super

Welcome Home!

A girl in my office sent me an email today. One of those where it claims that if you forward it, for every 5 people you send it to, AOL will send this poor, sick, homeless person 15 cents. Well, I always try to find documentation on the internet proving that such an email is a hoax so that I can SHOW my poor friend that they are so freaking stupid being had… anyways, this time I actually FOUND a person with the same name (some really wierd name) and she actually WORKED for the company of the person in the email.

I forwarded the “hoax” email to this woman to let her know that her name was in a hoax email. You know what the reply I got was? “DONT SEND ME ANYTHING!!!” …

that was it. LOL … OK, I wont… ?!

Soooo… I worked until 2p, took a clarinet to the shop for my daughter and had it repaired while I waited … a whole 5 minutes. Shopped for a Bass Guitar for my son (last year he was in the Orchestra. This year, a Garage Band). I got home (2 hours early, btw) and my daughter was so excited. She had done the laundry ALL BY HERSELF! I was VERY excited with her!!

I went to my neighbor’s house for about an hour. Her 2 year old daughter climbing all over everything. Wasnt so long ago that I was there (having a 2 year old, that is). Did a little shopping with her (MaryKay) for christmas.

Finished my Thanksgiving shopping (the radio, this morning, said that the average Thanksgiving dinner ran about $36 – to feed a family of 4. Mine cost about $160!!! What is wrong with this picture?!). Watched “Bruce Almighty” with my family until hubby got called out (a robbery in Jersey Village).

Nice Day!

I was making deviled eggs for tomorrow when I realized that the dryer had been running for about 3 hours straight. I couldnt figure out why it was still running… I opened it up and saw that it was filled WAY beyond capacity. I called my daughter “J” to explain that, although the machines will technically HOLD a huge amount of clothing, you can only fill it so full. She explained in turn that she had forgotten to turn the dryer on and when the 2nd load came due, she simply tossed it in with what was already in the dryer. She didnt realize that this would overfill it.

I opened the washer to see how full IT was and saw a gray … mess. I asked her, “Did you add detergent to this?” and she said that she had. The same detergent that she used on all the other clothing today. I opened the cabinet and asked her, “Which one?” She pointed to Snuggles (Fabric Softner).

Right besides Snuggles was Tide. I asked her why she didnt use the Tide. She informed me that the bottle said “Tide with Bleach” and we dont use Bleach with colored clothing

Sooooo… we pulled all the clothing out of both machines, the closets and the dressers.

She tried so hard

TGIF!

Another madening day with lots of surprises (some not so bad!!)…

Very first thing after our sales meeting this A.M. the Imagistic Techs showed up to install our copier/fax/scanner/printer/dishwasher… it has only been sitting in the middle of the office for, ummmm, 4 weeks now! The 2 techs say they need someone to learn how to install the programs (there are 5!) on our machines. Soooo, being blonde, I agree to learn. 4 hours later they leave… the 2nd machine they try to install on (my boss’ btw) they couldnt get the TCP/IP set up and they had me call our techs to do it. Well, our techs just copied my configurations so the Imaginistic techs wouldn’t work w/ it (they said something about it being named wrong… I dunno) & said our techs would have to redo it… later. The 2nd machine allowed the printer & fax to install, but couldn’t seem to find the scanner (it is the same machine) so they skipped that one too… the stupid thing was that they kept uninstalling and reinstalling because they thought the configuations were wrong. I mentioned going into the options panel to make the changes instead and they were unable to find the options… they were only looking under “file”?! So… I opened the options file and reset the configuations. It still didnt work, but come on, I knew more than these monkeys!

Sooooo, that was when they left (I still had not set up one machine completely!). Leslie (our tech in Atlanta) called back to see if everything got installed and I told her that I had only been able to get 2 going so far. She was like “What?! They are under contract to install into EVERY COMPUTER, not teach someone on property!” Soooo… Next week they return to install into the remaining 1207 machines! However, I did waste most of my day on it. But, I now know how to install Imagistics 4510! If any of you ever buy one & need help, just gimme a call

The only great thing about the above situation is that the 1st system the techs set up worked… and it was… MINE!!! BruHAHAHAHAHA!

