Good Morning. I am sorry you guys were worried about me. My internet was down some and then I could not get on 3fc.

We did get tornadoes, but none touched down by the house (close to it). We do not have an storm cellar so we went across the road to the neighbors-- both Friday and Saturday night. I had to leave the dogs..... and I could hear Jake barking. It broke my heart. Saturday night we did not have power all night. But, I was glad after the storms were done..... I took the no electricity over the storms gladly.

But, thank God we are all okay. I guess the part I hate worse is DH has to go out and "patrol/storm spot"..... no matter how bad it is, he has to go out .... whether he is on duty or not.

Holly, Great job on moving the ticker! See-- that winter job takes a toll on you! I knew with all the exercise you do it would even out. I am glad you are starting your summer job this week!

CC, I ended up paying $375 for the ticket. It is only money.... and I want to see him before he goes out of the country.

you know, he has gone away twice before...... but this time is bad on me. He is having the time of his life..... I am having a nervous breakdown! Lol.

Colleen, how are you?

Well, it is Arkansas..... today is supposed to be 85ish. So, I rode to work. It helps take my mind of "stuff". Like eating/dieting/deployment. etc.

Tammy I am so happy to hear that you are okay!! (tornado wise - I know the deployment part is heavy on your mind) That is scary that you had to take the actions of preparing to deal with a tornado!! And yes that is a terrible part of DH's job to have to go out into that. So glad you are OK.

Yes, thank you for having the faith in me that I didn't have!! I feel like I am on a very good roll now. As you all know when the scale shows success it really helps your resolve. I am hoping to reach the Paper Towel point soon

We had lots of sun on the weekend, and I was out in the sun as much as DH, but he has a sunburned face and I do not. I love the look of some sun on my face, but I guess I should be happy that my moisturizer / Smoky Mountain Minerals makeup is protecting my skin. I guess I should be happy with a few less lines and I can produce a 'glow' with makeup/bronzers.

Yesterday I nagged DH about an idea I had for storage, it's in the stairwell..as you go down our stairs there is a wall space that just stretches up and up...well I saw that as potential storage space of which we have NONE. And I had this idea last year or even the year before. but it went nowhere. Because I didn't nag

So I went to hardware store and bought wire shelving, and hooks, and he put up the shelves and I did the hooks ...now I can put my 2 helmets, chaps, many gloves, neckwarmers, rain chaps, handwarmers, and 2 jackets there! before they were cluttered anywhere. YAY

Also yesterday I attacked a cramped dusty cluttered bookcase that is where our 'phone stuff' is...got it cleaned out, vacuumed, titied, and found space on top to put our copier (that had been on a chair in the living room) Small changes but all for the better.

Today I hope to make another trip to ReUse center to drop off more books, and old toys, and I found about 50 music cassettes that DH would say 'dont throw those out!' but none of us even have cassette players anymore so I will 'take care of them' (sinister laugh)

I have a hair appt today, my roots look terrible

have a great day

Holly, your sinister laugh made me laugh! Funny! I "take care of STUFF" too! In very much the same way you are. I keep a very simple house. Not many nick-nacky things around. I hate to dust! We have lots of furniture and pictures, just not the do-dads. I have empty drawers! And, a huge basement that is mostly empty. We are into buying less stuff, but better quality. New motto for us so we don't end up with a crap load of extra "stuff". I will admit though, after having our last rummage sale, we needed a few items back and had to repurchase them new!

Last night after work I stained 2 picnic tables, vacuumed the floors, and scrubbed (hands and knees cleaning) the 1 bathroom and kitchen floors. Tonight I have the desk area and dining room. Hate that job more than dusting!

Tammy, glad you are hanging in there and the storms didn't get you!

Reda, are you back to "normal" hours?

Colleen, I envy that you are able to keep an rather empty house! have you always been like that?

I think...I have also been spurred on by something rather sad, the fact that our friend was killed so unexpectedly, which brought home the fact that tragedies can happen anytime..and I remember the not-fun-time that we had, cleaning out our dad's condo when he passed away unexpectedly...and he didn't even have a garage full as we do I realize I had better get a handle on the clutter so our boys wouldnt have such a huge job.

Okay macabre thoughts over for now

today was my last day of unemployment, but I did laundry, cleaned the bathroom (but not on my hands and knees, you are a better housekeeper than I, Colleen ) and loaded my car with my boxes of Summer Job stuff to be ready for tomorrow!

Hello Tammy and Reda!

Oh, when I got my hair done yesterday, I opted for lots of low-lights...my hair had been getting too light on the ends (well like 4 inches of ends) so now its overall darker, but still with noticeable light highlights (my stripes ) I was ready for a change.

