Back by popular demand….another installment of nothingness from yours truly!
The weekend went by fast as always. I welcomed the end of this weekend though. It started out great, a nice Friday evening with some friends and cards. Then Jason and I cuddled up for some TV for the rest of the night. Saturday morning, I slept in WAY to late! As much as I am thankful for the boys allowing me to sleep in, it was TOO much sleep. I woke up feeling I wasted half the day and I had a nagging headache. And to top that off, I was out of creamer and I’m tellin’ ya right now, milk is not a suitable substitute!
Jason has monthly inventory and usually does it on Sundays but he’s been able to get it done on Saturdays. This means I get to go! 🙂 As I am getting ready, Jason tells me, “dress nice.” What are you saying man, I don’t dress nice normally?!” What he meant was, don’t wear your usually lounge pants! FINE!!! Whatever you say Mr.Boss man. Don’t want to embarrass you!
*Totally kidding Jason if you’re reading this.
While Jason was working on his inventory I took Bailey to get his hair cut. First off, let me just say a hair cut in Buffalo (where we live) is SO different from a hair cut in the cities! It was fun! The salon was upbeat, the hair dressers were anything but ordinary! Plus Bailey got probably the best hair cut he’s ever had!
We finally get home late that night and settle in. The phone rings at about 11pm. As it’s ringing I’m thinking who the heck is calling this late? And why? No one calls that late, unless something happened. And indeed something had happened. A friend, an old team-mate of Jason’s had died in a snow mobile accident earlier that day. That kinda set the tone for our Sunday. Quiet, and somber. I don’t want to get into any details about it, really I just want people to know the dangers of these machines if not used with the up-most respect of what they are capable of.
Okay, no more sad talk…..can we talk manners here for a second? Or maybe respect is a better word. I am a nanny. I do love my job and I love all the kids I have had over the years. The parents have been another story. This next statement is for my present parents…With all due respect, when you come to get your kids, do NOT sit in my drive way for 20 minutes talking on your phone! Not only have I had your kid for 10 hours already but they know you are sitting out there. I want to be off the clock and they want to go home. What is so dang important every day that you have to sit in my drive way on your phone? Can’t it wait? Don’t you want to see your kid? Come on, BALANCE, work and kids, there is a balance you can find. I can give you some tips! Thanks (and please help with the potty training please)
(btw, I only say she is on the phone with work because that is what she says.)
Okay, that’s enough of me babblin’ what about you?
Ohhh one more thing…what’s this juking I keep hearing about? Is this some new dance move the kids are doing? I may have to force myself to watch the news tonight to find out!
Okay…carry on!
Us Girls..Our Views 
I’m so sorry about your friend Nikki. It’s tough when you’re so young to lose a peer. My thoughts go to his parents.
I’m glad your week was good. I love this chat day. My week was pretty good too. I had a doctor appt last week and he told me I don’t have to go back for a year. YEAH!!! All my meds now seem to be working and I feel really good. So, a year. That’s great.
I had to renew my drivers license and wow, I hadn’t been to a government building for 4 years, since the last time and couldn’t believe I had to walk through metal detectors and let them go through my purse and empty my pockets!! It made me sad thinking of a small town having to be like that. Better safe than sorry I guess but left me feeling sad nonetheless.
I had Toby clear out under my clotheslines on Sunday and I was able to hang my clothes out. There was a LOT of snow under them. I hung out all my bedclothes yesterday and boy did that ever smell good.
I’m hoping my brother is going to come out this weekend. We always really laugh and have a good time. Tomorrow I get the pleasure of attending lunch at Kimball Elementary School with my granddaughter Trinity. She loves me to go to lunch with her at school and it’s fun for me to get out and see a part of the world for a while. Besides, it’s fun to watch the kids and see the job I used to do.
I hope everyone else had a good week and has a good weekend coming up.
Yea the court house has beefed up their security didn’t they!? Something must have happened. You used to be able to go in the side doors, and the front doors never had police officers by them let alone metal detectors. I went there with Paul and he had to go back out and put his pocket knife in his truck. he came back in and made a joke to the men…”can’t an old man carry a pocket knife these days!?” LOL
I love the way clothes smell after drying outside! I wish I had one but the association doesn’t permit them. I have seen one in here though, so I don’t know how strict they are.