Another 1.5 lb lost this morning! w00t! People keep asking me, (Sarah, being the latest..) if I have trouble finding food I can eat on my diet. The truth is that I eat what my family eats every night. I just leave out the breads & sugars. We might have steak, baked potatos & salad one night… I can eat all of that. I just cant add steak sauce. Before this week I wouldn’t have been able to eat the potato, but that is one of my additions this week. I may not be able to have the steak sauce because of the sugars in it, but I can have cheese, sour cream and real butter on my potato! Honest!

For breakfast I can have eggs (made any way I want), bacon (yep, real bacon) and coffee. At lunch I usually go to Jack in the box or something like that because, although, I get free lunch @ work, I worry about the added sugars & flour used for thickening. Anyway, for lunch I usually eat a 1/2 lb burger from Jacks and a small salad. I just ask for the burger without the bun & ketchup (and no, they dont laugh… they are used to it… LOTS of people are doing this diet). For a snack I can have an Atkins shake or a Atkins candy bar (you would swear they were real chocolate!).

The greatest thing about this diet is that I can have all the meats I want (beef, chicken, pork, fish, seafood, etc…), I can have cheese, butter (but not margarine), cream in my coffee or whipped, mayonaise (but not miracle whip)… the list goes on.

Our Troops

The average age of the military man is 19 years.

He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country.

He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father’s; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He’s a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm Howitzers.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.

He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.

He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.

He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you’re thirsty, he’ll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food.

He’ll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life – or take it, because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime.

He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them.

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to ‘square-away’ those around him who haven’t bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.

Beardless or not, he is not a boy.

He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.

Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

Prayer Wheel

“Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.”

Prayer Wheel: Please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our ground troops in Afghanistan, sailors on ships, and airmen in the air, and for those fighting for freedom in Iraq.

Please…. Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Sailor, Marine or Airman, prayer is the very best one.

Still Here

Havent been much in the mood for blogging lately. Lots of “working through” going on …

I dont know how to deal with what happened to the Cauley family and so I feel a little inept in helping my daughter deal with it. However, the only thing I can do is to let her talk (to me, her friends, teachers, etc…) as much as she needs to. I answer questions honestly (while protecting her as much as possible from the more horrible parts of the situation). She has agreed not to read the papers or watch the news without checking with us first. She seems to be working through it, but “falls” sometimes when something reminds her of her loss. I know this is a part of the normal and grieving process, but difficult to watch your child go through.

I wont go into the more grusome details as the what happened here. I will simply say that Rick Cauley went a little crazy and killed his 3 daughters (Elizabeth – 10 yrs, Purnell ‘la – 6 yrs and Victoria – 4 yrs), his wife and his girlfriend. He tried to get rid of the evidence but he couldnt so he lived in that house with them for 5 days. On the 6th day, an HPD officer went looking for the girlfriend and Rick shot him, then went upstairs and killed himself. If you want to see the rest of the story (at least the printable part) click here and here. There are also pictures of Elizabeth (my daughter’s best friend) and Purnell ‘la.

I know they are safe where they are, but I cant help thinking of what they must have seen and thought on that Monday when their father looked them in the eye and pulled the trigger. And what about the little boy of the other woman he killed? Who is going to explain to him where his mother is? He was left at school on the night his mother was killed, nobody was there to pick him up. I can honestly say that, dead or alive, I hate this man with every ounce of my being.

A Letter From Santa

I regret to inform you that, effective immediately, I will no longer serve the States of Georgia, Florida, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas on Christmas Eve.

Due to the overwhelming current population of the earth, my contract was renegotiated by North AmericanFairies and Elves Local 209. As part of the new and better contract I also get longer breaks for milk and cookies so keep that in mind.

However, I’m certain that your children will be in good hands with your local replacement, who happens to be my third cousin, Bubba Claus. His side of the family is from the South Pole. He shares my goal of delivering toys to all the good boys and girls; however, there are a few differences between us.