Good Morning Girls- sorry I have been MIA

Tammy so glad to hear you are OK sorry to hear about the scare and that DH has to go out in it no matter how bad it is out, that is always the worse But you made it through and can now focus on getting your son home for a bit before leaving- Glad to hear that he is having a good time with it all which should be making you feel alittle a better but I know it has to still be really hard on you - wish I could take some of that pain away for you so instead I will just have to send you some hugs
And money is always replaceable but seeing your son before he leaves the country is not- so I am glad to hear you stuck to your guns and bought the ticket anyways DH will get over it .....

Holly how is your first day back at work? I know you are probably just loving it
Great job on getting the stuff to complete your project and that DH helped you out even though he wouldn't have iniated it

Well Colleen I keep a very simple household as well - actually redid the dining and living room back in Dec 08 and still haven't hung anything up on the walls except for the flat screen TV we bought- so talk about keeping it simple just less dusting I have to do and I am all for that
As for scrubbing and cleaning on hands and knees nope not happening around here just think I have better things to do than clean that good So kudos to you Really I don't have to much stuff around if anything were to ever happen most of our clutter is upstairs and it is already mostly all the boys trophies from racing go karts, racing cars, and bowling so they can decide what to do with those when the time comes, I actually keep bugging them now because quite literally my whole attic is full of trophies you can not walk in the room at all because of them But hey we had great times winning them

Holly the hair highlights sound good - I keep thinking I need to do something different as well but haven't yet- been really busy of course
Oh talking about busy I was approached Monday evening by a gentleman that owns 10 convient stores and told me he would like to hire me to oversee them all? I told him that we would need to talk because of course I don't want to take a different job (it would be the same thing I am doing now) without know about benefits and of course pay. He had a funeral for a very good friend to deal with Tues and Wed, I am super busy Thursday so we are going to touch base on Fri..... Hope all goes well because talking to the girl doing it now I do believe it could be about a 10 thousand dollar a year pay raise with a company vehicle (Ford Edge) something I have been looking at buying but wouldn't have to if I make the job change. Not a corporate world setting, the guy has 2 cabins out in the hills that he has already said we could use anytime we wanted to.....
DH keeps saying dear you have the job if you want it because you just have a way of getting any job you want (there is some truth there I have alwasy gotten the job I have applied for) so we will see what happens on Friday - wish me luck

Ok girls I better get off here and get my butt to work- hopefully I will be able to check in later but I do have an early day tomorrow 3am

Nope, I haven't always had a clean, simple house. Had a mess when my kids were little, 1st husband wouldn't help, and I managed a store...too much to handle! After divorce, I couldn't AFFORD anything nice. When I could, I loaded up on "stuff", selling Home Interiors--I really collected a LOT! Then, I decided it was too much work to keep it all looking nice. I've sold off everything but my favorite pictures. I have mostly wildlife, and scenery pictures of woods, cabins and lakes. Several Thomas Kinkade prints. You would be hard pressed to find anything but a candle or plant for stuff sitting around for decoration. I have pillows in every room for comfy decoration though! The rest of the floor cleaning didn't get finished last night either...I found an excuse to go to the nearest Wal-mart--25 miles away...I needed some Mop and go stuff! Maybe tonight.

Holly, are you glad to be back at the summer job? What kind of a job is it? Reda, good luck with your job opportunities! Sounds great too! Tammy, are you hanging int here? I think of you, worrying about your son. Glad you will be seeing him. It will be good for both of you.

Tomorrow afternoon I am going to get a perm in my hair. It is so fine, fragile, and limp...drives me crazy! Went I sweat, it looks horrible, like I haven't showered for months! I really envy anyone with thick, healthy hair!

Had a Subway taco salad for lunch. Afterward, I had horrible belly pains! Better now, but it made me wonder if it was the salad or just my gut being stupid. Hoping for stupid, and no more belly ache!

Slow day at work today, but I'll get back at it! Have a happy day gals!

Good morning!

Reda, Best Wishes towards that job!! whoa! sounds great
and oh my goodness, that's alot of trophies but what a nice visual to the memories of your boys winning.

