Holy holly berries batman. My holly bush is BURSTING with berries this year. We're talking boat loads of berries to the point that it's all saggy and sad looking. Not only are there an absolute ton of the little buggers, they're also already changing color from green to orange to red. It's still September!
The difference between the last couple of years and this year has been so great that I did what any self-respecting wanna-be gardener would do - I Googled it.
After a few tries at the search bar, I discovered that there's actually an old wives tale / farmers tale about holly berries. Apparently, the more berries you have, the longer and harder the winter will be. They (who are "they" anyway?) say that it's nature's way of providing enough food for the winter or something crazy like that. I really don't get that part since you don't eat holly berries and the birds around here don't seem too fond of them either, but whatever.
So there you have it - my holly bush is officially forecasting a long, hard winter for the 2013-2014 season and I'll even suggest that the first flakes will fly early judging by how early they are turning red.
On a side note, I am feeling some wicked deja vu right now, so sorry in advance if I've already posted about this. I'll look into that ASAP...
Monday, September 30, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Procrastination
It seems like I can't focus lately. I blame it on the whole being pregnant thing, but there's more to it than that. I was talking to my husband about it last night and he thinks it's my weird work schedule.
You see, with my job it seems that I get absolutely no work for the first two weeks of the month and then I get dumped on with impossible deadlines and a ton of work. That persists through the end of the month and then... back to nothing. So in the beginning I'm bored and looking for extra jobs. At the end of the month I'm out of my mind busy and basically fried.
It seems like spacing the work out better would help, but I have zero control over that. You see, I am a freelance writer. So, the way I imagine things going down, in the beginning of the month my editor is being told to save money. Avoid hiring out jobs. Do work yourself.
Which he doesn't do.
Then, at the end of the month he goes in with a panic saying oh no, if we don't hire out jobs we won't meet the deadlines. So then he starts dishing out work he has known about forever, but with ridiculously short deadlines.
It's really not that awesome. It leads to burn out... and I just have to get through another week before I can rest for 1-2 weeks and recuperate... I can do this. I will do this. Focus.
You see, with my job it seems that I get absolutely no work for the first two weeks of the month and then I get dumped on with impossible deadlines and a ton of work. That persists through the end of the month and then... back to nothing. So in the beginning I'm bored and looking for extra jobs. At the end of the month I'm out of my mind busy and basically fried.
It seems like spacing the work out better would help, but I have zero control over that. You see, I am a freelance writer. So, the way I imagine things going down, in the beginning of the month my editor is being told to save money. Avoid hiring out jobs. Do work yourself.
Which he doesn't do.
Then, at the end of the month he goes in with a panic saying oh no, if we don't hire out jobs we won't meet the deadlines. So then he starts dishing out work he has known about forever, but with ridiculously short deadlines.
It's really not that awesome. It leads to burn out... and I just have to get through another week before I can rest for 1-2 weeks and recuperate... I can do this. I will do this. Focus.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Addicted to Facebook
I'm going to make a serious admission here. I am addicted to Facebook.
I'm sure you gathered that I'm on the social networking site quite a bit by my previous posts, but it's to the point where even I'm seeing a problem. The worst part is it's like I just navigate there automatically. I have a Facebook tab open right now, even as I'm typing this. It's that bad...
Why am I addicted? I like reading about what's going on in other people's lives and I love browsing the yard sale sites. I rarely buy anything, but I love to look. I may ask a question or say interested on an item that has 15 people already in line, but I rarely rarely buy anything.
Lately, I've found myself going to the site in the middle of working, which has made it very very hard to stay on task. The reason is because my job can be super boring and extra tedious at times. I write content for websites and often, it's not for sites that I find exciting or interesting in the least. That makes it even harder to stay on task and so I pop over to Facebook for a minute to see what's going on and then an hour goes by and I'm like no problem, I'll catch up. Then the kids need something and when I sit back down I'm like ok, lets just check out Facebook to ease back into things... and another hour goes by.
Look, I almost just did it again. I meant to close the Facebook tab and instead I clicked it. Ugh!