Differences such as:

1. There is no danger of the Grinch stealing your presents from Bubba Claus. He has a gun rack on his sleigh and a bumper sticker that reads:”These toys insured by Smith and Wesson.”

2. Instead of milk and cookies, Bubba Claus prefers that children leave an RC cola and pork rinds [or a moon pie] on the fireplace. And Bubba doesn’t smoke a pipe. He dips a little snuff though, so please have an empty spit can handy.

3. Bubba Claus’ sleigh is pulled by floppy-eared, flyin’ coon dogs instead of reindeer. I made the mistake of loaning him a couple of my reindeer one time, and Blitzen’s head now overlooks Bubba’s fireplace.

4. You won’t hear “On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen..” when Bubba Claus arrives. Instead, you’ll hear, “On Earnhardt, on Andretti, on Elliott and Petty.”

5.”Ho, Ho, Ho!” has been replaced by “Yee Haw!” And you also are likely to hear Bubba’s elves respond, “I her’d dat!”

6. As required by Southern highway laws, Bubba Claus’ sleigh does have a Yosemite Sam safety triangle on the back with the words “Back Off.”

7. The usual Christmas movie classics such as “Miracle on 34th Street” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” will not be shown in your negotiated viewing area. Instead, you’ll see “Boss Hogg Saves Christmas” and “Smokey and the Bandit IV” featuring Burt Reynolds as Bubba Claus and dozens of state patrol cars crashing into each other.

And Finally,

8. Bubba Claus doesn’t wear a belt. If I were you, I’d make sure you, the wife, and the kids turn the other way when he bends over to put presents under the tree.

Sincerely Yours,

Santa Claus

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Loooong day today. Kids loved the gifts Santa left (of course, only cost us about $1000.00). I actually found a set of stilts to for my son! (Yes… STILTS!) No, he didnt ask for them as they are not made for Xbox or Game Cube… but, I wanted to give him something that *I* thought he would like (as opposed to something he put on a list). The girls got diaries (the kind with real keys) and of course, they all got what they asked Santa for (dont they all revert to “believers” this time of year, every year?) I got Hubby an electric razor and SoniCare toothbrush.

Hubby gave me… (drum role, please)… a Digital Camera! Ha! Yep, pretty soon you will see real life pictures from my everyday life! I gave it a shot (no pun intended) this morning, but everything comes out blurry and “spotty”. Dont know what I am doing wrong, but never fear, I will figure it out!

I spent all day cooking Ham and Turkey (with all the trimmings) and am beat! I cannot believe I have to return to work tomorrow when the rest of my family is still on vacation! I wanna stay home and put the kids rooms together with all of their fun things! Grrrr.

I will be working on my “Photography” soon… In the mean time, here is something to look at (please excuse the vacuum cleaner, hubby was cleaning up after the kids opened gifts… isnt he great?!)

P.S. NOT mentioning ANYTHING about MAYBE hearing SLIGHTLY better (like, I MAY have heard the dial tone on the phone – with it turned all the way up to the “Neighbors know when you get a call” setting). NOT going to mention it, we all know what happens when you jinx yourself, dont we??! *Yeah, I know it isnt a big deal to most people… but I am not most people!*

Amber Alert

I had a friend in high school, Michelle Korfman, who was absolutely beautiful. Michelle wanted to be a fashion model and competed in beauty pageants. She would have made it to the top of the modeling field. However, when she was 17 she was abducted from a mall in Las Vegas where she was modeling in a fashion show. By looking through the photos obtained from several of the people in the audiance, the police were able to identify one man, Chistopher Wilder, who was wanted in connection with several abductions and murders.

Aparently, Wilder had asked several of the girls to pose for a magazine (I think it was “17″ mag, ,but not sure if I remember that correctly). He told each of them to meet him at Ceasars Palace to sign the contract (I assume). Michelle just happened to be the first to get there. They found her car (her vanity plates said “Tomish” because her baby brother couldnt say her name, he called her “Mish” and the car was a gift from her parents, so =To Mish… sweet, huh?) in the parking lot of Ceasars Palace several days after she vanished.

