YAY!!! WE.GOT.SNOW!!!!!

Holy cow, we got another decent snowstorm. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was back in New York again. The area averages 8" of snowfall in a winter season. As of December's snowfall, we'd already TRIPLED that. We got another 15-18 inches here (some people got more like 20,25, 30 and 35 inches in this storm). Another like this and we might catch up to my NYBro (who told me the other day that they've had a mere 70" this year). I've got the pix in my Flickr account for those that really want to see more, but I'm going to stick a few in the entry that haven't been posted to that account (nor Facebook) yet.

Yes, the snowbunny is very very happy. I spent a good amount of time mid-week til Friday hoping for a good dumping and doing a virtual snowdance in Facebook (by the way, I think I've finally convinced the 1000+ acquaintences over there that I'm sufficiently certifiable). One of my nearest and dearest (who actually lives in state and is in an easy driving distance.... well easy drive sans snow.. from me) has threatened to cut my limbs off. I think she's tired of the snow already.

Anyhow, hubby and I went out to start bailing the truck out so it can be used around midweek (not that we really NEED to shop but a few essentials will need picking up around Wedndesday or so). Everyone in the cul de sac was out shoveling the sidewalks and generally pitching in to get the vehicular transports dug out. It was a very nice feeling....until I noticed some that live at the halfway mark of the cul de sac not shoveling the snow into the yards but dumping it in the middle of the parkinglot! Great, those that live closest to the street ~might~ manage to get out in the next day or so, but thanks to these idiots (who I must guess are assuming the plow will be back to do our lot by Monday *inserts eyeroll*) I doubt anyone living in the dead end part of our area (like us and the cabbies who live 2 doors down and the guy across the sidewalk who owns his own business) will get out much before mid-week. I guess it could be worse. The dude parked 2 spots to our left (in the last spot of the lot) won't be getting out much before July because the plowed snow ends up piled right in front of that particular spot (any farther would put all the snow right on the sidewalk and that pile...well it's a good 6 foot tall...no one's gonna wanna shovel that... plus I'm sure the home association frowns on it, not to mention it's dangerous for the people living in the area). Thanks to the plow I doubt we're going to have any mail pick up until much before July either....

Katy.... sitting near the patio door. Doesn't look like alot of snow, but trust me...she's in the shallow end of the yard! Man, she's really gotta lose weight... but that's fodder for another post.

The snow was so bad that it's wrecked the treeline in the back. There's damage like that all the way the length of the fence. Every time I looked out, another 2-3 trees were down. That one in the center? I HEARD that one go down. There was a loud pop and then next thing we knew *crash*. If it had been another 2-3 feet taller or so, it would have landed on our fence. Not that really would bother me as it's the landlord's responsibility to fix stuff like that. But still, I'd rather they didn't have to do too many repairs while we're here.

Thank goodness I did the laundry before the storm rolled in. That's the door to the shed where the dryer is. I think I'll have to get that bailed out tomorrow, just in case.

PS.... the banner? Yeah that's me...starting to make a snowangel ~smiles~

PSS... not to say that I'm an awesome snowdancer but they're saying we are going to get a bit more snow on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday as well! Iggy, you might wanna bundle up...

I'm truly and absolutely spoiled

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it a couple times before. In case I haven't, I'll say it again.


I am sooooo incredibly spoiled.


I have some of the best buddies in the world. Considering I have friends in at least 4 countries, I don't feel that's too much of an exaggeration. It's not, is it? Well anyhow, in the days leading up to "F-Day" we started with a kick-ass party over at iggy's blog, where a rowdy time was had by all... especially by a certain stoned OCHA, who will remain nameless in my blog, that professed that what she was smoking was for "medical purposes only". Well, at that was her story and she's still sticking to it.

Then on Saturday an envelope showed up from iggy with not one, but 2 cards in it. The post-it note enclosed said that he couldn't decide which one to send so I was getting a two-fer. I have to laugh because apparently I did a very good job of hiding my "natal day". One of the cards got signed with a smiley face sticking its tongue out in a :P~~ fashion. Must be because I wouldn't give up my birthdate. So? I'm just a little sensitive about my age, even if it IS only a number.


Our truck was still in the repairshop and since they close before hubby normally gets out of work, well he had to leave a bit early. He swung by the shop in the early afternoon, on his way home from work. They didn't have it done yet but they were looking at about another 30 minutes or so. YAY!