Have fun with Trinity!! I wished you lived closer to be able to do that stuff with Bailey. He is having a recorder concert march 11th though. 🙂
What time on March 11 Nikki?
I did get the creeps walking into the courthouse. I didn’t expect it in Buffalo that’s for sure.
Joy that is awesome news about the doctors! Way to go and stay healthy!
Thanks JAM. I haven’t felt as good as I do now for a long time. Now I just need to drop some poundage.
Hmm, if I were a Very Talented Blogger, I would figure out a way to explain how I’ve been feeling in the past few days / weeks. I thought about writing a post about it, but I can’t figure out how to explain it. Basically I have been working on this project that is boring me to death. It’s complicated but in a boring sort of way. It is so boring that I find it very difficult to stay on task, so it seems like it is never going to end.
It doesn’t help that the guy who needs to get me the information is really difficult to work with. If anyone watches Desperate Housewives, you know how Edie’s husband always seems to have some anger just beneath the surface and he could blow up any second? Well, this guy is kind of like that. Besides that, he is a poor communicator. He changes his story every time he opens his mouth. And then he seems endlessly frustrated because, why don’t us idiots understand / remember what he’s told us so clearly? He rarely comes out and “says” this, but you can tell he’s thinking it. Meanwhile, I still don’t have the information I need. I ask him to provide it in writing instead of just telling me over and over and not making any sense, but for some reason, he can’t seem to do that. Why? Is he afraid to leave a paper trail? Is he dyslexic? What is the problem? Of course, the project I’m working on involves me certifying that stuff he’s saying is true, so that doesn’t help matters.
So that’s my most urgent project, but I have other urgent projects too, and very little is getting done, because the thing I really need to do is impossible to focus on. Anyone out there who can relate?
I kind of feel like I’m not even doing my job. Not that it would be unreasonable for me to take a day off, but if I’m on the clock, I’d rather be getting stuff done and clearing my to-do pile and keeping all of my clients happy and impressed. This is just a sucky state to be in.
I got a draft out this evening, so hopefully this phase will be over soon. I hope so, because I am spending so much time procrastinating on the internet that even some of my favorite sites are getting boring. (Not this one, though!)
There are a lot of people like that guy, who if they did communicate in a better way, they wouldn’t have anything to complain about. People like that will never be happy. It sounds like a thankless job.
Nikki, that’s sad about parents waiting in the drive as long as they can to pick up their kids. At my kids’ daycare, they close at 6:30, and sometimes I’ve called to warn that I might be a tiny bit late, due to whatever conflict I had. (I haven’t yet arrived after 6:30, but could have.) The closing teacher said, I’ll ask them not to charge you extra, since this was beyond your control. Not like several parents who sit out in the parking lot on their Blackberries until past 6:30 just because they think they can.
I am kind of conflicted regarding the time to pick up my kids. I would like to spend more time with them, but on the other hand, it can be hard to justify leaving work earlier than I need to, especially when I’m on an urgent project (which seems to always be the case). In the warm months, I used to pick them up earlier most days, so they could spend some time playing outdoors. In the winter, it doesn’t seem to matter that much whether they are at school or at home, most days. So I tell myself that I will get caught up on work now so I can pick them up earlier in the summer months. But we’ll see if that actually happens.
I have been busy the last week with work and basketball and trying to get caught up on stuff. I have the next 4 days off, but they are already filled up. I thought Friday might be a fun day, but that will be house cleaning/laundry day so yippy for me!
Thanks you all for sharing a bit of your life here! I loved it! Nikki, my condolence with the lost of your friend. I am so sorry for you and his family.
What a thoughtless parent, to sit in her car, on your driveway and talk on the phone.Who cares if it is business. Her duty is to pick up here kid and nothing else. It can happen once or twice, but that’s it. Why don’t you bring her a cup of coffee 🙂 Maybe she gets the hint!
I should but I never could! LOL I’m open from 7am to 5pm. IF she makes it by 5 she still sits out there for at least 10 minutes. IF she makes it before 5 she makes sure she doesn’t waste any time coming in, she sits on her phone!
I went online to buy my kids some shoes. I wanted shoes that tie, and I never find what I really want when I go shoe shopping at the stores. So I found some shoes at Target.com, and I thought it would be fun to get some colorful shoelaces as well – to encourage them to learn to tie, and to help get my total up enough to qualify for free shipping.