I was maybe 16 and was working at A&W Rootbeer as a cook when some of my friends came in. This was about 2 months after Michelle came up missing, just after school let out. My friends told me that the police had found Michelle’s body. She had been buried alive! I was so stunned, my whole body trembled… I couldnt believe that someone that I knew had been murdered. Not to mention someone so beautiful who had so much going for her. My head was still spinning when my asshole boss said “Diana, you need to get back to work.. there is nothing you can do about that!” I will never forget that day!

Maybe, if we had an Amber Alert at that time, Christoper Wilder would not have gotten away with killing, not only Michelle, but many many other children just like her!

Please notice the Amber Alert at the top of my page. Most of us have blogs, and since you are here, we are all reading them. This is a simple way we can ALL become involved and help save our children. Please, please follow my lead… You know it is the right thing to do.

Dont you hate those days?

Nothing is going right lately. Simple things like blogging has turned into a major ordeal. For some reason I cant post by just clicking the “New Entry” button. Nothing happens. If I right click and chose to open in a new window it just keeps trying to load … and restarts trying to load… over and over. Every once in awhile it will actually load after a few unsuccessful attempts. If I edit an entry MT wont allow me to look at it again before posting.

The training at work has made me late leaving work every day last week. Missed a couple of lunches because of it and AGAIN was asked it I was going to complete a job description before I leave for “vac” – YES, I WILL GET IT DONE! Duh, a chimpanze could do my job! In fact, by looking at the file cabinets, I think one did before I got the job.

Last night we went out for coffee with a couple of friends (margaretas were out – no drinking until after surgery) and in walks a chef I used to work with who was constantly hitting on me before he got laid off (… couldnt have happened to a nice man!). He didnt say anything and I didnt either… still, made me feel sick to my stomach just running into him.

AND to top it all off I had to stop taking Metabolife until after the surgery ( stapedectomy ). I have been on it too long anyways (I know, any amount of time is too long) but it works. I lost a total of 65lbs! Of course I havent lost anymore in the past year… so what’s the use of taking it? Other than the fact that I am terrified of gaining the weight back.

I cut back on the stuff about 8 months ago when I realized that I was close to maybe losing TOO much weight (I went from a size 16 to a size 4 in about a year). Since cutting back I have gained 13 lbs back and I am between a 6 and an 8. I have been holding steady for about 6 months now.

However, you know, I never actually get to see the change. I mean I know I have lost the weight because my clothing size changed and my boobs got smaller, but when I look in the mirror I still see size 16… or more! I dont know, maybe that is normal.

Anyways, I think, probably that is the main reason for feeling “out of sorts” lately (‘cept for the blog shit, that is). No pills *sigh* Now I know what a drug addict feels like – ok, maybe not to that extreme! But still…this surgery better work!

Posted by Diana at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

They didnt cut off my ears… yet

Im back. Went to my pre-surgery appt. downtown. Man, that is a large hospital(Methodist) it took me 20 minutes just to get to the section I needed to be in and I knew the way… that is just how long it took me to walk there! I was so nervous, even tho I knew they wouldnt be doing anything significant today, but the fact that it was a preable of all the good things to come… freaked me out! However, the nurses and doctors I spoke with (someone put on my chart that I was nervous so they all asked me about it) reminded me that I was having surgery in the Medical Center in Houston, Texas and that if anything were to go wrong I couldnt ask to be in a better place. They are right in that aspect. Doctors roam everywhere… and they are the best doctors in the world. I have absolutely nothing to worry about! :s

But… whatif… what if when they put you under you are, like, semi-dead and you are faced with hell or just in limbo – I mean, people have gone into surgeries and come out totally different, Ive heard stories! And, how do you know what the person sleeping is thinking… feeling? Maybe you dont really actually go to sleep … maybe it is like, halfway and you know what is happening… but the anesthesia is kinda like an amnesia inducing medication (yeah, doctor told me that part is true – it is, you dont remember most of the day)… damn, I gotta get through it before I can even forget it happened!

