Decorating for Christmas, the crud, Charlie Brown's Christmas, Merry Christmas and Mr. Henderson goes to Iraq

It's that time of year again.You know, the time right after Thanksgiving that everyone puts up their Christmas decorations, at least, the outdoor variety. Dean and I have gotten to the point where we call ourselves the Griswalds as we put more and more lights up each year. As luck would have it, I have contracted a rotten cold over the weekend that broke out Monday night. It's my own fault, really. I broke my own rule; Never go out shopping on Black Friday weekend. Every time I do, I get sick. AKA the Crud. I broke the rule this year because we had Jordan for the entire Holiday weekend-Thursday to Sunday night-and it was also Dean's birthday, so I planned all these things to do! Dean worked on Friday, so it was Jordan and me. We went to the grocery store which was pretty empty, the to Dollar General. Those two stops went so well, I thought, I'll just run to Toys R US and pick up just those two things I need to get. So, off we went. Thousands of people! After driving the shopping cart containing Jordan in circles for 20 minutes, I finally found the Vtech.Baby Smiles we wanted to get for him and the sound activated cartwheeling Tigger for Scott, the lead singer of the Fabulous Gunslingers, who collects Tiggers. yes, he is a grown man. I had givin Jordan one of his toys to keep him occupied but he kept throwing it out of the cart. Enough of that game. So, we finally go to check out and while we are waiting in line, I give him his bottle. Finally, our turn! So, while I was trying to swipe the debit card and waiting for the cashier to do her part, she then tells me the card reader is broken and she has to swipe through the register! So, we finally get that done, the loot is bagged, I grab it and wheel the cart to the vestibule of the store, park it, remove the bag and Jordan and go to the truck. I put the bag in the bed of the truck, and Jordan in the carseat (at least I got that part right) and realize he's no longer holding his bottle.......and where's the toy? Dag! lost them in the store. Not going back for them! Probably where I picked up the crud.................So, we've had incredibly warm weather and I am now sick. 60+ degree Days since the day before Thanksgiving and I am too sick to put up the outside decorations. So, I will problably be rid of this cold by Monday or so and it will go back to 30 degree days. So, I will be freezing my butt off when we finally do get to put the decorations up! Christmas Vacation. Christmas Vacation. Christmas Vacation..........
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Did ya'll watch Charlie Brown's Christmas Tuesday Night? I learned an interesting bit of trivia about the program while listening to the Green Team on Froggy Radio yesterday morning. Did you know that the network people wanted Charles Shultz to cut the part where Linus quotes from the Bible the story of Jesus' birth? Now, this show originally aired over 40 years ago! The network said they didn't want to offend anyone. It's a Christmas story! Christmas is the celebrations of Jesus' birth! How can you have a Christmas story and take out the part of the reason for Christmas??!!! Charles Schultz told the network if they wanted to use his characters for the show, then that part stays in. He obviously won! If it offends someone, they can change the channel!...........
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Considering the above thought, isn't Christmas something that was brought to this country with the Pilgrims? The English celebrated Christmas before they even landed in America! So did (and do) the Italians, Irish, Polish, Dutch, Croatians, Greeks, Germans, Blacks and Russians. Now the Russian Christmas is 2 weeks after ours, but it still celebrates the same thing! CHRISTMAS! The birth of Christ. Thus the word CHRISTmas. The story of the Immaculate Conception and Mary and Joseph having to take room in the innkeeper's barn and build a manger of hay for the Christ child to sleep in and was wrapped in swaddling clothes and surrounded by oxen and donkeys, sheep and horses. Isn't this waht our modern day calendar years are based on? Isn't this 2006 A.D.? After Death. The Death of Christ. Before he was born, it was B.C. Before Christ. I guess they didn't count the years when he was actually on earth??......Didn't alot of the Carols we sing today originate in Europe? O Tannenbaum-the German for Oh, Christmas Tree. I wish you Merry Christmas. NOT Happy Holidays. MERRY CHRISTMAS. If it offends you, too bad. You're sad. I'm glad. You're mad. I do not celebrate Kwanza. If I know that you do, I will wish you Happy Kwanza. Or Happy Hannahkah. Or Happy Yom Kippur, Happy Chinese New Year, Feliz Navidad or whatever your holiday is when it is your holiday. This is mine. Merry Christmas. I really don't see how it can offend someone when the Pool City selling Christmas trees and all the trimmings is Jewish owned. What about the Jewelry and watch kiosks in the middle of the mall owned by arabics and Indians (not Native Americans). They capitalize on my holiday yet they are offended by my belief and saying Merry Christmas? Good Grief! Now that I've gone off an a tangent....but after all, it's my Soapbox.......
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My brother in law is going to Iraq to close out the government contracts. I feel really sad for my sister, but yet am happy for her as well. This job pays really big money and they could use some good fortune financially. The money will really help them out give them the financial breathing room we all seek in our lives. But, he leaves on Saturday and won't be back for Christmas.They have never been apart for Christmas. Ever. I think it will be hard on my sister. I know how hard it was for her to be in Denver one year and my parents, my brother, and my son were all here in Pittsburgh. It was really tough. So, my brother in law will go to Houston for 2 weeks, the to Kuwait for about 3 weeks, then onto Iraq. the other wives have told my sister that it is really safe where the "civilian" government people are, so she is pretty assured all will be fine. If she is okay with it, so am I. Well, I 've gone on long enough tonight, so...........
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