So folks, have you ever had a Facebook addiction? If so, how did you overcome it and stay off the site? I'm super glad that it's fall and a couple of my library books came in because now I have TV shows to watch twice a week (I had none before, and that's when the Facebook addiction started - at night when I was bored and the hubby was watching his shows, but I still wanted to be in the same room as him) and I have books that need to be read within 2 weeks. I can always clean the house, but at night that's the last thing I want to do. I'm the most productive in the morning, so that's when I try to get work done... however that hasn't been happening lately... Wish me luck as I work super hard today to quit the Facebook habit and catch up on a huge mountain of work. The house will not be getting cleaned today and I hope the kids can magically get along and not need me for long periods of time... you know, like 15 minute stretches. LOL
I'm sure you gathered that I'm on the social networking site quite a bit by my previous posts, but it's to the point where even I'm seeing a problem. The worst part is it's like I just navigate there automatically. I have a Facebook tab open right now, even as I'm typing this. It's that bad...
Why am I addicted? I like reading about what's going on in other people's lives and I love browsing the yard sale sites. I rarely buy anything, but I love to look. I may ask a question or say interested on an item that has 15 people already in line, but I rarely rarely buy anything.
Lately, I've found myself going to the site in the middle of working, which has made it very very hard to stay on task. The reason is because my job can be super boring and extra tedious at times. I write content for websites and often, it's not for sites that I find exciting or interesting in the least. That makes it even harder to stay on task and so I pop over to Facebook for a minute to see what's going on and then an hour goes by and I'm like no problem, I'll catch up. Then the kids need something and when I sit back down I'm like ok, lets just check out Facebook to ease back into things... and another hour goes by.
Look, I almost just did it again. I meant to close the Facebook tab and instead I clicked it. Ugh!
So folks, have you ever had a Facebook addiction? If so, how did you overcome it and stay off the site? I'm super glad that it's fall and a couple of my library books came in because now I have TV shows to watch twice a week (I had none before, and that's when the Facebook addiction started - at night when I was bored and the hubby was watching his shows, but I still wanted to be in the same room as him) and I have books that need to be read within 2 weeks. I can always clean the house, but at night that's the last thing I want to do. I'm the most productive in the morning, so that's when I try to get work done... however that hasn't been happening lately... Wish me luck as I work super hard today to quit the Facebook habit and catch up on a huge mountain of work. The house will not be getting cleaned today and I hope the kids can magically get along and not need me for long periods of time... you know, like 15 minute stretches. LOL
Monday, September 23, 2013
Why the USPS is Failing
Big news everyone, I've figured out why the USPS is failing.
It's because they don't actually deliver mail. I constantly hear how they are going out of business because of email or electronic payments. Cell phones, better cars and even NASA have all been blamed at one point or another for the demise of the postal service. None of those things are true. The post office is failing because the management and employees are incompetent, which is really not surprising given that it's run by the feds. Just sayin' - when has government ever taken a simple concept and improved it? Oh that's right, never.
So what's prompting all of this hate on the USPS? Well, last night I heard that the price of the stamp is going up again, even though I'm pretty sure it already went up once this year. Then, today I watched the mail get delivered. The mailman spent about 5 minutes at my box delivering mail and texting on his cell phone. He then drove off - still texting - to the next house. I went out and checked the mail. Most of it wasn't for me. Most of it wasn't for an address that even somewhat resembled mine. It seemed to be completely random whose mail I got.
I've been expecting a paycheck for a solid week now and I haven't gotten it. I wonder who did get it, considering I've gotten everyone else in town's mail. I called the post office to complain (again) and was told that the individuals bosses weren't in, so they couldn't do anything to help. I refrained from saying their boss couldn't do anything either, since I've called many times in the past.
There really needs to be some private competition to the post office. Maybe just a small, local thing to begin with that delivers mail within a small area and then branches out. They could also use stamps and have prices that are more competitive, but they would get the customers because the mail would actual go to the correct destination. Imagine that!
Unfortunately, I'm sure there are federal laws that prevent that from happening, after all... the feds don't want competition. Sure you have options when it comes to a large package, but if you want to send a letter it's pretty much the USPS or bust. There is no incentive for them to clean up their act and provide better service and it's a shame.
It's because they don't actually deliver mail. I constantly hear how they are going out of business because of email or electronic payments. Cell phones, better cars and even NASA have all been blamed at one point or another for the demise of the postal service. None of those things are true. The post office is failing because the management and employees are incompetent, which is really not surprising given that it's run by the feds. Just sayin' - when has government ever taken a simple concept and improved it? Oh that's right, never.