Would you believe Target.com does not sell shoelaces?
So then I thought, I’ll buy the girls some socks. They are ready for the next size up, might as well order them now. First I narrowed it to “purple socks” to accommodate a certain someone, then just looked generally for “socks.”
Do you believe Target.com does not sell colored socks for girls over age 2?
So then I thought, might as well order some cheap white shoes for Easter, but they only had one white style in my girls’ size (I did order them, though I didn’t like them much). Now I was 4 cents short of the “free shipping” level, so I checked out the specials and ordered a couple of Spring jackets that they’ll be needing. Total bill $25 more than I had set out to spend (plus tax), but all stuff I would have bought eventually.
But in the back of my mind, I just know there was something I’ve been waiting to buy, and this would have been the perfect opportunity, if I could have remembered what it was. Oh, I think I just remembered . . . .
I do that all the time with the “free shipping” deal. I spend more just to get free shipping and as soon as I click “submit,” I remember something I really needed but forgot when I was looking around. You may need to go to a shoe store to get cute laces. I’m not sure if Target has them in the store or not.
I keep a “wish list” on Amazon for *just* that reason… that $25 Free Shipping line.
My wish list includes stuff that, generally, I wouldn’t just go out and buy, and have, more than once, talked myself out of getting, even though I might really want it.
A good example is baking books. I love to bake (as anyone who’s seen my Facebook can attest to), but when it comes to buying books about it – how to use fondant, how to work with gum paste – I don’t buy them, rationalizing that I can just buy the product and play with it. But then, I find myself on Amazon, buying something necessary, or a gift for someone, and I’m under the FS limit… so I open the handy-dandy Wish List, and now I have my fondant book!
Since we’re talking about random stuff, does anyone want to check in about our diet / weight loss progress?
I’ve lost about 4-5 lbs since Joy’s post about it. Only about half of what I wanted to lose, so far. I have started doing preschool exercise videos with my kids after dinner. Even if they don’t feel like doing it, I dutifully go through all the motions, because it’s actually good exercise. I’m pretty sure the neighbors think I’m nuts, though. My kids might, too.
Way to go SKL!!!
I’m down 7 lbs. BUT I still don’t feel good. I am lacking something in my diet. I don’t have much energy. Joy and I are having the same problem, we know what NOT to eat but we can’t find anything we should eat. We now we all need a little fat, calories, salt….JAM I think is with us on this! It’s either too much of something and not enough of another. I try my hardest to stay away from he processed foods. I too haven’t kept up with the working out. I use my elliptical maybe 2 times a week which isn’t enough. I did just order Jillian Michaels 30 day shred.
Preschool exercise videos?! That’d be a sight! LOL I bet they are fun though!
Are you eating enough protein? That doesn’t mean it has to be red meat either. How’s your iron level? Low iron can account for low energy, but that’s something you’d have to have a blood test for. It’s a thought.
I practically cut out all red meat so that may be it. Frankly I am scared to go to the DR for tests. I’m giving myself till August to bring my cholesterol down then I will go back. 🙂 I need to start taking my multi vitamin again.
Here’s a link that has some great protein food ideas! http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/good-protein-sources. Might have to copy and paste it b/c I don’t know how to make it a link!
Thanks Sue, I’ll check it out!
I was thinking the same thing as Sue, about the Iron.
I never took a multivitamin with iron before, always thinking, I have plenty, I don’t need more. But then I picked up One-A-Day “Women’s Active Mind and Body”, and wow… the DIFFERENCE!!!
Get yourself a regular multi, with iron, and see if it helps. Get the test done, too, you can always quit the multi if it’s too high.
I have good energy and stuff. I just don’t know what to eat for lunch to replace my warm broths. Soup is what I’ve eaten for lunch almost my whole life. I’m just not sure how much sodium is to much and should I count that. What do you all “count” when dieting? Calories, fat, sodium, sugar????? If you look at everything on the label, you can’t eat anything. What’s good in one way is high in another. I’m just about ready to give up and not eat lunch at all.