JuJu B's and foreign objects; Thanksgiving; miscellaneous crap.....

So, my husband loves me very much. When he goes to the Ghetto Giant Eagle (that would be the one by Kennywood), he always brings me a bag of JuJu B's from the bulk candy aisle. Not a big bag, maybe 1/2 to 3/4's of a pound, but none the less, he brings them about once a week. JuJu B's, if you are not familiar, are tiny fez-shaped fruit candies that are supposed to be gummy like the box of JuJu Fruits you get at the movies, but I like them better stale like the marshmallow peeps. I know, I'm weird. So , in order to thoroughly enjoy them, you must suck on them till they soften enough to actually chew. Dean brings in the bag and sets it on the kitchen counter as always for me to find. So, I snatch the bag and sit down in the recliner in the living room to watch football, keep track of all the winners for all the games since I now am in charge of the weekly football pool at work, and begin eating small handfuls of the delectible little fruity treats. And Bitsy likes them too! Of, course she only gets one at a time......So, about the 3rd handful in, I realize there is something in my mouth that IS NOT a JuJu B! I work it to the front of my mouth and pick it out with my fingers.It seems that some little kid must of used the bulk JuJu B bin to dispose of his or her chewed gum! It was all hard like when you leave gum on the bedpost overnight and stuff, but, ick!!!! And it had to be alittle kid, cause there were teeth (molar) imprints still in it, and they were really tiny. It tasted and smelled like Juicy Fruit, but Dean thought it was a Bit O' Honey when I showed it to him. I called Giant Eagle and get free bag next time we go. I put the foreign object in a snadwich baggie and stapled the baggie to the receipt. The manager told me they were going to dispose of that whole batch of JuJu B's and open a fresh box and put them out. Gooooooooood.
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So, today is Thanksgiving. Turkey and all the trimmings, the parade, football all day and Alice's Diner. For you that listen to WDVE, you will know that Alice's Diner is a spoken song (a spoken song is like that of Charlie Daniels' Uneasy Rider-the tune about the guy with long hair that goes into a bar to call a tow truck after he gets a flat and ends up kickin' ole greenteeth right in the knee....) that they play at noon EVERY Thanksgiving. This one is about people dumping garbage somewhere and getting caught. Was never my tradition, but it is Dean's and when you get married, it is nice to culminate traditions from each partner and make the traditions carry on. I wonder if our great great great grandchildren will have so many traditons to honor, that it will become Thanksgiving week.
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So, I am here posting to my blog and generally farting around on the computer because watching TV with Dean makes me dizzy. See, we never watch commercials, and he flips channels with the remote every time the main program we are watching goes to commercial. Then, you are watching that program, and probably just as you want to hear what's next on that show, WHAM! he changes it again! Makes me crazy. But isn't the purpose of this blog to publish the things that make me crazy?.....Sort of like venting, but in writing, right?

I am going to go and pick up Jordan tonight and will have him until Sunday night!!! I can't wait! I am going to take him to Dean's brother's house tonight, Aunt Donna's tomorrow, and to the mall to have his picture taken with Santa! It will be soooooooo fun!!!!!

So, the birds in the oven, the potatoes are peeled, the cauliflower is deheaded, thanks to Dean. I am sure that if my dad was as much help in the kitchen as Dean (of course, he is a trained professional---chef, that is) my Mom wouldn't have hated cooking so much........But, that was the good old days and this is now.........

