~A Bitter Swallow~

Today I had an extra long time frame for lunch, as our morning meeting at work ended much earlier than normal. Dustin and I decided to go to the buffet here in town(well, I decided.. he just agreed to go along). I usually go there when I have long lunches, because I feel more inclined to linger there. Usually with a good book; this time with good company.

Well, it so happened that the power went out while we were finishing up. So, of course, they could not run my debit card. They also do not take checks. Since the entire block was out, there was no readily available ATM. The restaurant wanted me to hand over my debit card number. Had I been in a clearer state of mind, I would have just told the library I would be late, and sent Dustin on an ATM hunt. As it stood though, I reluctantly gave her my card information. She seemed rather flustered that I was hesitant to just hand over my account information.

It just so happens that I am a paranoid person. A contradiction, considering I am usually such a trusting person- to a fault sometimes. Keep in mind though, if you read my previous post, I just did my taxes and am expecting my return. That return is scheduled to be deposited into THAT account. Not to mention it is where my paycheck is deposited. I am constantly hearing about people stealing card numbers and going on spending spree, and with the down-turn in the economy, people are becoming more desperate.

It is not the company or even it's employees that I am concerned about. It's all of the customers that were inside. It's that thought that one of those customers could have been watching that young gal writing all those people's card information on that one reciept booklet. The one that watches when she sets it down, and casually walks up and walks out with it under his arm.

Paranoid? More than likely. But I still had Dustin go home and transfer everything out of that account and into my other one, with the exception of just enough to cover the tab at the restaurant. I figure I should also contact the bank and let them know. Maybe have them stop any other transaction with the card (excpet for the buffet's check) until further notice. Sometimes I think I worry too much. Maybe that's true. But I also am counting on that money for very specific things, and the last thing I need is to lose it to some person who decided to be decietful.

I just got done filing my taxes for this year. Finally. I kept putting it off, and putting it off, thinking it was going to be this huge, daunting task. I saw a commercial for free e-filing at TurboTax.com so decided to check it out. Even with the phone call I had to make to the IRS people to get my AGI and PIN from last year (the gal I spoke to was extremely nice, btw), I still got my taxes filed in about 30 minutes. Being interrupted by the demands of kids going to bed is included in that time. It was super easy, and now I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner. I sound like a damned commercial, but I'm just so freakin' exuberant!

I'm getting a nice sized return this year, and if the Student Loan people don't take it, then I plan on getting my car paid off. That is a weekly burden that I would LOVE to lift from our shoulders. It will be replaced with my kids getting their dental work they need started, which will be awesome. I won't mind paying that bill. Plus, it will be once a month, and their dad will help me with it, so it's not irritating like this stupid car payment is.

And maybe I can actually go rent that damn machinery to rip up the front yard. Or maybe I'll just say screw it and leave it for now. I can focus on furniture. Or put it away for a rainy day. Maybe get a nice vacation fund started for next year. My daughter and I were just talking today about how she wants to go to California. I guess she's seen enough of Oregon now. Now she has to keep going. South of course, because she's a little devil. Or she just likes the warmth, like her mommy.

So with this added to it, this has been a fantabulously productive couple of days! I still haven't gotten that darned closet cleaned out, but that can wait for a rainy day. The sunshine has just got me in too good of a mood to cram myself in that dank, dark place!

Today my plans were to get out and finish digging that second garden bed. I started my morning (after getting back from dropping the kids at school) by going and doing my starts. I re-started my zucchini, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, chives, and more I cannot remember off-hand. Then I took the crib side I found on the side of the road and started to spray paint it a bright, sunny yellow. I am going to use the parts of the crib as trellises for my peas, beans and cucumbers. I got the second bed all dug up. I cleaned up the porch and the carport. The house is vacuumed, and the laundry finished (with the exception of the load that is still drying). All of this accomplished by noon! I'm feeling rather good right now.

The sun is bright and warm. The air smells sweet and fresh. The music is loud and motivating. I ate some pot stickers with sesame oil and a glass of water or two. I am feeling very happy and alive. I cannot wait until every day is this nice outside! It really puts my spirits high.

I realized today that one or both of the dogs decided to eat my raspberry start. Grrr. That is alright though, because I am pretty sure it was already dead anyway. Now I will be more motivated to go get another. My rosemary is not looking very well, and I think where I put it is too shaded. More so than I thought it would be. I'm concerned whether or not it will survive another transplant. They are hardy creatures though, so I'm hopeful. I plan to buy some more to add around it anyway.

Now I need to get ready for my hefty walk. Hefty for me. I plan to walk down to the kids' school to pick them up. We all decided they would like to walk home from school today, since it is so beautiful out. Which means I first have to walk down there. It is about 2 miles, maybe a little more, one way. Too bad there is no sidewalk, else I'd love to take the pups!

So this past week was our Spring Break here. Dustin's mom came up from Arizona, so we got to play tourists in Seattle. She got in last Saturday, and since she got in late, the kids and I were already in bed when she got to the house.