So what's prompting all of this hate on the USPS? Well, last night I heard that the price of the stamp is going up again, even though I'm pretty sure it already went up once this year. Then, today I watched the mail get delivered. The mailman spent about 5 minutes at my box delivering mail and texting on his cell phone. He then drove off - still texting - to the next house. I went out and checked the mail. Most of it wasn't for me. Most of it wasn't for an address that even somewhat resembled mine. It seemed to be completely random whose mail I got.
I've been expecting a paycheck for a solid week now and I haven't gotten it. I wonder who did get it, considering I've gotten everyone else in town's mail. I called the post office to complain (again) and was told that the individuals bosses weren't in, so they couldn't do anything to help. I refrained from saying their boss couldn't do anything either, since I've called many times in the past.
There really needs to be some private competition to the post office. Maybe just a small, local thing to begin with that delivers mail within a small area and then branches out. They could also use stamps and have prices that are more competitive, but they would get the customers because the mail would actual go to the correct destination. Imagine that!
Unfortunately, I'm sure there are federal laws that prevent that from happening, after all... the feds don't want competition. Sure you have options when it comes to a large package, but if you want to send a letter it's pretty much the USPS or bust. There is no incentive for them to clean up their act and provide better service and it's a shame.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 10
I know that my week 9 update was just a couple of days ago, but I went and had an ultrasound yesterday and found out that I am slightly further along than I thought, so we are already into week 10.
The good news is that the baby looks great. It's a healthy, pulsating blob surrounded by a good-sized sack.
The bad news is that I can't stand the witch that does the ultrasounds at my new Dr's office. Seriously. She is just unpleasant. When I first stepped into the doorway of the smallest room I've ever seen in my life, she told me to remove my clothes from the waist down. I'm not sure such an action would even be possible in so small a space, but to make things even more fun, there was no sheet or anything else, so I'd have just been hanging out in the free and breezy air while she jammed an ultrasound wand up my hoo-ha. No thanks!
So, I asked nicely if we could do an external ultrasound because I had never had an internal one before I would rather avoid that experience if possible. Then, she got all snippy (perhaps someone gets jollies out of doing that to pregnant women?) and told me it's not that invasive. Besides, she said, I'm not far enough along for an external. I told her I was about 9 weeks and she said the paperwork had 8 weeks.
In case you're unfamiliar with an internal (or transvaginal) ultrasound, it's a wand that they put a condom over and insert INTO YOUR VAGINA while wiggling it around to point it in various directions. How the hell is that "not that invasive"?! If she thinks that isn't invasive, I'd really hate to see what she DOES think is invasive! Freak!
So then, she gave me some lip about how she won't be able to see anything and I'd just have to strip down anyway, etc. etc., but I held my ground and we tried it my way. Low and behold, we could see just fine. Also, we found out I'm 10 weeks, which is obviously far enough for an external.
What's the point of this story? Well, if you're a medical professional, I encourage you to remember that although you go through the motions every day of your life, your patients don't. Your patients are probably nervous and I can guarantee that nobody wants anything entering any orifice on their body unless absolutely necessary. Also, just because you're a nurse or doctor or technician of some sort, most women don't like displaying their lady bits to you or flashing some boob. We are told since the time that we're little that showing strangers our bodies is an immoral thing to do, so don't expect it to be easy. Yes, you may be elbow-deep in vagina all day, every day, but it's not MY vagina. You have chosen that to be your profession, and you're used to it, but I have not chosen to be a hooker, so I'm not used to showing strangers intimate parts of my body. Have a little compassion.
Also, whoever controls the medical industry really should come up with less invasive ways for women to get the healthcare that we need because having fingers, lights and tools shoved up our hoo-ha's on a yearly basis (or more often if you're pregnant) is really unpleasant. It's embarrassing and it's demeaning. There must be a better way.
The good news is that the baby looks great. It's a healthy, pulsating blob surrounded by a good-sized sack.
The bad news is that I can't stand the witch that does the ultrasounds at my new Dr's office. Seriously. She is just unpleasant. When I first stepped into the doorway of the smallest room I've ever seen in my life, she told me to remove my clothes from the waist down. I'm not sure such an action would even be possible in so small a space, but to make things even more fun, there was no sheet or anything else, so I'd have just been hanging out in the free and breezy air while she jammed an ultrasound wand up my hoo-ha. No thanks!