Hello Tammy hope you are doing good

Colleen, hope your tummy is better! oh right my summer job; I'm the pastry chef for a private fly fishing club, we serve 3 meals a day and are open only from now until late October. I also cook breakfast for two mornings to give the other guy two morning off. And if needed, I work in the dining room. It is a very rustic place, very simple accomodations, and all there is for people to do is fly fish (small lake right in front of lodge) hike, sit on the porch, drink and eat the food is fantastic, it is a rustic place but the chef is wonderful. He's my summer boss and what a change from the winter one, lol.

so I'm responsible for the breakfast muffins, or coffeecake, or whatever I choose to make; granola; a daily lunch dessert (can be as simple as cookies or something more elaborate) and a daily dinner dessert (again can be simple like a fruit crisp or fancier like homemade eclairs). So you would think that being around this food is a horrible temptation; especially that we get staff meal time (we get to sit for HALF AN HOUR!! and not clock out!!!) and the food is somtimes the same that the dining room gets..but I gain more weight during the winter than being here.

and another happy benefit is that it is a 24 mile ride through beautiful Vermont scenery, ending with 3 miles of dirt road. I have honed my riding skills on that darn dirt road

sorry for all the blabbing but I do love it, its very unique, and I guess I just associate it with summer and warmth and feeling better and riding.

Last night was our Motorcycle Organization meeting and it was up in the northern part, about 30 ish miles away, so we got home maybe 10:30 but it was still mild, low 50's so that was a nice ride! and we saw no critters on the way home.

did 30 Day Shred level 3 yesterday, no walk.

have a great day ladies

Colleen, I too used to have what nots and things everywhere..... but I operate under the simple life now. It leaves more time to be on the bike. Lol.

Holly, I am glad you are back working at the place you like.
I bet your hair is rocking! You always look like you have stylish hair in your pictures.

CC, Girl, that job sounds awesome. I hope you get it if you want it! So.... what are you going to do with the extra 10K?

Well, our anniversary is approaching (can you believe it has been a year since Vegas, we left this time last year on Saturday). Well, we were going to Nashville b/c of a seminar I have..... but now we are not. I am not sure what we are going to do...... but I am not about taking the HDs in the flood water or where it has just flooded!

Not much else going on. I feel a little better (emotionally). I keep telling myself I am not the only mom who has gone through this. I am trying to prepare for the next "wave" of it when he comes home this time. I am trying to figure out how to make it special for him....... still thinking on it.

Tammy

Good Morning ladies, well I had a semi exiting night.
I have a Tylenol PM hangover..... but okay other than that. Let me tell you about my day after work......

So, I get off and wait until Dr. Ricca gets his son's car started (he had to drive it b/c his is in the shop). Well, I took off and noticed him stalled, so I turned around to go see if he needed help b/c he did not have office keys..... well, I lost my footing on my bike and down both me and the bike went (not moving). This man helped me pick it up.... for a brief moment I thought about calling Wayne to come get it, but I knew if I did not get back on it, I never would. So, I drove it on home. Outside Trumann where they put that tire place in my bike just DIES.... and won't start back. So, this guy Wayne has arrested many times stops to see if he can help. I told him Wayne was on his way. Well, Wayne gets there and the other guy (Wayne) is still there so both of the Waynes look the bike over and figure out it is not getting power. They checked fuses and 2 had blown. So my Wayne takes a fuse out of his truck. Puts in the bike and starts it. He decides he is riding it home so if it dies again it won't be on me. So....... I get in the truck after he had taken off on my bike and the truck won't change gears.... he had taken a transmission fuse out. So, I drive the truck home in first gear. While I am parking the truck.... I hear a "BOOM"..... well, I look and Wayne is still upright on my bike...... and has this awful look on his face. All he says is "I am sorry baby bear"....... I asked what he hit. Well, as luck would have it.... he hit my CAR! So now I have a dent in my car.

I decided at that point, it was a good time to go to WM get some Tylenol PM (for my bruised legs) and go to sleep. Which makes it hard to get up in the AM.

So..... how was your night?

Tammy

OMGosh Tammy so sorry to hear about your day yesterday- what a day that would have been and all jam packed in what less than a couple of hours???? I would have done the same as you went to bed with a sleep aid as well that way nothing else can happen.....

Sending you good vibes that today will be better for you How about alot BETTER

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY it doesn't seem like it has been a year already so much has happened over the last year

Well girls off to work I will be hopefully talking to Dave (other job thing) today and see what he has to say about it all

Talk to you later

Hi Holly and Colleen

Good Morning

I didn't get to talk to Dave yesterday - he ended up having another funeral to go to so hopefully we will touch base beginning of next week-

Holly how is everything going at the lodge? Do they open this weekend or sometime next week?

tammy hope your Friday went much better than your Thursday was

Off to the river to get some stuff done to the cabin talk to you later

Good afternoon chicks -

OMG TAMMY what a day you had!!! You did WELL not to lose your cool and go ballistic, or start crying and just dissolving. You can probably use that day as a barometer for anything...'well this isn't as bad as that Friday' so I can bear it Truly sorry for all those crummy things! How bruised are you

Hi Reda well I hope you get to talk to the Dave guy soon and I hope you and him can come to a beneficial agreement!