He told me how long it was going to take for the truck when he got home and I started to get ready. I can usually be ready in about 20 minutes or so depending on where we're going. He went downstairs to take the pooch out while I finished up. When I came downstairs, imagine my surprise when I see the most beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card sitting on the laptop waiting for me to notice them.

They are the most GORGEOUS shades of pink and peach. Who cares if they're artificial? They're not the cheesy fakes either, they look real from a distance. He said he figured he hadn't gotten me flowers in a very long time (and he hadn't) and that I'd like these better because they wouldn't die off in a week's time. Have I ever mentioned that he's got the most exquisite taste when it comes to stuff like this?
He gives me these gorgeous flowers so I figure that the card's gonna be one of those mushy ones that he's prone to getting. Nope. My baby knows me too damned well.

It was a beautiful day out. Not too sunny, not too cloudy and plenty of sunrays poking through the clouds.I think they look so pretty like that.

I glanced over at our neighbor's yard on our way out and saw the prettiest rose sitting right by the fence so I grabbed a snap of it. This is the adjusted version of the picture. I saturated the heck of it to get the colors to pop.
Our first stop was to the repair shop (remember it was supposed to be 30 minutes from the time he left there the first time and it took me about 20 to get ready and another 5 or so to deal with my pressy), figuring that the truck would be ready... right? Nope. They were doing a second flush on the radiator because it was so yucky and there were a couple last minute things to do. We ended up waiting 90 minutes for them to finish up. I won't grouse though because it was exceptionally busy that afternoon AND they HAD let us borrow the company truck.

That truck cost us $200+ (closer to the $250 end of that) to repair this time. *sigh* It could have been worse though, the bill actually was closer to $350 but the owner knocked $100 off the bill for us. I guess we must be good for his business...

Hubby took me to Chili's for lunch and then we popped over to Michael's to check on some craft items I'm wanting. Unfortunately, they don't have anything for Christmas out quite yet and the stretch canvases aren't in the size I'm wanting. In fact, they don't have a single square canvas. All rectangular ones with a few round and oval ones. I guess I'm gonna need to go to JoAnn's this week and check them out. I know from their web site that the fabric I'm looking for is carried there, now the question is if they have it in stock. I also noticed that they had the square canvases. They aren't in the size I'm wanting (16"x16"), but there's only a 2" difference (18"x18") and I'm hoping it won't look too bad. I think I'll just buy one and hang it on the wall next to the others to see how it looks. If it looks bad, I can always do something else with it. I've got some ideas floating around anyhow. I really hope that they have a head start on the Christmas ornaments too. Either the glass or the flat plaster ones would be nice right about now.

When we got home, we just chilled. Well...and I painted my nails

Glambert Blue!

When I got up the next day and started catching up in the blogs, I found a very nice surprise on Alice's site. Since her blog is private, I'm not going to leave a link because many of you won't be able to see her page anyhow. However, with her permission, I've done a screen cap of the entry that I saw the next day waiting for me.
Aint it pretty?

Ooooh and today? I got a wonderful handmade card in my favorite color (PURPLE) from my friend Queenie Jeannie. So considering the festivities started in iggy's blog on Tues the 28th and I got my card from Jeannie on August 5th...my birthday has lasted over a week!

thinkin of a friend, buckle up, shoppin, and somethin else

I'm trying to get myself back into the habit of writing every day or at least every other day. I'm gonna tell you, it's rough when you're not used to bloggin quite so often. However, I find that I'm finding enough mish mosh with the pictures I click from week. If that doesn't work, I'm sure there's plenty in all the different files to come up with ~something~ to post more than once a week.
This last week we were out to the allergist's office. According to any online directions sites (Mapquest, Google Maps, etc), it's supposed to be a 35 minute drive at best but we've found it usually takes 45-50 minutes due to the flippin traffic. We always arrive early though because hubby insists on leaving 2 hours early...just to be sure. Anyhow, while we were on our way to the allergist's, I saw the above sign and immediately thought of our dear friend Tori. Now if they could just create ones that say "Idiots Crossing" or "Idiots at Play", then I'd be all set. The only problem is that I suspect that such sign will need to be posted on every damn corner around here considering some of these neighbors.
When we pulled into the parking lot and headed inside the building, we came across the above bumper sticker. It was the funniest one of the 7-10 stickers on the car. Considering the number of OCHA and OSBAs around here, I think this is a very good warning to have! There's some really great alien type stickers on Zazzle's website. Several versions of the above sticker and many many others like this one (nf/d warning). Oh look, it says you can create your own. Anyone willing to bet that iggy will be on that site to make a professional version of this sticker? Maybe I better see if I still have a copy of that one and redo it for the next election. Whatcha think?

