I suppose I've been away too long. I see there is a new blog format or layout, whatever this new look is called. Fellow bloggers know what I mean, it is seamless to readers. I'll try anything once. If the letters are backwards, you'll know why.
Haven't felt much like blogging lately, not much happening, not much to write about. We've had great weather since Hurricane Irene, low temps and humidity. I should be out walking, but haven't made it yet. Monday I started cleaning (I saw cobwebs on the ceiling fans) and John came home early from work. I got started, I didn't finish. I don't like cleaning around people, and I certainly don't need an audience. I put everything away for another day. Yesterday, I went back at the cleaning and got it all done. John informed me he would be busy at work (finally) Tuesday and Wednesday, maybe Thursday too, he plans on taking Friday off (Redskins football game on TV Thursday night). Today is Wednesday, the grocery store is on my schedule.
I had to wait for the refrigerator repairman to show up (between 7am and Noon) before I could go to the grocery store. I hate letting strangers in the house when I'm the only one home. The icemaker on our ($2400) LG refrigerator went out, again. This is the third time the icemaker has died. John and I knew we bought an extended warranty when we replaced the icemaker last time it was repaired. The first time the icemaker failed, we had the refrigerator two weeks. We weren't sure when the warranty expired. John found the paperwork. We bought it November 2006 and bought a five year warranty, warranty expires November 2011, whew, just in time.
"Mike" the repairman showed up after calling at 10:30 this morning. He was leaving another customer in Alexandria, Virginia heading to me, he was on his way. Mike arrived about 11:10am. Mike is a young kid who looked to be in his mid-20s. We had called in the repair last week (pre Hurricane Irene). The warranty repair company (Video Tech) had to order another icemaker and wait for it to come in before they could come out. Mike installed the new icemaker - no ice, it didn't work. After following all the lines from the icemaker, Mike finds there are two valves in our type of refrigerator. One valve for ice making, another valve for water dispensing. The water dispensing works fine, it dispenses without any problems. The problem is no ice. I had told Mike this was our third icemaker repair. He said that the Koreans are not big on ice. Unknowingly, LG = Korean made. I bought a 25 pound bag of ice pre Hurricane Irene, which I broke down into gallon size Ziplock bags in the freezer. I've got two Ziplock bags left and have to wait another week for an ice valve now. I'm going to need to buy more ice. Mike left the new icemaker that he just finished installing in the freezer. I know we both thought the same thing - at least if the refrigerator stops making ice again, it shouldn't be the icemaker since it is brand new. Once the valve comes in, they'll call to install. Oh, Mike said the company, Video Tech, is owned by his FIL. They are changing the company's focus from video repair to appliances repair. Video Tech, he says, was recently awarded warranty contracts from Best Buy and Lowes after passing certification tests. Not much need for video repairs these days, apparently. Mike left about 12:15pm, I left shortly afterwards for the grocery story.
I expected to hear from Ann, the recruiter, who called me last Monday (Aug 22) about the HR Assistant job I would be a perfect fit for. If you recall, Ann contacted on 10:30am last Monday. She insisted she had to see me THAT DAY in order to submit my resume to the client. I had just come back from walking, all hot and sweaty. I jumped in the shower, blow dryed my hair, curled my hair, put on makeup, put on my interview suite and drove to meet Ann for our 3:30pm interview. We had a 20 minutes Q&A meeting about my resume and experience where she asked me to produce references, which I did. I was notified by my references last week Ann contacted them. When wrapping up last week, Ann said she would be in touch in a week after she heard from the client. Giving it a "true week", I waited until yesterday (Tuesday) to hear from Ann. As I suspected, I never got a call from Ann. I called Ann asking for an update or status on the job. "Oh, I didn't call you? I thought I called you. I'm sorry, the job was filled internally." I wanted to reach through the phone and grab her by the throat. I tried not to sound sarcastic as I thanked her for her time and efforts. She asked I STAY IN TOUCH to keep reminding her I was interested and actively looking for employment - HA!!! She can turn blue before I call her! She called me the first time, she can call me again if she has something.
Five paragraphs later I guess I found something to say! Tomorrow, back to walking finally and laundry. John will be home Friday, not sure what he's got on the schedule for us yet. What do you think about a blog without pictures?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Hurricane Irene That Wasn't
No flooding, no trees down, no loss of power, no damage, we've had worse thunderstorms than "Hurricane Irene". Here's what our backyard looked like, notice the leaves on the lawn?
Here's the worst damage I could find. I found a twig by the shed and the day lillys look like something sat on them. I'm waiting for fall to cut the day lillys back for the season.
We put everything back where it belonged. The patio was as it was before the threat of Irene.
Bunnies were returned to the outside where they should be, all nice and clean.
The front porch furniture also put back in place, ready for relaxation again.
And John got his man cave - oops, garage back to normal. The generator neatly tucked away until the need for its use arises again, and it will.
All the hype, we took the precautions as warned and escaped without harm and damage. No one in our neighborhood had any damage either. My friend, Colleen, from Edgewater, Maryland, on the other hand was not so lucky. She has been without power since 10pm Saturday night. I spoke with her today, they had trees down on live wires. She reported it, now they wait for the power company to come. Their neighbor had his van and pickup truck both crushed by falling trees. Sounds like and insurance nightmare. Colleen filled her bathtub with water before the storm for toilet flushing, they are on well water. She is hoping they see the power company truck tomorrow.
I am grateful and count our blessings that we didn't suffer any damage, thank you Lord! I am sure there are many people counting their blessings too as Hurricane Irene departed our area. We know how lucky we are.
Here's the worst damage I could find. I found a twig by the shed and the day lillys look like something sat on them. I'm waiting for fall to cut the day lillys back for the season.
We put everything back where it belonged. The patio was as it was before the threat of Irene.
Bunnies were returned to the outside where they should be, all nice and clean.
The front porch furniture also put back in place, ready for relaxation again.
And John got his man cave - oops, garage back to normal. The generator neatly tucked away until the need for its use arises again, and it will.
All the hype, we took the precautions as warned and escaped without harm and damage. No one in our neighborhood had any damage either. My friend, Colleen, from Edgewater, Maryland, on the other hand was not so lucky. She has been without power since 10pm Saturday night. I spoke with her today, they had trees down on live wires. She reported it, now they wait for the power company to come. Their neighbor had his van and pickup truck both crushed by falling trees. Sounds like and insurance nightmare. Colleen filled her bathtub with water before the storm for toilet flushing, they are on well water. She is hoping they see the power company truck tomorrow.
I am grateful and count our blessings that we didn't suffer any damage, thank you Lord! I am sure there are many people counting their blessings too as Hurricane Irene departed our area. We know how lucky we are.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Take Warning - Hurricane Irene
All the warnings, what to do? Play it safe, heed the warnings? Throw caution to the wind, ignore the warnings? Is this another "cry wolf"? We decided to heed the warnings.