This should make all of you laugh this morning! So, I finally have a day off and I figured I’d get a start on the laundry so I don’t have to do all of it tomorrow. I open up the washer to find Christopher’s clothes in there, from SUNDAY! UGH! Yeah, the washer didn’t smell very good so those are being rewashed as we speak! How did I forget about those?!
SUNDAY SUE!? LMAO I can only imagine how that smelled!!!
Oh man, you want to talk about smells? Last night about midnight or so, I was working away, and the strong smell of fresh skunk wafted by. No big deal, it will pass, right? Well, a while later, a smell of burning plastic started spreading through the house. Here I am at 1am, searching around in the basement, behind the furnace, above the drop ceiling, etc., looking for the source of the smell. The only thing I can figure is that the skunk spray somehow made its way into the furnace’s cold-air return and now our house smells intensely of burnt skunk fart. All of our clothes, hair, bedding, etc., will smell like this, for who knows how long. Lovely. My nose is still burning. We have some windows open, and it’s pretty cold outside, so that makes things even more pleasant.
Eeewwww….there is nothing worse that a strong smell of skunk!
Guess what I just found in my washer??? Clothes from Tues. REWASHING over here too!!!
LOL!
OK HOW THE HECK DO YOU ALL GO EVEN ONE DAY WITHOUT DOING WASH!? UGH I have to do it every day or you can’t find my laundry room floor! And there are only 3 of us!
It’s just Paul and I now. I only do a couple loads a week not counting rugs and bedclothes. You’ll be here one day. I do NOT miss the laundry I had back in the day.
I was going to bring up the diet thing too today. I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to be “counting” or going by. I love warm broth or soup. I like to sip on it and it relax’s me and makes me warm. It also really fills me up. BUT…a can of chicken noodle soup has 2 g of fat, 0.5 sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 8 g carbs, 15 mig cholesterol, an a whopping 890 sodium. That’s also for only half a can!!! The same holds true just for a teaspoon of chicken bouillon. I’m finding that sodium problem with everything I want to have for lunch and I’m feeling very frustrated. If you want a sandwich, same thing only it’s the carbs in the bread and the fat in butter.
What do you all eat for lunch?? I’m seriously thinking of just counting the fat grams in a day. That’s how I lost all the weight before and it would have stayed off had I not took a bottle of stupid pills and let it all come back on.
I am pretty inconsistent in terms of what / when I eat at a given meal. Usually from about 8am to 3pm I will eat an assortment of cereal, pbj on whole wheat, whole fruits & veggies, and my “meal replacement” baked tortilla chips / rice crisps if I have them in stock. I don’t eat all of these every day. The “meal replacement” stuff doesn’t make me skinny, but at least it doesn’t make me fat. I usually eat it all up in the days after I go shopping, then go back to the “good stuff” for the rest of the week. The salt is just too tempting.
I am not good about counting fat grams and all that. Most likely I have less fat than “they say” I should, a lot of the time, but I make it up when I eat stuff like fettucini alfredo and mac & cheese.
I supplement with liquid vitamin D, fish oil, and “Alive” vitamins. Vitamin D is supposed to be really helpful for energy. I noticed that none of the supplements I take contain iron, and I don’t eat a lot of iron-rich foods, so I might look into adding an iron supplement occasionally, though I know some folks need to limit iron as they get older . . . .
By the way, oatmeal is a miracle food for people like us. It’s a great source of protein and iron, fights cholesterol, and fills you up without making you fat. It also feels nice to eat it.
Nikki….. you never said WHY Jason said to “dress nice” when you went with him on Saturday…
We went out to dinner and shopping. Jason is really funny, he likes to dress UP to go shopping at this mall called Ridgedale. Makes him feel rich or something! Kinda like role playing for a day! LMAO
You got to go to Ridgedale? Our old neck of the woods. Did you go by the old house?
No it was dark so we didn’t drive by the house but we usually do. Jason loves taking us by all the places he used to go and he’ll say..oh I played baseball there, I rode my 3 wheeler here all by myself! We love it too! No matter how many times we do it, it never gets old!
Hey I have this yummy creamer this morning….actually I can’t believe my MIL let go of some of her beloved creamer! LMAO Thanks Ma! Mmmm butter-cream frosting!!
LOL!!! I wanted you to have it. I have a stock of it built up!! I look for it everywhere I go.