On our way home Friday, the truck decided to overheat. When hubby popped the hood, even this vehicularly stupid gal could see that there was plenty of fluid in the thingy where the coolant is supposed to go. *UGH* it means the thermometer ~finally~ gave out on us. So we let the truck cool as we were off shopping and then drove straight home. Mind you, it's less than 2 miles where we were to home. In that short time, the truck overheated again. *shakes head* Hubby decided to let it cool overnight and then bring it in to the repair shop. I don't wanna hear it, really. I DID tell him to take it right in and that way it could cool overnight and they'd be able to get to it right away. Did we do that? NO. *sigh* He woke up about 7am and took it in as soon as he knew they were open. Thankfully they are just around the corner so the truck didn't have time to even get luke-warm.

Around noon-ish, we decided to walk on over to the Buffet place for lunch. After lunch, he decided to walk over to the repair shop to check on the truck and told me he'd meet me in McKays afterwards. On my way over to McKay's I saw this awesome cloud formation.

While hubby was headed to check on the truck, I decided to pop into the Payless next door to see if there were any specials. My sneakers are looking rather beat and since I have to wear them every day to ride my bike, they don't exactly have a decent amount of time to air out. I was hoping for a nice cheap pair to wear on the alternate days. I ended up spending a bit over $20 for a nice comfy pair. They were originally $24.99 and they were on sale for $19.99 which is a decent deal. Seems the feet shrank by about half a size. The last pair I bought I needed a size 9 to get a pair that was wide enough for my feet. This pair is only an 8.5. I really hate my wide feet. Mom always called them Fred Flintstone feet because they were short, wide but they got me to where I needed to be. The suckers are only a 7.5 when you measure toe to heel, but wide enough to need the next full size up in a wide to get the width where it needs to be for comfort.
Well the truck wasn't done yet, unfortunately they had alot of appointments that afternoon and of course those take priority. *grumbles* Hubby and I met up in McKays and went home shortly after.

When 2-3pm showed up, with no call, hubby got antsy and went over to see if they were done. Why he didn't call, I don't know. Near's I can figure he just needed to get out of the house. Not that I blame him any. He called me before leaving to come home, it wasn't done yet but they were just bringing it in to have a look see. Oh dear. I saw it coming. He was told that they'd call before quittin time (5pm) to let him know if they had it done or not. By 430pm, hubby needed to get out again and decided that we'll both walk over and check. Anyone who's thinking that it wasn't done give yaselves a nice gold star. Now before anyone spouts off on the hubby (which it would be deserved for delaying) OR on the mechanics, you need to know that the truck is an '88. It's old and has served us very well. Plus the part needing repair is an ORIGINAL part. That said... it wasn't finished because a bolt was giving them a hassle. It's one of those things you need to take it easy removing because too much pressure will break the bolt and THEN you're really screwed (literally and KY aint provided). So they were gonna need to soak it down with something and let it set for a few hours to see if it can be removed easier. Yeah. Quitting time on a SATURDAY and the truck's not done. They're not open on Sundays and hubby needs to get to be able to get to work on Sunday. *sigh* Ya know what though. The head mechanic really surprised us. He handed over the keys to the company vehicle and is allowing us to use it until the truck gets fixed. With any luck it'll be done Monday afternoon or evening sometime because I really hate riding in a rolling billboard.



Below is a shot of the 2 new colors. I did, indeed, buy an Adam Lambert blue...which is the next color I plan on wearing. I really love the shade I have on right now though!

there will be a second post much later tonight....sometime between 11pm and midnight.