John came home Wednesday from work and said he wasn't going back to work until Monday, still not enough to do. Thursday, it rained most of the day. We did get the gas cans filled for the generator just in case we lost power during Hurricane Irene. I had been to the grocery store Wednesday, shelves stocked, no problem getting anything I needed. Plenty of milk, bread, toilet paper and water. I bought what we needed (bread and water from those items listed, much more on my list). Thursday evening we watched the Redskins/Ravens football game. Battle of the Beltways they called it. It was a good game, the Baltimore Ravens won. The Redskins gave the game away in the last two minutes. In past Redskin seasons, that's been the norm, either they lose miserably or they lead most of the game and then in the 4th quarter, they give away they game by throwing an interception or some other turnover. I'm just glad it was pre-season. After 20 years of losses, this is suppose to be THE YEAR for the Redskins. They'll have to prove it, I've heard this song before. I probably want it to be THE YEAR more than they do. Redskins in the Superbowl...that's my wish.
Friday was humid, sticky humid, like sitting in a sauna humid, yuk, I hate humidity, can't breathe. We're gathering up everything that wasn't nailed down in our yard and putting items in the garage. Since I am the bunny collector, alot of gathering fell to me. After I collected my bunnies, they had to be washed down and wiped off according to John's standards. We put the patio furniture, umbrella and grill garage and all the clean bunnies along with the wind chimes and outdoor clock in the garage, out of Irene's way. Our cars remained in the driveway, not space for them in the garage - ha! The bunnies await their bath.
Bunnies cleaned and wiped, stored in the garage. Notice the patio furniture and the grill.
We also had a visitor on Friday evening in our backyard. A fawn seemed to be all alone. No sign of any other deer. The Fake Owl in the foreground has been screwed down with two 6-inch screws into the brickwork and "that owl isn't going anywhere" John says. As for the tomatoes, they're just about done for this year, great pickings for salads.
After the fawn spotted me taking pictures, it ran into the woods. I used the zoom lens, I think you can still see her below and beyond the bird feeder in the woods.
After we got everything off the deck, I finished up drying my last load of laundry, just in case of a power loss. You can still see where the hot tub use to be on the deck. Hopefully, that will fade by next summer.
The Saturday Walking Group was cancelled posted on the website, due to Irene. We usually have a back up plan to walk in the shopping mall, I wonder if it closed? We have a gorgeous forecast for the upcoming week, low 80s and low humidity - May weather again, woohoo!! I'll be back to walking again. I've already exceeded my Walker Tracker August goal.
Almost 10pm Saturday evening. It's been a rainy day with a little wind, gusts maybe 15-20mph. Not the "take cover, here comes the big one" that we were warned about. Oh well, better to caution on the side of safety I suppose.
Our DVD set of Season 8 of NCIS ordered from Amazon arrived Friday. Six disks, four episodes per disk. We've made it through two disks today. John is now watching the NASCAR race. I've been glued to the news and The Weather Channel. Those poor folks in the coastal areas of Virginia and North Carolina, so much damage. They are reporting eight deaths as well. I hope the folks in that area took heed to the warnings.
We will spend tomorrow returning our grill, patio furniture, umbrella, bunnies, chimes, and outdoor clock to their original homes - outdoors. Safely secured from the torrential rain and wind that was suppose to hit called Hurricane Irene. We'll use the extra batteries and supplies purchased sometime, just not as fast as intended. I count us among the lucky ones, we dodged one.
John came home Wednesday from work and said he wasn't going back to work until Monday, still not enough to do. Thursday, it rained most of the day. We did get the gas cans filled for the generator just in case we lost power during Hurricane Irene. I had been to the grocery store Wednesday, shelves stocked, no problem getting anything I needed. Plenty of milk, bread, toilet paper and water. I bought what we needed (bread and water from those items listed, much more on my list). Thursday evening we watched the Redskins/Ravens football game. Battle of the Beltways they called it. It was a good game, the Baltimore Ravens won. The Redskins gave the game away in the last two minutes. In past Redskin seasons, that's been the norm, either they lose miserably or they lead most of the game and then in the 4th quarter, they give away they game by throwing an interception or some other turnover. I'm just glad it was pre-season. After 20 years of losses, this is suppose to be THE YEAR for the Redskins. They'll have to prove it, I've heard this song before. I probably want it to be THE YEAR more than they do. Redskins in the Superbowl...that's my wish.
Friday was humid, sticky humid, like sitting in a sauna humid, yuk, I hate humidity, can't breathe. We're gathering up everything that wasn't nailed down in our yard and putting items in the garage. Since I am the bunny collector, alot of gathering fell to me. After I collected my bunnies, they had to be washed down and wiped off according to John's standards. We put the patio furniture, umbrella and grill garage and all the clean bunnies along with the wind chimes and outdoor clock in the garage, out of Irene's way. Our cars remained in the driveway, not space for them in the garage - ha! The bunnies await their bath.
Bunnies cleaned and wiped, stored in the garage. Notice the patio furniture and the grill.
We also had a visitor on Friday evening in our backyard. A fawn seemed to be all alone. No sign of any other deer. The Fake Owl in the foreground has been screwed down with two 6-inch screws into the brickwork and "that owl isn't going anywhere" John says. As for the tomatoes, they're just about done for this year, great pickings for salads.
After the fawn spotted me taking pictures, it ran into the woods. I used the zoom lens, I think you can still see her below and beyond the bird feeder in the woods.
After we got everything off the deck, I finished up drying my last load of laundry, just in case of a power loss. You can still see where the hot tub use to be on the deck. Hopefully, that will fade by next summer.
Hard to believe with this kind of sunset on Friday evening, there was deadly Hurricane Irene headed our direction. We've been warned to stay off the roads and stay inside, this is the big one! I cooked a (whole wheat macaroni) casserole with 75% fat free white cheddar cheese and fat free milk, topped with reduced fat/skim milk mozzarella cheese and whole wheat bread crumbs. We had it for dinner Friday and Saturday nights. I made two 13x13x2 pans in case the power went out. It would be easy just to microwave (we have a generator) something for meals. I have one pan left.
The Saturday Walking Group was cancelled posted on the website, due to Irene. We usually have a back up plan to walk in the shopping mall, I wonder if it closed? We have a gorgeous forecast for the upcoming week, low 80s and low humidity - May weather again, woohoo!! I'll be back to walking again. I've already exceeded my Walker Tracker August goal.
Almost 10pm Saturday evening. It's been a rainy day with a little wind, gusts maybe 15-20mph. Not the "take cover, here comes the big one" that we were warned about. Oh well, better to caution on the side of safety I suppose.
Our DVD set of Season 8 of NCIS ordered from Amazon arrived Friday. Six disks, four episodes per disk. We've made it through two disks today. John is now watching the NASCAR race. I've been glued to the news and The Weather Channel. Those poor folks in the coastal areas of Virginia and North Carolina, so much damage. They are reporting eight deaths as well. I hope the folks in that area took heed to the warnings.