We woke up extra early (for us), and drove the 3 hours down to Portland. There, I got to meet Dustin's cousins. One was back from college in California, and the other was on leave from the military. Super nice people! I had a great time. We had planned on meeting them at the Spaghetti Factory at 11:00am. We got into town just before that, and in time to discover that the restaurant didn't open until noon! So we gave his uncle a call, and told them the news. Meanwhile, we had meandered a bit, enjoying a break of sunshine. I was desperate for some coffee, and we found the most fantastic little coffee shop nearby. Vaulted ceilings with Roman architecture, and even a mural on the ceiling! His family met us there, and then we walked back over to the restaurant for lunch. College cousin had a 1:30pm plane to catch back to California to resume classes, so her and Uncle left, and the rest of us went back to their house to hang out. Plenty of conversation and laughs. We may have even convinced Military cousin to convert to Everquest 2 when he comes back! Then we made the drive home, since I had to work the next morning.

Monday we hung out around the house, and caught up with Dustin's mom. I had to work that morning, but only until noon, so that was nice. We did a little bit of shopping, his mom and my daughter did some scrapbooking, and that's about it.

Tuesday we went to the Point Defiance Zoo. We got yearly passes again, so we can go throughout the year. It was a bit chilly out, but still a good time. We weren't able to see the tiger though, since he refused to come out of the trees. But we got to go behind the scenes of their woodland talk area. That was fun. We got to feed grubs to an anteater. You wouldn't guess how soft their mouth is! The kids spent some of their money in the gift shop there.

Wednesday was another day of rest and shopping. I believe that is the day it snowed. Yuck!

Thursday we went over to Seattle to the Pacific Science Center. Since it was my brother's girlfriend's birthday, we also took them, along with her daughter and niece. It was a lot of fun. But horribly crowded! I've never seen it so crowded down there! They were having their Spring Fling, so they had all kinds of activities going on. Not to mention it was Spring Break, so the place was overflowing with kids and parents. I think the Butterfly exhibit is my favorite there. We took in an Imax show. It was my first, and the kids' first. It was awesome. We got year long passes there too. Definatly plan on going back soon- if only for photo ops of the butterflies!

Friday was more shopping. My daughter still had money left over from her birthday last month, so we took her to go spend it. We also went out to breakfast, which is always nice.

Saturday was sad, as Dustin's mom had to leave, and it was back to work for me. Of course, the sun was out in all It's glory, shining magnificently. It made it hard to work! Same story today- well, minus his mom leaving, since she's already home.

I work a few hours tomorrow, but then have the rest of the day off. The next few days are suppose to be beautiful, last I listened to the news. That was this morning though, so it could have changed. This is Washington. But I plan to spend the next few days out in my garden finishing up the beds, and getting stuff started and planted. I am excited to get it going.

I also want to rip up all of the dead and overgrown brush in front of the house. That is where I'd like to put in the flower garden. It is a overwhelmingly daunting task though. I will need to either rent some heavy duty machinery, or hire someone to come out and do it for me. Either way, it's going to cost money that I don't have at the moment. Oh well, time to pinch some pennies and make them multiply!

We got a new puppy on Friday! We adopted her from the Humane Society.

We had gone into PetSmart to get some things for the mouse. Whenever we go in there, we seem to immediately head to the left, which is not only where the fish are kept, but where the little room the Humane Society uses to show off their pets they have for adoption is. As we walked past it, I saw what looked like a German Shepherd. It was me who stopped and went in first to see her.

She is a German Shepherd / Akita mix. She is roughly between 7 and 10 months old. We don't think her previous owners showed her much attention, or gave her much love. She seems starved for both, but is so incredibly timid. She knows what a crate is, although she uses the laundry room here, since it is a perfect size. She is for the most part potty trained, but has had a couple accidents since being here.

She seems to equate coming inside with getting into trouble. So we have a difficult time getting her to come to us when we are trying to bring her back inside. It's frustrating, because we don't know how to go about it. We don't want to do anything to reinforce her ideas of coming inside equalling punishment, but we don't want to continue to let her get away with not listening either. Especially for getting her to come to us. She's started noticing the fence, and has shown interest in figuring out how to jump it. Luckily, we have caught her before she got over so far.

We've decided to put a runner out front, and attach her to it when she goes out. That way, she is tied up, but still has freedom to run. We'll just have to make sure she isn't able to jump the fence and really hurt herself while on it.

My daughter came up with the name Samantha. I'm not sure where she got it from, but it's cute, and we all agreed that we like it. So that is now her name. It only took us four days to get her one. Albeit, the kids were spending the weekend with their father, so were not here to come up with one, and I really wanted them to be a part of the naming process.

So far, Sam is fitting in quite well here.


On another note, today our kitty came back! He's been gone for probably a month now. I had just mentioned today that I planned on putting away the kitty litter box and his food dishes, etc. I had finally given up hope. It's as if he heard me and decided that wasn't okay! When Dustin went to leave for the grocery store, there was Boo, on the porch waiting. He's in good condition- not matted or anything. I don't think he was taken indoors somewhere necessarily, but he was fed. He seems to have been getting some kind of attention. His fur is still clean and soft, and he is still as lovable as ever!