timing, Avon calling, ACK and a Partridge Family sighting

About a month ago or so, I'd bought myself a new purse. The one I had was simply a skoosh too small for my needs and falling apart at the strap. I bought a great one on clearance for less than $10. It's a gorgeous black and animal print totally me type bag. The bag's a bit bigger than I really absolutely need , but I love it nonetheless. Unfortunately, with extra space means I tend to say "oh I got room for this too!" and the bag gets heavier which isn't good for your back or shoulders. It isn't so good for the strap on the purse either. Last week that stud there, holding the strap together, decided to pop and my purse fell. Thank GOODNESS my camera wasn't in there. The strap chose to break just after I'd removed the camera to get shots of the clouds. I was really pissed because I'd had it just long enough that I'd thrown away the receipt for it. Hubby suggested using superglue to fix it. I told him that if superglue was involved, then maybe he should fix the purse for me for, you see, superglue and I have this love/hate thingy going. It hates to stick anywhere I want it, but it LOVES to stick on me. Anyhow... hubby fixed the one strap and reinforced the other just in case. Now if I could get him to find my leopard print sunglasses that I wanted him to repair.
Is it me, or are other people beginning to feel like they're at the DMV or deli when they're at the dr's offices or labs these days? The old clinic had the "Now serving" sign for their lab too but it wasn't until we got to the new clinic that I began to feel like I was at a McDonald's. Maybe it's their choice of a doorbell to signal that the numbers have changed that make me feel like that? I sure know it's the reason why everytime I hear it I say "Avon calling". Anyhow, who are they kidding? This sign just doesn't make sense at a lab for they certainly aren't serving us anything. If anything they're TAKING something so shouldn't the sign reflect this fact? I'm just sayin. Please excuse the above photo. The lighting simply was NOT cooperating at all. It was kinda like trying to take a picture of a screen shot with your digital camera. The picture rolls somewhat and of course it doesn't turn out half as good as you'd hope.
So a couple weeks back or so, hubby comes in and wants to use one of the cameras and I ask him what was up. He said we had a possum in the backyard so I sent him off with the Samsung to get some shots. When he was done grabbing the shots (the above is one of several), he came up and handed me the camera. He told me that the possum looked sleepy at first until he moved closer at which point it looked up at him but didn't make a move. So I flicked on the camera and the above shot is one of many that he'd just clicked. I absolutely freaked and told him to haul his ass down the stairs , grab a shovel and give it a happy dispatch and Like.Right.Fkn.NOW! That ~thing~ has NO damned business in my yard...period. I kept fussing until he went down and flipped the critter over the fence. He came back upstairs and asked why he just did that and I told him...it's a RAT hunny...we don't need something like that out there. The ciggie butt in the picture was set down to give an idea of the scale. The butt's about a half inch long. Yeah. That's what I said too because I don't believe nutria wander quite this far north!


These last 2 pix are actually off two different vehicles. When I saw the stickers on the windows in each...all I could think is "God help 'em". Oh don't tell me that you wouldn't have had the same reaction! The last one was the best of the two though. Not only did they have the requisite stickperson family stretching across the back window (and most of them were people and not pets), but they'd painted their 15 passanger van ala Partridge Family style! Great to know they don't mind pokin fun at themselves... and to be hangin at a Chuck E Cheese to boot.

so a couple things didnt get done

Calories burned: 377.2
trip miles: 10.77
ave mph: 21.54

So his testing didnt get done today. I thought it was just a pop into the lab deal and it wasnt, he has to actually call for an appointment in another building. Lord knows if he'll actually do it.

Didnt get the oil changed today either because the wait to have it done was 3.5 hours....

DID manage to get to McKays Used Books and load up on Christmas music for next year. There's one more I ~think~ I saw there that I may go back for in the next day or so. I got a dvd while there too. Bought the movie Mr Deeds. Now generally I cant stand Adam Sandler, but Im discovering Im liking most (not all) of his movies....go figure.

Oh and while we were out, I saw a pretty angel in the window of the Tuesday Morning shop. On our way back to the truck, I popped in to see how much it was. When I picked it up, I noticed how heavy of a piece it is and when I flipped it over for the price tag I saw it was musical too! It's about 10" tall or so and only cost $19.99 (quality of item is in the $30 range EASILY). She's playing a flute and has music notes all over her wings.

I posted another comic in the Home page for those eating modification people in blogland and changed the decor around in here. Im considering a format change on the page as Im likin the look of the 3 column pages but I know me....just means more space to junk up. That's the last thing I want.

gray days and a sick truck

We had another gray day today...or at least what I saw of it. That's the one thing I miss about putting myself on the nighttime shift with hubby, the daylight. At this time of day, even if I WANTED to go out and do some walking, I don't dare. From front stoop to the mailbox or trash pickup location, that's fine....but elsewhere in the neighborhood, I don't think so. I could always put myself back on the day shift, but then I'd see hubby even less than I do now and I wouldn't be able to do any of the household cleaning until he was awake... ah well.