We will spend tomorrow returning our grill, patio furniture, umbrella, bunnies, chimes, and outdoor clock to their original homes - outdoors. Safely secured from the torrential rain and wind that was suppose to hit called Hurricane Irene. We'll use the extra batteries and supplies purchased sometime, just not as fast as intended. I count us among the lucky ones, we dodged one.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Goodbye Earthquake, Hello Hurricane Irene
I'm starting out on the positive, hoping to avoid the negative. The weather her continues to be wonderful with temperatures in the low 80 and low humidity. We even bonused today with a nice breeze. Today is Wednesday - grocery shopping day! I'm sticking to a routine, hope that's a good thing. I downed my coffee, you know I can't function without coffee! I thought about jumping in the shower and then thought about the time it would take - nawww for what? The grocery store? Nawww - I planned on taking a walk later this afternoon, maybe then. I put my hair into a ponytail and headed out armed with my list. I went to the Giant only today. There certainly is a monetary difference between Giant and Shoppers Food Warehouse (SFW), close to $100 difference, yikes!
It wasn't busy except for the employees, it must have been stocking day. Every aisle had an employee stocking the shelves. I can't never get the timing of grocery shopping right, they're always stocking the shelves. With (Hurricane) Irene due to visit, I figured I'd scoot down the wine aisle...decisions, decisions.
In Virginia, you can buy beer and wine (low alcohol levels) in the grocery store. I thought this was a big deal when I moved here from Maryland. I'd never heard of such a thing. In Maryland (when I lived there in the late 70s), you could only buy beer and wine in the "Package store". That's what my parents called the liquor store. We don't have liquor stores in Virginia. We have the Virginia Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (VA ABC). The state of Virginia determines what its citizens will drink (VA ABC orders and stocks all stores). My liquor of choice (for Hurricane Irene's visit) is Vanilla Kahula. I enjoy my White Russian (Skye Vodka, Vanilla Kahula and Fat Free Milk). I can't have more than two a nice, it is very filling.
After the grocery store and liquor store, I headed home to unpack and make a salad for lunch. As I turned the corner and headed down our street, I see this in the middle of the street. Ladies, you should use the sidewalk even if you can't be side-by-side. Notice the double yellow line (no passing) on my street. They'll find out no one but me pays attention to the 25mph speed limit. Hope they make it home safely!
I had the groceries put away by 12:45pm. Wells Fargo, who we are refinancing our mortgage through, called and left a message. Wells Fargo holds our current mortgage. I called John at work to let him know they called. John informed me that things are still slow at work. He plans to burn more of his leave and take the rest of the week off, he would be home shortly. John returned Wells Fargo's call shortly after he arrived home. Turns out there is confusion in the numbers Wells Fargo says they "did not quote". John was under the impression our mortgage would drop by $194. Wells Fargo now states it was $94 they quoted as our new reduced mortgage. We are not refinancing through Wells Fargo. We also belong to a Credit Union. On my laptop, I pulled up mortgage rates from their website and showed John. He said the Credit Union's mortgage rate was better than Wells Fargo (funny, I thought he would have already checked?). Tomorrow, we're going to the Credit Union to see if the numbers really work.
I had my salad and watched my soap opera. I still needed to squeeze in a walk even thought I feel like I've done alot of walking already (more than a regular day anyway) at the grocery store and liquor store. I'm trying to push myself when the weather presents itself. You can see what a beautiful sky we had, although not completely blue this afternoon as it had been previous mornings. There was a 15mph breeze and it felt lovely.
I decided to head down my street on my regular route. That hill yesterday did a number on my thighs and butt, which is good, just can't do the hill on back-to-back days. Yeah, my legs were very sore this morning. It took all I could muster to get going today (patting myself on the back). I find after I have walked my legs stiffen easier when I'm not moving. I suppose that's my body telling me to keep moving? Humm, I must remember to ask Pam (the trainer) during our Saturday Walking Group.
On my shorter walk this afternoon, I noticed a neighbors car, which initially I thought was a import car. I expected to see the steering wheel on the "opposite side" than we have ours. I was surprised to see it wasn't, it was on the regular side. I looked closer, this was a Volkswagen! I'd never seen one like this before, have you? I'm use to seeing the VW Bug or the VW Bus or maybe the Jetta once in awhile.
Keeping in the positive, I think Hurricane Irene will affect the coastal areas here, not inland. We'll be okay here in Northern Virginia (fingers crossed). We'll probably get some wind and rain, not hurricane/category strength. John is thinking of buying some plywood to board up windows and doors here. Clearly, he thinks the worse. We are also going to buy gasoline for our generator tomorrow. He's going to check tomorrows weather to see if we need to swing into Lowes for plywood. If Irene does change her current projected path, which is just nicking the Virginia and Maryland coastline and she heads inland, it won't be until Saturday afternoon sometime. My fellow bloggers, it's better to be prepared, hope you've taken initiative to prepare if you are in Irene's path.
Food - check, Beverages - check, Bottled Water - check, Gasoline for generator - check, Candles - check, Laptop and Camera charged up - check. Go ahead Irene, stop by here for a visit, we'll be ready.
It wasn't busy except for the employees, it must have been stocking day. Every aisle had an employee stocking the shelves. I can't never get the timing of grocery shopping right, they're always stocking the shelves. With (Hurricane) Irene due to visit, I figured I'd scoot down the wine aisle...decisions, decisions.
In Virginia, you can buy beer and wine (low alcohol levels) in the grocery store. I thought this was a big deal when I moved here from Maryland. I'd never heard of such a thing. In Maryland (when I lived there in the late 70s), you could only buy beer and wine in the "Package store". That's what my parents called the liquor store. We don't have liquor stores in Virginia. We have the Virginia Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (VA ABC). The state of Virginia determines what its citizens will drink (VA ABC orders and stocks all stores). My liquor of choice (for Hurricane Irene's visit) is Vanilla Kahula. I enjoy my White Russian (Skye Vodka, Vanilla Kahula and Fat Free Milk). I can't have more than two a nice, it is very filling.
After the grocery store and liquor store, I headed home to unpack and make a salad for lunch. As I turned the corner and headed down our street, I see this in the middle of the street. Ladies, you should use the sidewalk even if you can't be side-by-side. Notice the double yellow line (no passing) on my street. They'll find out no one but me pays attention to the 25mph speed limit. Hope they make it home safely!
I had the groceries put away by 12:45pm. Wells Fargo, who we are refinancing our mortgage through, called and left a message. Wells Fargo holds our current mortgage. I called John at work to let him know they called. John informed me that things are still slow at work. He plans to burn more of his leave and take the rest of the week off, he would be home shortly. John returned Wells Fargo's call shortly after he arrived home. Turns out there is confusion in the numbers Wells Fargo says they "did not quote". John was under the impression our mortgage would drop by $194. Wells Fargo now states it was $94 they quoted as our new reduced mortgage. We are not refinancing through Wells Fargo. We also belong to a Credit Union. On my laptop, I pulled up mortgage rates from their website and showed John. He said the Credit Union's mortgage rate was better than Wells Fargo (funny, I thought he would have already checked?). Tomorrow, we're going to the Credit Union to see if the numbers really work.