Hi Colleen: how are things with you?

So for Mother's Day, do you know what I would like? I would like to have just the living room free of everyone's crap. And for it to be freshly vacuumed. But that won't happen unless I do it now. I'm feeling a little sorry for myself, everyone else here (the 3 of them) had off today and I was at work, I come home to this flippin mess. I just gotta get a grip and relax and accept things I guess.

Reda, the Club opens next Wednesday, the 12th! I have been there for a few hours each day since this past Wednesday, doing prep work. So far I have made the pie pastry and rolled it out in the pans (enough for 5 mince pies and 5 10" pumpkin pies) and frozen the pans; have made the mince pie filling (and poured in a goodly amount of Capn Morgan, yum) made the pumpkin pie custard filling; have made muffin batters (blueberry, raspberry, poppyseed, and pumpkin raisin) and frozen them; have made a huge bin of granola; and some other stuff. I can take tomorrow off but will be back on Monday. I am excited

Well the 3 boys are all out right now, youngest son (19 but will be 20 next month) FINALLY decided to go for his driver's license...his friends have been accomodating him with rides all this time, and he finally told us that he just didn't have enough confidence to think he could drive. I said, Pat, are you kidding me...look at all these nutty people on the road, just by being a sensible person you are already a better driver than them! Anyway, his test is this Wednesday but he is jonesing for his own car (of course) so DH, older DS and younger DS are going to look at a Toyota for him.

That means our small parking area will look even more like a used car lot, 4 cars in the driveway well everyone needs their own car to get to work. Oh and add DS's motorcycle in the garage and me and DH's bikes in the driveway too, I'm sure we look like white trash

Well I am gonna bite my bullet and try to pick up this mess so I'm not all anymore. Though compared to Tammy's day I should be chillin!

Well I picked up everybody's mess in the living room, vacuumed thoroughly, went into the kitchen and took care of the recycling and empty soda cans that the 3 messmakers just left lying around...did the dishes, put them away, scrubbed the top of the stove that was horrible, took out the garbage...and then, instead of just collapsing and enjoying the clean..? I put on my gear and went for a 3.2 mile walk!!! and it took over 2 miles and over half an hour before my steamed head started to cool down. But I"m better now

Happy Mother's Day.

Holly, I am with ya. All I wanted was a clean house on Mother's Day.... so I did it yesterday. Lol.

CC, I hope you get to talk to Dave soon about the job.

Colleen, I am with you on the simple house. It is less to clean around. Lol.

We are off to the HD shop in Memphis (something we can do on Mother's Day).
I am a little tearful... missing my soldier.

Tammy

Happy Mothers Day - Hope you are getting to enjoy it and not cleaning to much

Well my mothers day consisted of getting up and going to MIL's to help her go through and clean the garage tomorrow night after the big roll off dumpster gets here we will go start going through the Big Morton Building
Her house sold about a week ago and part of the conditions was she had to be out on June 1st so doesn't give us alot of time and this is 40+ years of collecting stuff.......Oh then we started tackling to basement and man there was a ton of stuff down there to but 3/4 of it was christmas decorations as she would change her decorations every year

Well there is only my DH and sister to help but when DH made the comment about mom should have never agreed to June 1st his sister blew up and started yelling so he looked at her and told her to get in her F**king truck and go home and of course that is what she did- MIL not to happy but I just said she didn't need to start yelling and throwing a fit it was just a comment...... But we did get alot of stuff done today and without his sister so she can't b**ch that nothing got done- The auction guys will be here Wednesday night to assess and action is May 25th
Well sad to say but stuff has been going to come to heads someday and I believe today was just a nip in the butt.....
It just needs to happen and get done with so they can go back to normal

Ok well enough on that - I just wanted to check in before taking off to go freeze my tush off - races are still on and we are barely 40 degrees outside but of course I am not going to miss them so I will just take extra blanket - shoot I may just wear my snowmobile stuff then I know I will stay warm

Wow Holly you have gotten alot already done you will be so ready for the crew when you guys open up and everything sounds so good

Tammy did you find anything at the HD store?
Shoot yesterday we dropped about $600 - DH bought some 13" apes so we had to go get all the wiring and then had to buy lens covers and new grips and geez not sure all what else- What a mothers day present for me???

Ladies hope you had a great Mothers Day