shot on Thurs, alone with my fellow salad area workers BYU offers them free to all facility and staff so we all went over to the health center and got one. The next day I called in sick because I felt hot and nauseous. Unfortunately K had already called in sick and A was leaving for vacation that day. So I became unsick. I told the manager that we had all gotten flu shots the day before. When I came into work, A said that K was sick, and that she was really tempted to call in sick, but didn't because she thought that she might get in trouble for calling in sick the day before a vacation (She almost always does call in sick the day before a vacation or when a family member is doing something special, She is Polynesian so any body is related.) Anyway we had a good laugh when I told her I called in sick also, but when I found out that K was sick, I came in (I really was sick and spent my time on several bathroom visits) although I never threw up or other unpleasant things, I just felt like I was going to! Today I woke up at 7:30 A.M. and wasn't the least bit sleepy. Wouldn't you know it. I can sleep in but what do I do I wake up before dawn, in a bright eyed bushy tailed state. I had an appointment with the eye Dr. at 10:15 A.M. and when I got there, and in his office he asked me what he was seeing me for today. I just laughed and told me the he was doing a certain eye test and asked him if he forgot what it was for. He admitted that he had, and that was why he had asked me the question. Thank heavens other people are as absent minded as I am. Tonight the weather man on TV reminded us twice that we were going off of Daylight savings time tonight. The only thing wrong with that is we are not going off of it until next Sat. It will be interesting to see of he retracts that instruction on tonights 10:00 news. I went into the grocery store at noon and left at 2:30. How that happened is a mystery. Maby we did go off of daylight savings time after all, but it was at noon and not at midnight.

WHAT THE.......

The other day DH really sent me for a loop and scratching my head. It was late evening and I was really thirsty. He had the kitchen blocked off so he could put away the dishes in the dishwasher and put in new ones. He used a small portable shelf thingy on wheels to move it across the entryway to keep the dog out. Don't ask I don't know why either. I handed him the dog dish, asked him where my drinking glass was(in the dishwasher) and asked him to get me some ice water. About a half hour later he came into the living room bearing the used dog dish in his hands filled with ice water. I couldn't believe my eyes! I asked why he was bringing me a drink of ice water in the dog dish for crying out loud. He says "You handed me the dog dish and asked for some ice water". By then I was so thirsty my tongue was dragging but there was no way I was going to drink ice water out of a used dog dish. I explained that I was the one who wanted the drink. I finally went through the barrier and got my own. That man really thinks in odd ways, to say the least, or I am too obtuse to realize he was implying that I was a female dog.

WHATS GOING ON HERE?

I can't figure out what is going on here. Yesterday I was expecting the heating cooling company to come and service the furnace and put the cooler to bed. Nobody showed up, or even called. I called them up when I got home,(after DH informed me that they neither called or showed up). The receptionist informed me I didn't have an appointment with them to come and service it. Now I don't know about you, but I don't just pick a date out of the air and write down on the calendar that I have a repairmen or service person coming sometime between 12:00 and 2:00 for the he!l of it. I didn't make it up for Pete's sake. Usually an appointment for a repairman type will require a day off to be home that day because they never give you a specific time. If DH wasn't home or I was a single person I would have had to take a vacation day. They scheduled a new appointment for this Sat between 10:00 and 12:00. The explanation I got today from the person calling to confirm the appointment was that they had had a temporary person at that time and that she had recorded the appointments in the book but had not put them in the computer. DUH! I wonder if she was originally hired on as a temp or if she quickly became one because of the improper recording of appointments. This is the same company that several years ago sent a service man to set up my cooler, which is on the roof, and he was in the crawl space working on the furnace instead, and when I came home I opened the door to come into the house, took one step and fell into the crawl space through the open trap door! Today I came home and called my eye doctor to see if my new contact lenses had come in. They were supposed to be in sometime last week. The desk person went to look up to see if they were there, Surprise surprise, they weren't. He said he would call the company that they were ordered from and find out if they had sent them. Well they hadn't sent them because, for some reason the fax didn't go through, so now it will be next week before they come,that is if the fax went through this time. Aaaaaargh!

I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH MONEY IF..........

I didn't have to eat, get medications, drive a car, stay warm in the house, see, walk without pain, clothe ourselves, and keep all the taxes paid!!!! I just got back from the grocery store and it cost me $168.00 and this is for 2 people. I knew I was in trouble when I had 3 items in my cart and already had $30.00 worth of groceries in my cart. I had one bottle of generic Tylenol (500 count), one bottle of contact lens solution and one package of dental floss. By the time I had added bread, butter, milk, juice, pop, one pkg of meat. several pkg of frozen veggies, ten TV dinners ($1.00 each) ,laundry stuff, dish washing stuff,windshield washer fluid, a little bit of candy and cakes, 4 potatoes, some canned veggies, some cheese and a few misc things there I was, well at the above mentioned amount. I have car registration taxes in Nov (I hope no repairs to go with that), property taxes, I still owe around $900 for my tooth bridge repair, I am getting a new pair of contact lenses and glasses, Molly (the dog) needs her teeth cleaned and a medical test to see if she has a certain medical condition, I haven't paid for Rays oxygen service yet this year, and the list goes on. It is a constant struggle (nightmare). We never go out, hardly buy new duds or shoes. Maybe, once in a Blue Moon we go to McDonald's or Mimi's, to eat . Thats the extent of our entertainment. As you can tell I am just a wee bit frustrated. I have been really tired this week, I am going into hibernation mode, So everything is twice as hard to cope with, especially getting up in the morning. Well I sure hope we see that baby soon. hope all goes well with everyone.