I had my salad and watched my soap opera. I still needed to squeeze in a walk even thought I feel like I've done alot of walking already (more than a regular day anyway) at the grocery store and liquor store. I'm trying to push myself when the weather presents itself. You can see what a beautiful sky we had, although not completely blue this afternoon as it had been previous mornings. There was a 15mph breeze and it felt lovely.
I decided to head down my street on my regular route. That hill yesterday did a number on my thighs and butt, which is good, just can't do the hill on back-to-back days. Yeah, my legs were very sore this morning. It took all I could muster to get going today (patting myself on the back). I find after I have walked my legs stiffen easier when I'm not moving. I suppose that's my body telling me to keep moving? Humm, I must remember to ask Pam (the trainer) during our Saturday Walking Group.
On my shorter walk this afternoon, I noticed a neighbors car, which initially I thought was a import car. I expected to see the steering wheel on the "opposite side" than we have ours. I was surprised to see it wasn't, it was on the regular side. I looked closer, this was a Volkswagen! I'd never seen one like this before, have you? I'm use to seeing the VW Bug or the VW Bus or maybe the Jetta once in awhile.
Keeping in the positive, I think Hurricane Irene will affect the coastal areas here, not inland. We'll be okay here in Northern Virginia (fingers crossed). We'll probably get some wind and rain, not hurricane/category strength. John is thinking of buying some plywood to board up windows and doors here. Clearly, he thinks the worse. We are also going to buy gasoline for our generator tomorrow. He's going to check tomorrows weather to see if we need to swing into Lowes for plywood. If Irene does change her current projected path, which is just nicking the Virginia and Maryland coastline and she heads inland, it won't be until Saturday afternoon sometime. My fellow bloggers, it's better to be prepared, hope you've taken initiative to prepare if you are in Irene's path.
Food - check, Beverages - check, Bottled Water - check, Gasoline for generator - check, Candles - check, Laptop and Camera charged up - check. Go ahead Irene, stop by here for a visit, we'll be ready.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
What A Day
Another gorgeous day! Whoever ordered May weather in August, thank you! We have been truly blessed with such beautiful weather yesterday and today. Tomorrow will be a three-peat. After that, we're suppose to expect a visit from Hurricane Irene by week's end. We'll see, the weather folks are over the map with their impact projections. After my pot of coffee and a little of the Today Show, headed out for my morning walk. I decided to head the opposite direction which I usually take for a change of scenery. It was a crisp 67 degrees, just perfect at 10am.
I remembered why I don't head this way that often, it is a bit of an incline, really gets the heart rate going.
Most flowers are done for the summer, I found these hanging on. I don't know what they are, but they're pretty.
I probably walked two miles today, for me, that's a good walk. When I reached the top of "the hill" I crossed the street and headed back. From here maybe you can see the incline a bit better.
I passed this colonial style home. This is a very 1960s house I think, right down to the flag in the front yard. I wonder if Mrs. Cleaver or The Beave are home?
This house is on the corner of a well travelled street. People with swimming pools must enclosed with a minimum six foot fence. I go past this house most days I'm out walking. It is about half a mile from my house. There is never anyone in the swimming pool. I've often been tempted to knock on the door and tell the owners how inviting their swimming pool looks. I would introduce myself as a neighbor and casually mention that I've noticed no one uses the pool, and saying "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I did." Look closely, through the fence, once again, no one is in the pool.
Finally, home is in sight, I'm almost there and sweating but feeling good. Yay, Home Sweet Home!!
After wiping myself down and getting a tall glass of cold water, I turned on the TV just for noise in the house. I needed to get the kitchen floor cleaned again, I dragged out the vacuum and cleaned the house, then got the mop for the kitchen floor. I waited awhile for the floor to dry, while playing Solitaire on the laptop.
It was almost noon, time for lunch. I made myself another salad with some home grown tomatoes. I think I'm making a dent in the surplus now that their bloom has stopped. While I'm watching the noon news and eating my salad, John walks in the door, scared me half to death. It seems it is another boring day at work. He said he's still got two days to burn between now and September 1st to get off the books so he doesn't lose the leave. That will give him the maximum balance allowed for carryover (3 weeks). He had taken his lunch to work and ate it at his desk. He said he didn't want anything else to eat and headed to the bedroom to change.
I finished my salad and put away the vacuum cleaner. I had left it in the middle of the living room deciding to put it away later. I checked Facebook to see what my friends were up to and played another game. I figured I'd do some job hunting later this afternoon, after my soap opera. Almost 1pm I switched to ABC for All My Children, it is really getting good since they've decided to take it off the air. It will be picked up by cable or go to the internet, the storyline will continue, just not on network television. It is being replaced by a cooking show called The Chew...hummm.
At 1:51pm, our house started shaking violently. We are about ten minutes from Dulles Airport (NW of Washington, DC). I thought it might be a low flying plane. When it didn't stop in five seconds, I yelled for John who came from our computer room/office (third bedroom) and asks what all the shaking was. I said I was going outside to see, he followed me. I had left my Facebook open on my laptop in the kitchen. Whatever it was it stopped. I remember back to the late 60s when we lived in Alaska, it felt like an earthquake. We didn't lose power. John said whatever it was, it would be on TV. I switched channels (the soap opera was still on), nothing. I looked my laptop where my Facebook wall was scrolling that we'd had an earthquake! They said it was 5.9 magnitude (they don't say Richter scale anymore apparently). It was felt on the East Coast from South Carolina to Ontario, Canada centered in Mineral, Virginia about 40 miles NW of Richmond. One vote for social media, the earthquake was confirmed on Facebook before the news broke on the television.
The news broke in about 2pm to confirm the quake. John walked the house inside and out to survey and damage. He opened and closed all the windows making sure nothing was cracked. Our only mishap, my desk drawer opened all by itself.
Of course the news was full of stories and interviews, "where were you when the earthquake struck?" I was thankful John was home. It reminded me of 9-11, the chaos of hearing the noise and not knowing what was happening. Our house shook too when the plane hit the Pentagon. For John and I in our 19 years together it was our first earthquake together. You always remember your firsts!
I remembered why I don't head this way that often, it is a bit of an incline, really gets the heart rate going.
Most flowers are done for the summer, I found these hanging on. I don't know what they are, but they're pretty.
I probably walked two miles today, for me, that's a good walk. When I reached the top of "the hill" I crossed the street and headed back. From here maybe you can see the incline a bit better.
I passed this colonial style home. This is a very 1960s house I think, right down to the flag in the front yard. I wonder if Mrs. Cleaver or The Beave are home?
This house is on the corner of a well travelled street. People with swimming pools must enclosed with a minimum six foot fence. I go past this house most days I'm out walking. It is about half a mile from my house. There is never anyone in the swimming pool. I've often been tempted to knock on the door and tell the owners how inviting their swimming pool looks. I would introduce myself as a neighbor and casually mention that I've noticed no one uses the pool, and saying "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I did." Look closely, through the fence, once again, no one is in the pool.
Finally, home is in sight, I'm almost there and sweating but feeling good. Yay, Home Sweet Home!!