Like I was saying, we've had some really gray days here lately and some rain. Last night there was a storm that was strong enough to make me want to turn the computer off. It didn't last too long though. The weather channel had a tornado alert go up but it was for points east of us. It must have been strengthening as it went over us. The rain's been somewhat welcome though because it washes a good amount of the pollen from the air.

The truck broke down a couple weeks ago (the week of the 14th). It had been acting up a bit on Saturday and Sunday, not wanting to start right up which is pretty odd. On Monday (15th), when hubby left to go to a class at work, it refused to start. There was enough juice going through as the lights came on and the radio fired up. Hmm. So he grabbed the trickle charger to get it charged up some. It ran fine after that although it was a bit weak on the start-up coming home. On Tuesday (16th), I had a Dr's appointment and when we went out to the truck....you guessed it, it wouldn't start. The radio and lights came on fine again though. At this point, I was remembering my mom's old Impala. It had been bought off a travelling salesman friend of my dad's . The dude would travel 100+ miles a day with it making sales calls. Well it, too, had run fine for a while and then all of a sudden stopped wanting to work. The problem was that my mom, didn't drive 100+ miles a day in it...she was lucky if she put about 10-20 on it daily and maybe an extra 20 a week when she was working in the community theatre. That car simply wasn't being run like it was used to and as a result, things stopped working correctly. I figured, we were having the same problem , simply because we run it only half the time than we used to. We're only 2 miles from work so the truck doesn't even much get warmed up and the Dr's office is about 5 miles from here or less. Since we have to go to the Dr's on Tuesday, we simply do all our running then so Sunday and most Mondays the truck simply sits. So that Tuesday, we had to hook the charger up again and hubby decided that maybe a new battery was in order. It was only 4-5 years old anyhow.

Hubby dropped me off at the Dr's office and went to Pep Boys for a new battery. I guess from what he said, he opted to have someone else install it because when he tried to do it himself, he dropped the wrench inside the truck. He took it as a bad sign that he had to go in to buy a tool to reach the wrench so figured a few extra dollars for installation wasn't so bad. On Wednesday (17th), he went to go to work. The truck started...barely. So he had me place a few calls and get prices for an electrical test for the truck to find out what was going on. He was suspecting a short somewhere was draining things. We shot emails back and forth trying to decide what to do about it. He decided that if it couldn't be repaired at a reasonable dollar amount (gotta remember, this is an '88 Ford F150 Lariat and has scads of miles on it), that he'd have to either fix the Torino (ka-chingville I'm sure as she has a leak somewhere and other problems) OR buy someone else's problem (aka a used car). He saw several on a for sale page at his work and *IF* it came to that, at least he'd know the person he was buying from. While he was checking the ads out, he sent me a few leads on repair shops.

My last call was the most productive of the bunch and I ended up telling hubby that he needed to go with this company. Why? Well, the person I was talking to on the phone was the owner of the company. When I asked her for the price of an electronics diagnosis and described what hubby said was happening, she gave me a word of advice and suggested I should be asking for the pricing for something else ...which was much much cheaper than the figures I was getting. She told me why I needed to ask for that and told me what she thought it could be. She took the time to explain things in a way that a technically challenged person would understand. The fact that she put the potential customer FIRST above the "all mighty dollar", well that says alot to me about how the person conducts business. That's the type of person I prefer to keep bringing my work to.

On Thursday (18th), he went to work and as soon as the repair shop opened, drove over. His boss followed him so he'd have a way back to work. The repair shop was supposed to call me later but they never did, so hubby went over the check on the car. The test (the cheap one the owner told me about) was inconclusive and they ended up needing to run another test on it but since it was late in their day, it would have to wait until Friday. Friday they ran the other test and were pretty sure what the problem was. They ordered the part and said they wanted to keep the truck over the weekend to double check their suspicions (they had to wait on the part anyhow). On Monday, they tried to start the truck and of course it was dead as a doornail. Turns out that the alternator was a busy little part. Not only was it charging up the battery as it should, but it was working hard overnight and draining the power right back out. It was Monday afternoon before they could install the part and then they kept it one more night to make sure there wasn't any more draining of the battery. On Tuesday, hubby dropped me off at the Dr's and went to pick up the truck. Damn thing cost us ~$700 and that's NOT including the rental car.... It's running fine now though, that's all that matters.