IT'S COME AND GONE

Well, it (CHRISTmas) is finally over for another year. I am relieved and bored and perplexed and just a bit worried. Thank you Pi-day Dave for the crock pot and the electric sweeper. They are both really cool and I really like both of them. I am excited to try them both. I bought myself two books "An Inconvenient Book" by Glen Beck and "The Forgotten Man". I think it will be awhile before I finish them. Did any of the rest of you get the third installment of Moms book of family pictures? I talked to her on the phone on Christmas and she was worried that no one got them. I told her that I got mine, but she wonders if anyone else did. so if you have received yours in the mail or otherwise gotten it, will you please let her know. I love those books, I just wish that I and DH had more photos for her to use. I feel kind of like the left out or lost sheep, I have no children and nothing of note to show for my life. It is a really lonely feeling. When I'm gone who will even notice? When I am old and decrepit who will take care of me, or will I just be put in a home to molder my remaining years away? It is a unsettling thought. All I do is work and then come home and take care of Raymond and the pets. Work, feed people and others, do what little chores I have energy for, sleep or rather TRY to sleep) and start over again the next day. Oh I forgot I also try to pay everything , at least a little of it, every paycheck. I got up today at 5:30 A.M. to get ready for work. I sat down in my chair in the living room with my toast and Dr Pepper, no caffeine in it, set my breakfast on the table, bowed my head to say a blessing. Next thing I know it is 9:00 A.M. Whaaat? So much for getting to work at 7:00! I called in and said I wasn't coming in today. We have been super busy before Christmas and even have been getting overtime. Now we don't have anything to do. Yesterday K and I cleaned out the lockers(Fridges) and did dishes, We both left at noon. Today we had a little more to do inasmuch as we had to make 2# of honey butter. Like that will take 2 people 8 hours to do. We can use vacation hours if we want to, because we only need to come in when needed and we can leave when done. I am not going in tomorrow either. I am worried about my job status however because I have no Vacation time left at the moment, so I will not get any pay for the days I don't come in or for the hours that I do not work. I will get holiday pay however. But there is not enough work for eight hours a day. I don't think anyone is coming in tomorrow. I am a worry wart, so I think I will get the reputation as a lazy person that has no work ethic and thus be fired for not working my full 8 hours a day during these slow days until January 2nd. This is far from the truth, but I am not as willing to work myself to exhaustion as I once was, it has never gotten me anywhere but sick. It is a pain to live my life as a drudge without any acknowledgment of my slaving away or any advancement or rarely even any compliments.
I really have a sleep problem, today after the falling asleep fiasco at breakfast I still slept until around 12:00 noon. I then revived enough to get dressed and take out the garbage and retrieve the newspaper and mail. I then fried us up a steak (not a very tender one) and zapped a couple of potatoes. I really didn't get energy until about 5:00 or 6:00 P.M. This is not an uncommon sleep pattern for me. I am now wide awake an energized. but it is after midnight. Why does this happen? Something must be wrong with me. I have always been a night owl but it is getting worse. I like to be awake late at night, but I have no desire to be anywhere but in the house at this time of night,. A night owl, but not a party person. sigh! I am sorry that this missive may be a little (or even a lot gloomy Gusish, but I do not have anyone else to talk to so unfortunately you poor folks get the fallout. I hope I can be a little more cheerful next time.

GROCERIES

Went shopping today, total amount spent. $225.00. Ouch!

CHRISTMAS RUSH ET EL

Boy oh boy, are we busy at work. I am so happy that I only have to work in salads, and not hot foods. We have been getting huge orders for ham dinners with funeral potatoes and veggies, turkey dinners with dressing etc, chicken dinners with potatoes and gravy and veggies, chicken cordon bleu with rice , and massive amounts of baked potatoes like 13 50# cases of baked potatoes in 1 day. Thank heavens I and the other salad area people only have to do things like 9 Mexican pizzas (7 layer bean dip) put on large 16"round plastic trays. 20 fruit trays or more, same amount of veggie trays, relish trays, fruit kabobs, acini de pepe salads, deli pasta salads, various dips such as shrimp,crab, or onion dips and th most tedious of them all ham or turkey salad filled cream puffs. We don't make the puffs, we just have to cut them all in half and fill each one with ham or turkey salad. These take forever. Next Thurs we have an order for 84doz of the beasties and that is half of the size of the original order. This is for one order only and we had four pages of other orders for that same day when I left work Fri. They can add on to those orders until Wed evening. HELP! Also this last week I have had the annual car inspection, registration, thing to deal with. Last week I took said car in to get the emissions and safety checks done. Well just as I left to go to the car check place, snow decided to come down in buckets full so I waited in the waiting room with several "Field and Stream" or Race car magazines to read whilst I waited for the car to be examined. Now I don't know about you, but those magazines are not exactly my cup of tea. I had brought with me a circle it puzzle mag to entertain myself. I waited for at least an hour, only to find that I failed the safety test because my brake lights and turn signal lights were not working. now I know that cars in Utah do not come with turn signals, but mine did and I used them all of the time. I had to get them fixed, which I did on Tues. Then I went to the inspector place to have a new certificate made up stating that the car had been repaired and was now acceptable. I waited an hour during my so called lunch hour) to get the new certificate. The computer server crashed and they couldn't get my new certificate printed. There went my "lunch" hour. Yesterday I finally got back to afore mentioned inspection station to get everything squared away. That is the exact time that it decided to snow. It was a record of 2.5 inches of snow in one hour. The exact hour that brilliant me decided to take the car in. I had planned on going grocery shopping after car was a squared away. It didn't happen, instead I drove home. About 5 min after I got home the snow stopped! I haven't gone grocery shopping in over two weeks so it looks like I will have to go Mon evening after work! I did do 4 batches of laundry Sat besides, unfortunately I did not get the floor swept or mopped. Last Sun the young men brought the sacrament to Ray and the Elder that brought it said "Oh it looks like you have been cleaning". I said " no I need to do some cleaning." I think it looked like I had cleaned because DH had put the dishes in the dishwasher( this is an all day job for him) so that is why the house maybe looked a little better than usual. I was a bit embarrassed, but also a little amused at the poor man (he looks 18, but is a least a returned missionary and one of the many college students couples in the ward) not very tactful. Oh well I do the best I can and I have not poisoned anybody yet. This week will probably be equally exciting.

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.