After wiping myself down and getting a tall glass of cold water, I turned on the TV just for noise in the house. I needed to get the kitchen floor cleaned again, I dragged out the vacuum and cleaned the house, then got the mop for the kitchen floor. I waited awhile for the floor to dry, while playing Solitaire on the laptop.
It was almost noon, time for lunch. I made myself another salad with some home grown tomatoes. I think I'm making a dent in the surplus now that their bloom has stopped. While I'm watching the noon news and eating my salad, John walks in the door, scared me half to death. It seems it is another boring day at work. He said he's still got two days to burn between now and September 1st to get off the books so he doesn't lose the leave. That will give him the maximum balance allowed for carryover (3 weeks). He had taken his lunch to work and ate it at his desk. He said he didn't want anything else to eat and headed to the bedroom to change.
I finished my salad and put away the vacuum cleaner. I had left it in the middle of the living room deciding to put it away later. I checked Facebook to see what my friends were up to and played another game. I figured I'd do some job hunting later this afternoon, after my soap opera. Almost 1pm I switched to ABC for All My Children, it is really getting good since they've decided to take it off the air. It will be picked up by cable or go to the internet, the storyline will continue, just not on network television. It is being replaced by a cooking show called The Chew...hummm.
At 1:51pm, our house started shaking violently. We are about ten minutes from Dulles Airport (NW of Washington, DC). I thought it might be a low flying plane. When it didn't stop in five seconds, I yelled for John who came from our computer room/office (third bedroom) and asks what all the shaking was. I said I was going outside to see, he followed me. I had left my Facebook open on my laptop in the kitchen. Whatever it was it stopped. I remember back to the late 60s when we lived in Alaska, it felt like an earthquake. We didn't lose power. John said whatever it was, it would be on TV. I switched channels (the soap opera was still on), nothing. I looked my laptop where my Facebook wall was scrolling that we'd had an earthquake! They said it was 5.9 magnitude (they don't say Richter scale anymore apparently). It was felt on the East Coast from South Carolina to Ontario, Canada centered in Mineral, Virginia about 40 miles NW of Richmond. One vote for social media, the earthquake was confirmed on Facebook before the news broke on the television.
The news broke in about 2pm to confirm the quake. John walked the house inside and out to survey and damage. He opened and closed all the windows making sure nothing was cracked. Our only mishap, my desk drawer opened all by itself.
Of course the news was full of stories and interviews, "where were you when the earthquake struck?" I was thankful John was home. It reminded me of 9-11, the chaos of hearing the noise and not knowing what was happening. Our house shook too when the plane hit the Pentagon. For John and I in our 19 years together it was our first earthquake together. You always remember your firsts!
Monday, August 22, 2011
A Beautiful Day
Yesterday was very hot and humid. Severe thunderstorms were forecast. We got about ten minutes of rain and thunder, no lightening and the sun was back out. Thankfully, it must have been enough to wash away the humidity. Before the rain, John had to get in the lawn mowing. The lawn is just about all brown from the awful heat and no rain this summer. I didn't say a word.
I did some tomato pickin and got a few that looked ready. One was the size of a cherry tomato. Maybe it was a dud tomato, is there such a thing? A dud tomato?
This is my "to be eaten" supply.
The rain came about mid-afternoon yesterday, about 3pm. It looked like it was going to be bad and then then sun was back out before I knew it. We had a very leisurely Sunday, it was nice.
Today is Monday and oh what a beautiful day! After I had my two cups of coffee, I got ready and headed out the door for a walk. I couldn't let today get away without a walk! This weather of no humidity and low temps is suppose to stay with us through Wednesday, I hope the weather folks got it right. Just look at that blue sky!
Heading down my street, I noticed a neighbor has a project either torn down or ready to go. The fence looks old, which lead me to believe it was a tear down. Either way, it looks like it is hard work.
Is election year evident in your neighborhood too? These folks are showing their support.
When I passed this, I had to back up and look at it. As I got closer, it didn't look like a spider. Whatever it is hanging from a pine tree. If you look closely, you will see its web, follow to the spider(?) at the bottom. When I got closer to take a look, it moved toward me. I backed up and used the zoom feature to take this. All I can say is eeewwwwww.
Heading home, I'm tired, it seems like I've been walking forever, it was 30 minutes (stop laughing). Finally, I finally see our ranch house in view. We're the last house on the right. I'm almost home, and I need a cold glass of water.
When I got home there was an message on the answering machine from a recruiter asking if I was still looking for a job. I called "Ann" the recruiter back. She wanted to see me T-O-D-A-Y (ugh)??! I told Ann tomorrow would be better. I didn't want to tell her I was all sweaty from being out walking. She said it would be better if I could make it today, say 3:30? I looked at the clock, it was 11:10am. "Sure" I said, I look forward to meeting you then. I jumped in the shower. I let my hair air dry for about a half hour before I took the blow dryer to it, then pulled out the hot rollers. Hair is in rollers will be nice and curly. I left the curlers in until I was about ready to get dressed. Makeup on-check, mascara-check, eye shadow-check, I'm just about ready. Took out the hairspray and gave my hair a good spray. I'm dressed and ready to go, it's 3pm. The recruiter's office was just down the road, it took me about ten minutes. Parking there was awful, there was no "visitor parking". There were about 20 empty handicapped slots right up front. I learned the fire marshall sets the number of handicapped parking required based on the building square footage, did you know that? I ended parking further away from the building than I wanted. Oh well, another walk!
I met with Ann who said the job is about 20 minutes from my house. It is an HR Assistant position. I am an HR Manager. Ya know what? I'm good with that, time for me to step down and take less responsibility. Bye bye to the days of sitting through meetings and working all hours. It will be me waving at the end of the day saying good night instead of the one looking at a mound of work and messages of calls needing returned. I always stayed another couple of hours to get the work finished, while it seemed everyone else went home. The cleaning crew knew me by name. Thankfully, John would be happy with the step down too.
We reviewed my experience and past positions. She said she would submit my resume to the client and be in touch with me probably next week. I thought - what was the big rush then to meet me today? Oh well, it's done. Again, if it is meant to be, it will be. As I look at it, interviewing keeps me in practice.
I got home about 4:15 and couldn't wait to get out of those clothes, back into my shorts, tank top and flip flops....ahhh, it's still summertime.
I did some tomato pickin and got a few that looked ready. One was the size of a cherry tomato. Maybe it was a dud tomato, is there such a thing? A dud tomato?
This is my "to be eaten" supply.
The rain came about mid-afternoon yesterday, about 3pm. It looked like it was going to be bad and then then sun was back out before I knew it. We had a very leisurely Sunday, it was nice.
Today is Monday and oh what a beautiful day! After I had my two cups of coffee, I got ready and headed out the door for a walk. I couldn't let today get away without a walk! This weather of no humidity and low temps is suppose to stay with us through Wednesday, I hope the weather folks got it right. Just look at that blue sky!
Heading down my street, I noticed a neighbor has a project either torn down or ready to go. The fence looks old, which lead me to believe it was a tear down. Either way, it looks like it is hard work.
Is election year evident in your neighborhood too? These folks are showing their support.