What if I have a heart attack on the table? An allergic reaction… if I lived I could be totally dependant on people for the rest of my life… and what about my kids? Who would raise them? Hubby would be ok, devistated for awhile, but I think he would be able to go on. My oldest daughter I think would try to hide what she was feeling, my son and my youngest daughter would totally be lost for awhile. And all because I took that stupid ass Metabolife and ruined my heart?

Nah, the Doctors were aware of the diet pills… they didnt seem to worry about it. I probably am just freaking out over nothing. I mean people have surgeries all the time and are fine, why would I be any different?

I wasnt worried until today, isnt that funny? All of a sudden I am almost panicking, worrying about the kids, hubby… hell, I was up until 2 am cleaning house because I would .. well, I was going to say DIE of embarrasment, but if someone is going through my house, I guess it would be too late for that, huh? Haha

Going to get my mind off of such morbid shit now. Guess what good news I did get today? They are not even going to have to cut my hair! LOL phew, that is a relief! Just a small cut outside my ear, 3 stitches maybe is all it takes. The cutting on the inside of my ear will be done with laser and then packed with cotton.

And, one more note on the funny side, if not the good side. I dropped hubby off at the Sheriff’s Satelite yesterday because he was going to an out of town school. We were waiting in my car in the parking lot because another detective just got a new car and he wanted to drive. We saw the car drive up, so we got out of our car, hugged & kissed goodbye. Hubby took his bags and walked over to the other car, opened the back seat door an put his bags in. I saw him talk for a couple of minutes, take his stuff back out of the car and walk back to me… I knew… Just KNEW at that moment he had gotten into the wrong car!!! LOL this poor man, driving a car JUST LIKE the other detective, looked like he was going to have a heart attack! LMAO Hubby was SO embarrassed!! I laughed ’til I thought I was going to pee my pants. We quickly moved to the back of the building so the other guy wouldnt walk by and see what idiots we were!

After Surgery

One of my main concerns before going into surgery was if I would dream. Would they be scary dreams? Have you ever seen Flatliners? I have and I was worried it would be something wierd like that (without the death, thank you very much). I asked several people and got a couple of different answers.

Hubby, who has had surgery many, many times does not remember dreaming. My boss said she didnt believe so either. Neither did another of my co-workers. The nurse at the Doctor’s office, however, said that it varies. Just like some people dream more than others. The anesthesia has a amnesia effect and some people dont even remember any part of the day prior to or after the actual surgery.

Well, in my case… I guess I dream

I remember the nurse giving me something in my IV because I was nervous about seeing the actual operating room (this was about 5 minutes prior to the operation). I saw some man/ woman walk across the surgery waiting room (yeah, we were like all in one big room, in our hospital gowns, seperated by curtains – it was going to be that easy) with his or her butt sticking out of their gown, the nurse laughed loudly and ran after him/her.

I remember them rolling me into the operating room – a big, round, white, BRIGHT room and put a heated blanket over me (it was very cold in there). They pulled a piece of tape (kinda like white masking tape) to keep the blanket over my arms and pulled the side rails up… that is all I remember before the surgery.

Next thing I remember is that I was talking to some girl (could be a woman, couldnt tell her age). She was wearing a white dress about calf length with white hose and shoes (patent leather kind). Her hair was a light dirty blonde that curled slightly at the ends (a little longer than shoulder length). I dont know what we were talking about, but I was in my hospital gown and I could feel them pulling me out of the dream. I told her (the girl/ woman) that I was going to tell them that I dream. I could see her getting further away as I came up from the anesthesia and she just watched me leave. I dont remember her saying anything.

Next thing I know, I am heaving and the nurses were saying “god, ,not again”. I am worried about damaging my eardrums and they are running to put me out again (wake time total about 2 minutes).

I went back and forth for a couple of hours, but never saw the girl again.

Odd? Does anybody else have odd dreams while under?