LOL That was just fun to read, Nikki. Thanks for sharing! You are funny. How inconsiderate of the parent waiting in the driveway. I like Ellen’s idea. I would tell her that they need to be picked up on time or to pay extra!! You are too nice! I hate confrontation too though!
One tip with the getting more energy from food if you are missing like iron or protein, whole wheat is packed with it and is very heart healthy, will bring down your cholesterol. Brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat breads, ect. It is all we eat here! And we all got lots of energy! But that may just be us too…a change in diet is tiring too-so it may just take more time to adjust-keep it up girl.
I hate when I sleep too late too!! I feel the same way-wasted the day and more tired. Our weekend was good-it was gorgeous outside here-crazy for Feb.-it was 60 and sunny. Usually it is 40, rainy and windy! We got our old weather back right now 😦 But we took Ben to Mount Erie which is right down the road-up there the views are just breathtaking. We hiked around a little, and then went to the lake so Ben could throw rocks in the water. Unfortunately, he tumbled right in face first!! He didn’t know what hit him, poor guy, had to strip him down and take him home. People that saw us leave probably thought, omg, they let a baby go swimming in that cold water!? LOL I love how quickly Ben just goes back to happy, so we were laughing by the time we left.
LOL Tessa, poor baby!!! He does seem to be good natured. Bailey is the same way.
60 degrees!? I wish! Bailey was watching the weather yesterday and he said out loud….16 degrees tomorrow mom! I thought I heard 60 degrees and about feel over. It was pretty funny!
I have had problems with these parents from the beginning. With almost every milestone that kids cross from eating normal food, to time outs to now potty training. They just aren’t on the same page as I am and it certainly makes my job tough sometimes.
Whole wheat or whole grain? Is there a difference. Is one better than the other?
Funny! I found a good website, here is what they said, and it sounds like they are the same, whole wheat comes from whole grain..
“Whole grains offer vitamins and minerals, plus high levels of antioxidants and other healthy plant-based nutrients. Whole grains contain protective antioxidants in amounts near or exceeding those in fruits and vegetables. They also provide some unique antioxidants not found in other foods.
Studies have shown that eating more whole grains may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. New studies published in 2005 and 2006 show that whole grains may lower triglycerides, improve insulin control, help in weight management, and slow the build-up of arterial plaque.”
wheatfoods.org They have some recipes too!
Thank you Tessa!!!
My kid is getting a rash on her hand/arm, and I think it’s from the soap at preschool. So today I talked to the teacher about it. She said her daughter has the same reaction, it’s because they just switched to a new type of soap. I said, can she just wash her hands with water? Nope, they have to use soap. She said she has provided a different soap for her daughter to use, and suggested I do the same. I said, are they going to keep using the new soap, given that kids are reacting to it? She said, because it’s only affecting 2 kids that she knows of so far, they are not going to change it.
Funny, my kid is not allowed to have a molecule of peanut anywhere near the school, but they can force her to use soap that multiple kids are allergic to. I will find a workable resolution, but doesn’t it seem wrong that they would not make an adjustment here? There was no problem with the soap they were using before. Maybe the new soap costs a little less, but is it worth the problems it’s causing?
When you compare this to the peanut stuff, it sure doesn’t seem right does it? My bet would be the new soap is cheaper and thus may have more “perfume” in it. If you get her her own soap, where would she keep it so others wouldn’t it. That seems like more of a problem to me that going back to the old soap.
Always the question…why change a good thing!?
I know, can you just imagine a bunch of 3-year-olds around one kid’s “special soap”? Even just my own kid is likely to screw with it and waste it.
I am thinking I will first try telling my daughter to put only a little dab of soap on only her palm, rinse it quickly, and avoid getting it on the back of her hand and her arm, which seem to be more sensitive than her palms. If that doesn’t solve the problem, I may send some soap but in small amounts at a time.
Frankly, they use way too much soap at school and my kid loves to play in it, which I would never allow at home. I don’t even use soap most of the time when I wash my hands or theirs. Soap is way overrated, outside of a clinical setting. Anyhoo, my kid is smart enough to change her behavior on her own, if she can get past the lure of smearing goo. (Why does she like being a slob?)
“Why does she like being a slob?”
because she’s a kid. it’s hard-wired into their genes.