When I passed this, I had to back up and look at it. As I got closer, it didn't look like a spider. Whatever it is hanging from a pine tree. If you look closely, you will see its web, follow to the spider(?) at the bottom. When I got closer to take a look, it moved toward me. I backed up and used the zoom feature to take this. All I can say is eeewwwwww.
Heading home, I'm tired, it seems like I've been walking forever, it was 30 minutes (stop laughing). Finally, I finally see our ranch house in view. We're the last house on the right. I'm almost home, and I need a cold glass of water.
When I got home there was an message on the answering machine from a recruiter asking if I was still looking for a job. I called "Ann" the recruiter back. She wanted to see me T-O-D-A-Y (ugh)??! I told Ann tomorrow would be better. I didn't want to tell her I was all sweaty from being out walking. She said it would be better if I could make it today, say 3:30? I looked at the clock, it was 11:10am. "Sure" I said, I look forward to meeting you then. I jumped in the shower. I let my hair air dry for about a half hour before I took the blow dryer to it, then pulled out the hot rollers. Hair is in rollers will be nice and curly. I left the curlers in until I was about ready to get dressed. Makeup on-check, mascara-check, eye shadow-check, I'm just about ready. Took out the hairspray and gave my hair a good spray. I'm dressed and ready to go, it's 3pm. The recruiter's office was just down the road, it took me about ten minutes. Parking there was awful, there was no "visitor parking". There were about 20 empty handicapped slots right up front. I learned the fire marshall sets the number of handicapped parking required based on the building square footage, did you know that? I ended parking further away from the building than I wanted. Oh well, another walk!
I met with Ann who said the job is about 20 minutes from my house. It is an HR Assistant position. I am an HR Manager. Ya know what? I'm good with that, time for me to step down and take less responsibility. Bye bye to the days of sitting through meetings and working all hours. It will be me waving at the end of the day saying good night instead of the one looking at a mound of work and messages of calls needing returned. I always stayed another couple of hours to get the work finished, while it seemed everyone else went home. The cleaning crew knew me by name. Thankfully, John would be happy with the step down too.
We reviewed my experience and past positions. She said she would submit my resume to the client and be in touch with me probably next week. I thought - what was the big rush then to meet me today? Oh well, it's done. Again, if it is meant to be, it will be. As I look at it, interviewing keeps me in practice.
I got home about 4:15 and couldn't wait to get out of those clothes, back into my shorts, tank top and flip flops....ahhh, it's still summertime.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Great Day in the Morning
I didn't think I had much to talk about yesterday until I sat down tonight to write. We've been having very humid weather here lately and it is stirring up thunderstorms. We got blasted Thursday night with a good storm, I could HEAR the rain on the roof. The thunder was clapping right over our house or at least it certainly sounded like it. Was God was pissed for some reason? When I checked the rain gauge, we didn't have more than half an inch Thursday night, surprisingly with all that racket.
I did notice out of the corner of my eye, a limb had fallen on the lawn. A very large limb from the backyard Oak. Dragged that sucker off and laid it to rest in the woods with all its predecessors.
Checked the tomatoes, made sure the storm didn't cause any harm to them. Nope, they're good! I have more tomatoes turning orange. I'll have to do another picking in a day or two.
It was still overcast and humid. They were calling for more storms last night. As it turned out, we did get more rain, minus the noise thankfully - I got some sleep.
John stayed home from work on Friday to burn more leave rather than lose it. He also wanted to avoid any traffic troubles. Expected through our area were 1500 motorcyclists in observance of the tenth anniversary of 9-11 riding from Shanksville, PA to the Pentagon to New York City. They came through Friday afternoon and spent Friday night just outside the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The news said they were leaving early this Saturday morning headed for New York City.
I had my Saturday morning Walking Group this morning. When I awoke at 6:30am, I looked outside to see what the weather was. More rain was expected overnight. It must have rained, the deck was wet. It was overcast and cloudy. Turning on the TV and the coffee pot, the weatherman said the overcast skies were expected to move out and be replaced by sunshine by 9am. Our group meets at 8:30. I finished my coffee, got dressed, brush my teeth and hair. I was out the door by 8:15 and taking about 15 tomatoes in a bag for Pam, the Trainer, who was expected back from her European tour.
Pam travelled with her husband to Europe (he's English, she's South African). As we walked together, she told me they landed in London and went onto Munich. I'm getting ahead of myself....back to the Walking Group. We had a new member this morning, Kristie from Richmond.
Kristie is a mother of two sons and a daughter, I believe is what she said. She is from Annandale, Virginia, but move to Richmond about 20 years ago. She's fallen on hard time and moved back to the area to move in with her mother in the house she grew up in. Kristie indicated that she'd lost her house and moving home was her last resort. She said she'd been in the printing business where she'd met her husband. Kristie had taken a job in Richmond as a nanny. She felt three children gave her qualifications, I certainly agree. That job only worked out for six months. Kristie was working for a first time mother who wasn't sure if she could handle a new born and working from home. Then new mother felt she needed help with the baby, grocery shopping, cleaning and the meals. As time went by, this woman decided she could handle it all by herself and let Kristie go. Kristie made the decision to pack up and move back to her mother's house. She sold most of her things, the rest is in storage. She said she starts Monday as a nanny for a woman with a six month old. She's been living at her mother's for a month and it hasn't been easy. When I asked Kristie if her husband found work, she oddly replied "I'm not married".
Suddenly, I didn't feel like the only unemployed person in the world anymore. I knew someone else who has suffered at the hand of this horrible economy. Kristie mentioned her mother is very critical of everything she does. Kristie is having to adjust to living with her mother. Pam decided to walk and talk with me. I encouraged Pam to walk with the others who walk the longer route and much faster than I walk. Pam said she gets her exercise at the gym, she was also running with her husband this afternoon. For now, I take the shorter route, it was another humid morning. Kristie is in the back in the striped shirt shown below. Pam hung back behind me when I took this picture of the group.
As the morning wore on, it did indeed clear out and the sun became stronger and brighter, not a cloud in the sky, a Great Day in the Morning!
Pam went on to discuss her trip of accompanying her husband on his business trip of ten days. As I mentioned, they flew to London and onto Munich then she said they landed in Copenhagen. This flight was one day of travel (London, Munich, Copenhagen). While her husband worked, Pam enjoyed bicycling around Copenhagen. She said the majority of the population uses bicycles to travel rather than cars, a very GREEN ECO society. Although the trip was ten days, two were traveling, Pam says it went quickly, she enjoyed herself.
Pam asked how I was doing. I was honest and frustrated, I told her so. The fact that I can't walk in the humidity because it effects my breathing makes me upset and frustrated. I had made such great strides in the beginning, so pleased with myself.