So, I asked nicely if we could do an external ultrasound because I had never had an internal one before I would rather avoid that experience if possible. Then, she got all snippy (perhaps someone gets jollies out of doing that to pregnant women?) and told me it's not that invasive. Besides, she said, I'm not far enough along for an external. I told her I was about 9 weeks and she said the paperwork had 8 weeks.
In case you're unfamiliar with an internal (or transvaginal) ultrasound, it's a wand that they put a condom over and insert INTO YOUR VAGINA while wiggling it around to point it in various directions. How the hell is that "not that invasive"?! If she thinks that isn't invasive, I'd really hate to see what she DOES think is invasive! Freak!
So then, she gave me some lip about how she won't be able to see anything and I'd just have to strip down anyway, etc. etc., but I held my ground and we tried it my way. Low and behold, we could see just fine. Also, we found out I'm 10 weeks, which is obviously far enough for an external.
What's the point of this story? Well, if you're a medical professional, I encourage you to remember that although you go through the motions every day of your life, your patients don't. Your patients are probably nervous and I can guarantee that nobody wants anything entering any orifice on their body unless absolutely necessary. Also, just because you're a nurse or doctor or technician of some sort, most women don't like displaying their lady bits to you or flashing some boob. We are told since the time that we're little that showing strangers our bodies is an immoral thing to do, so don't expect it to be easy. Yes, you may be elbow-deep in vagina all day, every day, but it's not MY vagina. You have chosen that to be your profession, and you're used to it, but I have not chosen to be a hooker, so I'm not used to showing strangers intimate parts of my body. Have a little compassion.
Also, whoever controls the medical industry really should come up with less invasive ways for women to get the healthcare that we need because having fingers, lights and tools shoved up our hoo-ha's on a yearly basis (or more often if you're pregnant) is really unpleasant. It's embarrassing and it's demeaning. There must be a better way.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 9
This entry sort of encompasses week 8 and week 9 because I'm not 100% sure how far along I am at this point. On Friday of last week (the day I think I turned 9 weeks), I went to the doctor to meet with the nurse practitioner. She asked all of those crazy questions that they ask - does your husband beat you? Do you use drugs? Are you planning to terminate? - And all the while I'm sitting there wondering what kind of ghetto area I'm in where these types of questions are really being asked.
Then the lady grew horns out of her fricken head and told me we were aiming for a 25 pound weight gain.
WHAT?
I'm not a big individual. I normally weigh about 110 pounds, which is 5 pounds more than I weighed before my first baby. Currently, at about 9 weeks in, I'm 114 pounds. Yes, I have officially gained more than the 2-3 pound allowance for the first trimester.
I'm not eating a ton, in fact, I eat less now than I used to because I'm nauseous ALL THE TIME. So for me, it seems that as soon as I get pregnant, my metabolism takes a vacation and the weight piles on. Just walking through the kitchen to do the dishes adds a couple pounds.
So then, to add insult to injury, she tells me I should aim to eat every 1 - 1 1/2 hours to help with the nausea. She suggested bread, pretzels and crackers as between meal snacks. I just looked at her and said, "Yeah right! I thought I was only supposed to gain 25 pounds!" Then she assured me that I could add a few hundred calories to my daily routine without adding excessive weight.
No you demented twit, I cannot. I'm consuming less calories than normal, the same on a good day and I am gaining weight. That would lead one to believe that if I add in 300 more calories, the weight will really pile one. Ugh. I seriously wanted to slam her head in the mini-fridge in her office.
For the next fun game, she took my blood pressure, which was shockingly low as always. I told her not to worry about it, my BP is always low whether or not I'm pregnant. She seemed concerned and confused at the same time - after all, how could a fatty like me possibly have low blood pressure?!?!
Needless to say, I called my mom as soon as I left there. I told her all of the ridiculous BS that was spewed at me and she laughed. Then she told me something I hadn't known before - my mother averaged a 60 pound weight gain with each of her 3 pregnancies. I gained 45 with my first and closer to 40 with my second, so I guess I'm doing ok.