Oh man, this reminds me of Toby. He LOVED playing with stuff like that. I remember once I’d gotten the great big pump container of Nexus shampoo and he pumped the whole thing dry “cleaning the bathtub for me.” I was so mad. It was a LOT of money but he thought he’d done such a good thing!!
Jason on the other hand hated being dirty and would call a time out if he had to slide into a base so he could brush himself off.
Funny stuff!
I know, my other kid does not like to be dirty at all. She certainly doesn’t go out of her way to make a mess.
I love this free flow chat! Great idea!
This past week I have been super busy! I started working 2 days a week and then my youngest started softball at the same time. We have practice twice a week and I am not sure when games will start. My oldest daughter got a cold at the beginning of this week so she is moping around the house.
As for my dieting/healthy living plan… I have lost 10 pounds since I started but I feel like I have hit a brick wall! I need to get back to cooking my meals, all of them, and not getting them through a drive-thru window. That is my goal for next week.
Hey if you have a Taco Bell do their diet. Every time you want fast food get some items off their diet menu. I wish we had one, Jason loves to have McDonalds. And even their salads are full of crap!
Taco Hell has a chicken soft taco that isn’t too brutal if you request it without cheese.
Taco HELL!? LOL It is some major gut rot if you eat the wrong thing!
It has been a long time since I ate at Taco Hell. Like probably at least 10 years. I used to like the nacho salad or whatever that was. I probably still would like it if it wasn’t the antithesis of healthy eating (at least for me).
Heh, We’ve called it Taco HELL for as long as I can remember.
Also Booger Fling.
And the Porcelain Palace (for those of you Chicagoans who are familiar with White Castle).
Maybe we need a post about unofficial jingles. It would be fun to know how many of the “classics” have stuck around.
We used to sing:
McDonald’s is your kind of place
Slap hamburgers in your face
Milkshakes up your nose
French fries in your toes
The last time that I was there
They fried my underwear
McDonald’s is your kind of place!
And for Booger King:
Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce,
Shut up lady, you upset us
All we ask is that you let us
do it our way . . . .
I’m sure there are many more back in the archives . . . .
You have me laughing my ass off!!! OMG, I’ve never heard of either of these!!!
SKL THANK YOU! At the very second I read this I was flaming mad at someone and this made me LMAO!
We Love Taco Bell. I have tried the Fresco tacos and they are very good. My problem is I usually crater and get a taco with sour cream & cheese and then of course I have to have a side order of nachos!
I have to laugh because we call it Taco Hell as well! My brother used to work for them and he smelled so bad when he came home we would make him take his uniform off outside the house! Then they went straight into the washer which was in the garage!
I LOVE Taco BELL!!! We don’t eat it very often because I’m not near one. But I would if I could.
I love this free chat too JAM. It’s sometimes just fun to see where the conversation will go.
Man, the more I think about it, I wonder if there is some magnetic field around my house, with all the stuff going wrong in the past week. Last Thursday night, the water from all the taps was bright orange and stinky. Friday, I had to take my car in for servicing, and someone else’s computer kept shutting down. Saturday, the electricity went out in part of the house. My dad came to fix that on Monday. Tuesday, the cable guy came to fix a problem with the cable. And then Wednesday, the burnt skunk thing. There are probably other things I’m forgetting, too. Isn’t that weird, for all of that to happen at the same time?
They’re ba-a-a-a-a-ack!
Here too. We had our PS3 (gaming system) crash, our computer crash, our microwave caught on fire and now the fuel pump in our truck went out! WTH is going on?
I think it’s global warming.
You guys can keep all this to yourselves. Things here *knock wood* have been okay.
Let’s see…my computer crashed Sunday, my check engine light came on Monday, we found a bald spot on 2 of my tires so we got 2 new ones! Damn global warming!
Nikki, I think you’re stuck doing this every Thursday!
I think I’d agree with Sue. Seems this is a huge hit and we all must really need to vent about stuff.
Yup…I am stuck! LOL A good stuck though, it’s been fun. I like to be able to contribute in some way also. I already have stuff to talk about next week! LOL I keep an ongoing post in my email and just add to it as crap happens!
What is it with people on their phones in places they shouldn’t be?! Today at school with my son in his preschool class, 3 different parents were constantly checking their phones and texting! WTH is wrong with you people? You’re not that important!