Pam is a personal trainer, as I mentioned before. Pam works a couple of days a week conducting cycling classes (stationary bike) at a local gym. I mentioned we had one, which I used for a month with no impact on my weight, once again, no results. Pam asked what my routine was. I explained that I followed a program on the bike when I worked out for 30 minutes three times a week. I did a ten minute warm up, then I increased the peddle pressure for another ten minutes (which is the part that made me sweat) and then a cool down for the last ten minutes. Pam explained that it takes the body about a month just to get use to exercising. After that, then you have to increase your stamina, push the body a little harder. Pam said I needed to change the exercise up, my body got use to the same routine. I needed to bursts of pushing myself, bursts of 30 seconds to a minute, whatever I could do. I disgust myself, I want to drop this weight so badly, I'm taking all this in. Next week, I'm adding the stationary bike again. I want results, I'm still stuck in my rut!!!
After the group walk, we usually head over to the local shopping center where there is a Caribou Coffee. I've had my three cups before I left the house. I have my water with me, I enjoy the conversation. Some of the girls get breakfast or juice or just coffee. Today Mary Ann tried iced coffee for the first time, she said she wasn't a fan. While I was waiting for the others to arrive, I snapped this shot of where we usually sit outside.
The door is on the right under the sign to enter the store. Sara who usually brings her dog, Ruby, along on our Saturday Group Walk had company visiting her this weekend. Sara and Ruby didn't join us this Saturday morning.
It was a nice evening, we grilled steaks on the grill tonight with a baked potato and green beans. I thought about making a salad instead of baked potato and decided against it. I'm saving the salad for my lunches (and tomatoes, since John doesn't eat tomatoes). There's only one bag of salad left. I'll pick more salad up on next week's grocery run. I finished the dishes, visited some fellow bloggers and decided I'd better get my blog written before another day passed that I missed writing.
Rain expected here again tomorrow afternoon. I checked our rain gauge this morning, it was almost an inch we got Friday/last night. Yay, tomatoes are getting their drink from Mother Nature! I'm hoping it won't be humid in the morning and I can get another walk in. Enjoy your weekend.
I did notice out of the corner of my eye, a limb had fallen on the lawn. A very large limb from the backyard Oak. Dragged that sucker off and laid it to rest in the woods with all its predecessors.
Checked the tomatoes, made sure the storm didn't cause any harm to them. Nope, they're good! I have more tomatoes turning orange. I'll have to do another picking in a day or two.
It was still overcast and humid. They were calling for more storms last night. As it turned out, we did get more rain, minus the noise thankfully - I got some sleep.
Almost 90% humidity at 10:30am!
John stayed home from work on Friday to burn more leave rather than lose it. He also wanted to avoid any traffic troubles. Expected through our area were 1500 motorcyclists in observance of the tenth anniversary of 9-11 riding from Shanksville, PA to the Pentagon to New York City. They came through Friday afternoon and spent Friday night just outside the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The news said they were leaving early this Saturday morning headed for New York City.
I had my Saturday morning Walking Group this morning. When I awoke at 6:30am, I looked outside to see what the weather was. More rain was expected overnight. It must have rained, the deck was wet. It was overcast and cloudy. Turning on the TV and the coffee pot, the weatherman said the overcast skies were expected to move out and be replaced by sunshine by 9am. Our group meets at 8:30. I finished my coffee, got dressed, brush my teeth and hair. I was out the door by 8:15 and taking about 15 tomatoes in a bag for Pam, the Trainer, who was expected back from her European tour.
Pam travelled with her husband to Europe (he's English, she's South African). As we walked together, she told me they landed in London and went onto Munich. I'm getting ahead of myself....back to the Walking Group. We had a new member this morning, Kristie from Richmond.
Kristie is a mother of two sons and a daughter, I believe is what she said. She is from Annandale, Virginia, but move to Richmond about 20 years ago. She's fallen on hard time and moved back to the area to move in with her mother in the house she grew up in. Kristie indicated that she'd lost her house and moving home was her last resort. She said she'd been in the printing business where she'd met her husband. Kristie had taken a job in Richmond as a nanny. She felt three children gave her qualifications, I certainly agree. That job only worked out for six months. Kristie was working for a first time mother who wasn't sure if she could handle a new born and working from home. Then new mother felt she needed help with the baby, grocery shopping, cleaning and the meals. As time went by, this woman decided she could handle it all by herself and let Kristie go. Kristie made the decision to pack up and move back to her mother's house. She sold most of her things, the rest is in storage. She said she starts Monday as a nanny for a woman with a six month old. She's been living at her mother's for a month and it hasn't been easy. When I asked Kristie if her husband found work, she oddly replied "I'm not married".
Suddenly, I didn't feel like the only unemployed person in the world anymore. I knew someone else who has suffered at the hand of this horrible economy. Kristie mentioned her mother is very critical of everything she does. Kristie is having to adjust to living with her mother. Pam decided to walk and talk with me. I encouraged Pam to walk with the others who walk the longer route and much faster than I walk. Pam said she gets her exercise at the gym, she was also running with her husband this afternoon. For now, I take the shorter route, it was another humid morning. Kristie is in the back in the striped shirt shown below. Pam hung back behind me when I took this picture of the group.
As the morning wore on, it did indeed clear out and the sun became stronger and brighter, not a cloud in the sky, a Great Day in the Morning!
Pam went on to discuss her trip of accompanying her husband on his business trip of ten days. As I mentioned, they flew to London and onto Munich then she said they landed in Copenhagen. This flight was one day of travel (London, Munich, Copenhagen). While her husband worked, Pam enjoyed bicycling around Copenhagen. She said the majority of the population uses bicycles to travel rather than cars, a very GREEN ECO society. Although the trip was ten days, two were traveling, Pam says it went quickly, she enjoyed herself.
Pam asked how I was doing. I was honest and frustrated, I told her so. The fact that I can't walk in the humidity because it effects my breathing makes me upset and frustrated. I had made such great strides in the beginning, so pleased with myself.
Pam is a personal trainer, as I mentioned before. Pam works a couple of days a week conducting cycling classes (stationary bike) at a local gym. I mentioned we had one, which I used for a month with no impact on my weight, once again, no results. Pam asked what my routine was. I explained that I followed a program on the bike when I worked out for 30 minutes three times a week. I did a ten minute warm up, then I increased the peddle pressure for another ten minutes (which is the part that made me sweat) and then a cool down for the last ten minutes. Pam explained that it takes the body about a month just to get use to exercising. After that, then you have to increase your stamina, push the body a little harder. Pam said I needed to change the exercise up, my body got use to the same routine. I needed to bursts of pushing myself, bursts of 30 seconds to a minute, whatever I could do. I disgust myself, I want to drop this weight so badly, I'm taking all this in. Next week, I'm adding the stationary bike again. I want results, I'm still stuck in my rut!!!
After the group walk, we usually head over to the local shopping center where there is a Caribou Coffee. I've had my three cups before I left the house. I have my water with me, I enjoy the conversation. Some of the girls get breakfast or juice or just coffee. Today Mary Ann tried iced coffee for the first time, she said she wasn't a fan. While I was waiting for the others to arrive, I snapped this shot of where we usually sit outside.
The door is on the right under the sign to enter the store. Sara who usually brings her dog, Ruby, along on our Saturday Group Walk had company visiting her this weekend. Sara and Ruby didn't join us this Saturday morning.