And he still hates the dog. Make that plural, now!

There's nothing like rearranging your house to give you a sense of fresh accomplishment. It has its little way of giving you the feeling that you've done something to better your lifestyle.

Today, we did a few arrangements. We swapped out coffee tables. We had a regular, table with legs in the living room which Dustin uses as a desk for his two monitors. We switched it out with the other one we had in the game room , which had a bunch of storage underneath, not to mention gives more tabletop space. Now, all of the random stuff that accumulates around that area can be neatly stored underneath and out of sight.

We also gave the kids' desk area some more storage. We had one of those tall, skinnyish plastic drawer units in the kitchen, and it really wasn't being used as I had hoped. (My fault, since we decided to go ahead with putting in shelves instead.) So I pulled it out and placed it next to the kids' desk. Now, they have a drawer for their pens, pencils, and scholastic materials (think compass, calculator, etc). They have a drawer for their play dough. One for their scholastic workbooks. One for paper. And they each have a drawer of their own for any of their randomness that hangs around there (mainly, my son's Lego stuff, and my daughter's books and trinkets).

Then for my desk. I took off a small shelf that had wasted, unused space below it, that my monitor sat on. Then I moved the shelves over to the wall side of my desk, and my monitor so that it sits directly in front of me. This way, I don't have to turn my head to look at my monitor. It's much nicer on my neck in the long run. Plus, now my desk is all dusted, rearranged, and sharper looking, I think.

I feel accomplished now. I have a flank of corned beef thawed in the kitchen that I am about to go throw into my new crock pot for dinner. I need to go check out whether or not my Wii will play dvds, and if not, see about hooking up the old dvd player to it (I really need something new to work out to. The Wii Fit is just boring now, so that I don't have motivation to go do it). Then, after finishing up with the laundry, I will be nice and content with my day's work. I might even go try and mess around in the garden if the weather holds up some more. Gods and Goddesses alike all know that I could use the Sunshine!

There is suppose to be a big windstorm tonight. At least that is the rumor going around the library today. Outside the wind violently whispers its verification. As I sat in the break room reading, the walls and ceiling creaked and the door rattled around me. It was as though something had awoken within them- something formed of dust and old leaves, maybe even forgotten books, their pages crinkled and yellowed- all forming together in some semblance of life; waking and moving through the walls, shaking the windows and doors in an attempt to escape. Outside of this room there is nothing by which to gauge the breezes, which makes the scene even more eerie.



I have emailed Dustin and asked him to fill up some old gallon jugs with water, just in case the power goes out. Being on a well, if we lose power, not only do we lose our hot water, but we lose all water. Including drinking, bathing, and potty. I can live with the first two, but having the toilets backed up is debilitating. Not that I think we would be out for that long, but I learned my lesson a couple years back, when we had a big wind storm, and lost power for about two weeks. We were on a well then, too. I will leave it to your imagination to think of how that turned out. I can assure you, it was worse.

I woke this morning to snow. Well, that's not true. I woke this morning to the phone ringing. The only person(s) who would call at that time on a weekend morning was the library. I was befuddled though, as to what they would be calling about. With me covering my co worker's Sunday shifts, I am the first person in on Sundays, so they couldn't be calling me in to come in early. I figured maybe they needed me to bring something, or whatever. I bumbled out of bed, and went to check the message I knew would be waiting on the voice mail.

My living room's blinds are usually always closed, and they were so this morning. I checked the caller ID, and was not surprised to see my boss's number on there. I checked the message, and while doing so, strolled into the game room, whose blinds are up. I was shocked to see inches upon inches of SNOW in my front (back) yard! She was calling to let me know it was supposed to turn to rain, and to make it in whenever I could.

Snow. Darn blarney. I'm so sick of that cold white stuff. It's beautiful, but I want to plant my starts. Yes, the ones I've pretty much killed by leaving out overnight. That is a different story that makes me want to cry, so I haven't posted about it yet. I might get around to it, I might not.

I don't feel well today. My lunch idea was a bad one. I went to China Sun, but my taste buds just weren't into it. Oh well. better food than i would have eaten at McD's. And about the same cost. I had to leave early though, because the bustle of people was bothering me. The light and sound is not meshing well with my brain today. I paid for my measly lunch, and went back out to my car. In the parking lot at the library, I sat for awhile and continued to read my book, until all the coffee and water I had drank this morning was no longer willing to wait. Then I sat in the break room, in the chair next to the window, with the nice cool breeze, and the comfort of the sun rays hugging me. I read some more, until time to work.

Now here I am. Working.

I'm so tired. So tired lately. But I sleep. And I dream. I wonder if it's the dreams that are the culprit of my sleepiness. I dream, but they are busy, restless dreams, and I think I wake frequently during them. My eyes are heavy and leaded. It takes all my efforts to keep them open. I am looking forward to tomorrow's workday end, whereupon I can go home and just sleep. Sleep until I am not tired anymore.

Maybe I'm still sick. Those sick bugs are clawing their way through; refusing to die completely off.

Or maybe it's all the caffiene.

I feel like such a whiner. Part of me doesn't care. If I can't whine here, where can I?