The downside to all of this nonsense is that now I'm obsessed about my eating. Every time I eat or drink something, I ask myself if I'm really hungry or if I could wait. I've started looking at labels on things like orange juice and worrying about calories. Every time I put something in my mouth I'm thinking about what that judgmental nurse is going to say to me and how high the scale is going to go. It has made every meal absolute torture and despite her advice to snack frequently, I'm suffering through the nausea in hopes of keeping off 1 or 2 unnecessary pounds.
Thanks nurse killjoy. I hope you get horrendously fat due to something beyond your control in the near future.
Then the lady grew horns out of her fricken head and told me we were aiming for a 25 pound weight gain.
WHAT?
I'm not a big individual. I normally weigh about 110 pounds, which is 5 pounds more than I weighed before my first baby. Currently, at about 9 weeks in, I'm 114 pounds. Yes, I have officially gained more than the 2-3 pound allowance for the first trimester.
I'm not eating a ton, in fact, I eat less now than I used to because I'm nauseous ALL THE TIME. So for me, it seems that as soon as I get pregnant, my metabolism takes a vacation and the weight piles on. Just walking through the kitchen to do the dishes adds a couple pounds.
So then, to add insult to injury, she tells me I should aim to eat every 1 - 1 1/2 hours to help with the nausea. She suggested bread, pretzels and crackers as between meal snacks. I just looked at her and said, "Yeah right! I thought I was only supposed to gain 25 pounds!" Then she assured me that I could add a few hundred calories to my daily routine without adding excessive weight.
No you demented twit, I cannot. I'm consuming less calories than normal, the same on a good day and I am gaining weight. That would lead one to believe that if I add in 300 more calories, the weight will really pile one. Ugh. I seriously wanted to slam her head in the mini-fridge in her office.
For the next fun game, she took my blood pressure, which was shockingly low as always. I told her not to worry about it, my BP is always low whether or not I'm pregnant. She seemed concerned and confused at the same time - after all, how could a fatty like me possibly have low blood pressure?!?!
Needless to say, I called my mom as soon as I left there. I told her all of the ridiculous BS that was spewed at me and she laughed. Then she told me something I hadn't known before - my mother averaged a 60 pound weight gain with each of her 3 pregnancies. I gained 45 with my first and closer to 40 with my second, so I guess I'm doing ok.
The downside to all of this nonsense is that now I'm obsessed about my eating. Every time I eat or drink something, I ask myself if I'm really hungry or if I could wait. I've started looking at labels on things like orange juice and worrying about calories. Every time I put something in my mouth I'm thinking about what that judgmental nurse is going to say to me and how high the scale is going to go. It has made every meal absolute torture and despite her advice to snack frequently, I'm suffering through the nausea in hopes of keeping off 1 or 2 unnecessary pounds.
Thanks nurse killjoy. I hope you get horrendously fat due to something beyond your control in the near future.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Land Dispute Part III
I know I don't normally post twice in one day, but bear with me. There has been a new revelation with the land dispute.
The neighbor let it slip that his surveyor said my surveyor was not returning calls and was basically avoiding him. I let my surveyor know what was being said. My surveyor assured me it was not true and CC'd me on an email with the other surveyor, requesting once again a copy of the efiles pertaining to the lots.
This has been going on for more than an year, mind you.
So finally the other surveyor got back to my surveyor and he says oh, well, we can't share our information - it's against policy. Seriously? How the hell do they settle disputes then? And why wasn't this "news" mentioned before? Maybe a year ago?
So I really don't know how they think this will all get settled. Ever. It's going to cost 30-40K to drag it through land court and honestly, my house isn't worth enough to justify that kind of cost, not to mention like most people I don't have that amount of money sitting around to throw at this.
Any suggestions from anyone out there?
The neighbor let it slip that his surveyor said my surveyor was not returning calls and was basically avoiding him. I let my surveyor know what was being said. My surveyor assured me it was not true and CC'd me on an email with the other surveyor, requesting once again a copy of the efiles pertaining to the lots.
This has been going on for more than an year, mind you.
So finally the other surveyor got back to my surveyor and he says oh, well, we can't share our information - it's against policy. Seriously? How the hell do they settle disputes then? And why wasn't this "news" mentioned before? Maybe a year ago?
So I really don't know how they think this will all get settled. Ever. It's going to cost 30-40K to drag it through land court and honestly, my house isn't worth enough to justify that kind of cost, not to mention like most people I don't have that amount of money sitting around to throw at this.
Any suggestions from anyone out there?
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