Some one told my nephew after reading his blog, that it is too much like a diary. As a teenaged girl, I never kept a diary. I didn't think there was any point. My girlfriends were the ones I told all my thoughts to. What was the pupose of writing them down in a book, that you locked up, kept hidden and no one was ever suppposed to read? My luck, my mom would have found it, broken into it and I probably would have gotten in trouble for thinking so and so was cute, or we had junior or senior skip day, things I snuck out to do....man, she would have killed me! My secrets were safer with Pam and Susie than they were if I wrote them in a book and my mom found them! So, if this is a diary, then so be it. I think thoughts are better shared anyway.

I took the dogs to the vet. Turns out that they both have plaque build up on their teeth. Bitsy's is worse than Baileys' but, she's older, too. So, I now have to brush the dogs teeth! Have ya ever brushed a dog's teeth? Not an easy chore! They lock their jaws together so you can't get their mouth open, you have to pry it open, get the toothbrush in, hold them still, hold their head so you can see what you're doing, and brush! Not Easy!

Why do people say that So and So has more money that God? That expression irks the bajeebies outta me!If you believe there is a God, God doesn't have money. He's GOD. A spiritual being. Not mortal. Does NOT NEED money. So where did that come from? To quote Charlie Brown.....
"UUUUHHHHHGGG!"

Stuff Rollin' Around in My Cranium (and it's not Richard)

At the lower right, you see The Fabulous Gunslingers (before Frank). Frank is a wonderful addition to the band. He does back up vocals, plays the fiddle, the acoustic guitar and the mandolin. The difference in the sound of the band is AWESOME! You can go to their website and click on media to listen to some of their songs or see a couple of videos.............

Next, Scott Bloomquist. Dean turned me on to him when we were first dating. Watching this man drive is just mesmerizing.They used to say that Dale Earnhardt could see the air coming off the car in front of him. Scott is the Dale Sr. of Dirt Late Models. He can look at a track and pick the right rubber compound of tire. He knows his competition and what he has to do to win. He is a California child who's parents moved to Tennessee so he could get more dirt racing. He has overcome adversity to win races. On his way to one race, the hauler caught fire. They were able to get one race car out of the hauler and I think some of the equipment, got some one else to haul the car, was late to the track and ended up winning. Does he win every race? Hell no. But he is the top money winning driver in 2006. Last I checked it was close to half a mil. Probably over that by now. Plus he builds chassis, has a incredible merchandising business, a wonderful wife, and as of March, a beautiful daughter. You can check out his website as well...............

Well, its Christmas shopping time again. I hate shopping. Not just Christmas shopping, ALL shopping. I hate dealing with the crowds, I hate the cold weather and rain and snow, I hate going to t he mall and "just looking" till something strikes my fancy for Bill, then buy it, lug it home, and wrap it. The getting home part. Why is it that seems that the people that don't drive any other time of year come out and drive to and anround and from the malls? The little q-tip people that shouldn't be driving in the first place cause they're so freakin' old! They pick the time of year when the roads around the mall are the most crowded! They go 3 miles and hour and don't know what store they want to park near, where they need to turn, or if they have the right of way. They stop where there are no stop signs! Why? I'll tell you why! TO DRIVE ME CRAZY, THAT'S WHY!!!!! (no pun intended.) I have resorted to online shopping. Really it's at home catalogue shopping, then I go online and place my order(s). No lines, No rude people, no lugging, no q-tips, no driving!!!! Just point, click and pay, Voila! It's delivered to me at work. Or home. Whichever I choose...............

I think people are confused about the term Pro Life or Pro Choice. Pro Life means that you do not believe in an abortion no matter the circumstance of the woman (or now a days, girl) who has to bear the unwanted child for what ever the reason. Pro Choice means that you think that each individual female shoud be able to make their own personal decision even if you wouldn't choose abortion for yourself. I think that a woman who conceives as a result of rape, or who is too young has the choice of terminating the pregnancy or giving the child up for adoption. What if it were me? I am almost 46 years old. If I got pregnant, You better believe I would terminate the pregnancy in a heartbeat. I am too old, the body is too tired and at my age there are too many risks of an unhealthy child. Downs Syndrome, Autism, to name a couple. Not that I am not a loving and giving person, but I don't think the world needs any more special needs children..............

I hate stupid people.............

To borrow Bill Engval's famous line, "I hate stupid people." Today at work, one of our customers called and needed assistance with an invoice they received. She wanted to know why her system said that the part price was .6639 but we had charged her .5539 ea. (What?) Pay the lower price, you idiot! So, I look up the invoice on the computer, retrieve the job number and pull the file. I look, and the price was absolutely supposed to be .5569, the lower. She wanted to know how that could be. I put her on hold and asked Kenny who prices all the jobs and is one of my bosses, and he said because we gave her the 1000 piece price. (the bigger of a quantity we make at one run, the cheaper the unit price) Oh, okay. Get back on the phone and tell her this. She said but we only ordered 500 pieces for each release! Right ! that equals 1000 pieces in my book. Oh, whe says, well we kept the 500 piece price in out system. But we ran all 1000 pieces at the same time, thus the lower price! Well, she says, you are going to have to issue us a credit, for the difference because we vouchered it at .6639. I can't issue a credit for something that's not been paid yet! It's only vouchered. Can't you go in and over write the price when you prepare to run the checks? In my accounting experience, you can always overwrite a price and correct things before and sometimes after they have been posted. She didn't know if they could do that. There are guidelines they have to follow since they're a big corporation! (What?!!) Didn't hear back from her yet, so I think someone figured it out. Here's your sign...............

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Then we have a truck driver show up to pick up his company's parts. He wants our fork lift driver to take the pallet of boxes of the parts down the ramp off the dock and load the truck from the side. This is not possible because of the mud in the parking lot and the fork lift will get stuck in it. The truck is sort of a dump truck looking truck with a big cab like a dump truck, but has 2 x 10 boards stacked horizontally for the sides of the bed and an aluminum tailgate that opens like a pick up truck. It is hinged at the bottom rather than at the top like when a dump truck lifts up to dump and the bottom swings out to let out the load. The thing is that the tailgate doesn't stop at the 90 degree position like a pickup, it swings down 180 degrees. So, they normally back the truck against the dock, let the tailgate down, load the truck with said fork lift, then lift the tailgate back up with the fork lift. But he didn't want to do that cause it's a new truck and it will scratch the tailgate. (Heeeeey it's a work truck! Duh.) So the trucker called into his dispatcher and told him our guy wouldn't load him, so he couldn't pick up. The dispatcher calls in to my office and I talk to him. Now, I have talked to him several times in my career at Parker Plastics to schedule these pick ups before we all had email at work. We don't talk anymore because I call someone and tell them the order is ready, they then email this dispatcher, who then emails the dispatch order to the drivers. So I said why do we have to use the fork lift to close the gate? Because it's really heavy! (duh on my part. It's a huge tailgate) So, what if we don't let the tailgate lie on the dock and we let it open the full way, back the truck to the dock, load it, have the driver pull back up some and a few of the guys use old fashioned muscle to push the tailgate back up. Yeah, yeah, that'll work! Here's your sign..........

Reporting off from work

As some of you know, I work for an injection molder. Alot of our machine operators are temporary personnel, or temps as we lovingly (lol) refer to them. The problem is that alot of them are in the back to work program either from a crime they've committed and are out of jail and in a halfway house (no serious criminals. no rapists or murders or armed robbers). They all do great while in the halfway house when we get them, but alot of times, they go back to their old ways (which means hangin' with their homies some of them start the drug use again. Some of the girls get back with their boyfriends or pimps, and start calling off work. And it gets habitual! How do these people pay their bills? Rent, gas, electric and things? There are exactly 45 days left in this year, 28 of which are working days for me, taking off weekends, holidays and vacation time. That means I will have worked 240 working days this year without calling off!!! Not even once! Any time I took off was preplanned vacation with maybe the exception of the day my step grandson was born, which my employer knew was coming, but we weren't sure what day, so when she went into labor, I called my employer and said, I'll probably be taking a vacation day tomorrow unless she delivers really fast. Needless to say, THAT didn't happen. So January 5, 2006 was my first vacation day of the year of which I get 15. 5 of those vacation days are mandatorily taken at Christmas time when the factory shuts down for yearly inventory. Only management works then, and it's only 3 days and half days at that. Anyway, to get back on track, I cannot afford to take days off. I have a very nice life, whith many luxuries and ammenities, but I also have to pay for the lifestyle to which I have become acustommed. The people that call off work once a week, leave early once a week, come in late, not only do they usually not get fired, but they don't see anything wrong with it!!! I must have gotten my dad's work ethic...................