It was a nice evening, we grilled steaks on the grill tonight with a baked potato and green beans. I thought about making a salad instead of baked potato and decided against it. I'm saving the salad for my lunches (and tomatoes, since John doesn't eat tomatoes). There's only one bag of salad left. I'll pick more salad up on next week's grocery run. I finished the dishes, visited some fellow bloggers and decided I'd better get my blog written before another day passed that I missed writing.
Rain expected here again tomorrow afternoon. I checked our rain gauge this morning, it was almost an inch we got Friday/last night. Yay, tomatoes are getting their drink from Mother Nature! I'm hoping it won't be humid in the morning and I can get another walk in. Enjoy your weekend.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Chores Day
Got the kitchen floor cleaned and the house vacuumed, gave me a good feeling of accomplishment and it needed it. I kept saying to myself, this kitchen floor needs cleaning! It got it today. It's Thursday, you know that means, right? It is Fetch The Trashcan Day!! After emptying, the trash folks got it to the curb, just not on the curb. It's not in the middle of the street, I'll give them two points.
The day started partly sunny (mostly cloudy?), too humid for me to walk, which is why I decided to clean indoors.
Along with the cleaning, I have some other to-do's today. I bought a soap dispensing unit yesterday at the grocery store, hands free. I need to put it together or at least, read the instructions and make it work. I want to make my fruit salad today with some of the fruit I bought yesterday. When I headed out on the deck to take the picture shown above, I saw this (below), and I just moaned. It's the first one I've seen, it's another sign summer is coming to an end.
I got the scissors and cut open the heavy plastic that surrounded the soap dispenser. It took me almost ten minutes to get it opened to get at the instructions. Thankfully, it wasn't difficult to get the dispenser working. I removed a red tab from the battery area so it would activate the batteries and inserted the soap container into the top of the dispenser so it would flow through. Ha, it works, so simple!
The last soap dispenser I had was the pump type. It kept getting gooked up with soap and dirt. I pitched in when I purchased the above dispenser. I hope since this one is "hands free" it will remain "clean free" too. Now, with a clean dispenser and clean hands, it is time to make the fruit salad.
I cut up three Fuji apples (any kind is fine, I just happen to like Fuji apples). I let them soak in a bowl of water with lemon juice so the cut up apples don't turn brown. The apples soaked for about five minutes. I cheated and bought a can of pineapple chunks instead of fresh pineapple and then having to chop it up. I got the strainer and dumped the can into the strainer and rinsed the pineapple chunks to get the sugar (syrup?) off. I pulled out the blueberries, strawberries, and grapes I bought yesterday. I have a bag of raisins that I use to sprinkle a few in.
Straining the chopped apples from the lemon juice and water, I dumped them into a huge mixing bowl. I added the pineapple chunks, blueberries, strawberries and grapes. I sprinkled 1/4 of a bag (maybe 20) raisins in with the fruit. Back to the fridge for the fat free Cool Whip. I added the Cool Whip (you may use as much or as little as you'd like, matter of preference). I recommend start by adding a tablespoon at a time until you find your preference. I added about 1/4 of a small tub of Cool Whip since I had so much fruit. Then just stir to mix it all together. I like my fruit salad very cold. I found a container large enough hold just about all the fruit salad. What didn't fit in the container, I ate, delicious!! Now I have something healthy to eat when I feel like snacking.
I looked at the clock, where does the time go, it was 1:02pm - yes, time for All My Children. After eating the fruit salad about half an hour earlier, I was still hungry. I was going to make another salad today. I have to eat my way through those home-grown tomatoes! Besides the Dole bag of "Field of Greens" lettuce mix (includes shredded carrots), I added two chopped up slices of ham, snow peas, reduced fat shredded Swiss cheese, tomatoes (of course :) and some wonton noodles for topping. After about 10 minutes of preparation, lunch! Look at all those tomatoes, yummy!
I had done a "white load" (bleached) of laundry. I retrieved it from the dryer, folded it and put it away. I did some job hunting on the computer checking all the websites I have bookmarked. There wasn't anything new out there since I looked on Tuesday (and applied to 6 jobs). I still have not received a reply from my email inquiry on a status update of the interview I had August 9th. Do I send another email? Should I wait again until Friday (3rd week)?
John was home by 3:30 and had asked about the predicted rain this afternoon. He didn't want to water the plants this evening. He said he went through a quick drizzle on his way home from work. It wasn't raining at our house. About an hour later, we started hearing thunder. It wasn't long after that, the rain came, finally. Here's our Wet back patio. No watering the plants tonight! John took tomorrow off from work. He'll probably check the rain gauge to see how much rain we actually got.
I feel good, another productive day, hope your day was a good one too.
The day started partly sunny (mostly cloudy?), too humid for me to walk, which is why I decided to clean indoors.
Along with the cleaning, I have some other to-do's today. I bought a soap dispensing unit yesterday at the grocery store, hands free. I need to put it together or at least, read the instructions and make it work. I want to make my fruit salad today with some of the fruit I bought yesterday. When I headed out on the deck to take the picture shown above, I saw this (below), and I just moaned. It's the first one I've seen, it's another sign summer is coming to an end.
I got the scissors and cut open the heavy plastic that surrounded the soap dispenser. It took me almost ten minutes to get it opened to get at the instructions. Thankfully, it wasn't difficult to get the dispenser working. I removed a red tab from the battery area so it would activate the batteries and inserted the soap container into the top of the dispenser so it would flow through. Ha, it works, so simple!
The last soap dispenser I had was the pump type. It kept getting gooked up with soap and dirt. I pitched in when I purchased the above dispenser. I hope since this one is "hands free" it will remain "clean free" too. Now, with a clean dispenser and clean hands, it is time to make the fruit salad.
I cut up three Fuji apples (any kind is fine, I just happen to like Fuji apples). I let them soak in a bowl of water with lemon juice so the cut up apples don't turn brown. The apples soaked for about five minutes. I cheated and bought a can of pineapple chunks instead of fresh pineapple and then having to chop it up. I got the strainer and dumped the can into the strainer and rinsed the pineapple chunks to get the sugar (syrup?) off. I pulled out the blueberries, strawberries, and grapes I bought yesterday. I have a bag of raisins that I use to sprinkle a few in.
Straining the chopped apples from the lemon juice and water, I dumped them into a huge mixing bowl. I added the pineapple chunks, blueberries, strawberries and grapes. I sprinkled 1/4 of a bag (maybe 20) raisins in with the fruit. Back to the fridge for the fat free Cool Whip. I added the Cool Whip (you may use as much or as little as you'd like, matter of preference). I recommend start by adding a tablespoon at a time until you find your preference. I added about 1/4 of a small tub of Cool Whip since I had so much fruit. Then just stir to mix it all together. I like my fruit salad very cold. I found a container large enough hold just about all the fruit salad. What didn't fit in the container, I ate, delicious!! Now I have something healthy to eat when I feel like snacking.
I looked at the clock, where does the time go, it was 1:02pm - yes, time for All My Children. After eating the fruit salad about half an hour earlier, I was still hungry. I was going to make another salad today. I have to eat my way through those home-grown tomatoes! Besides the Dole bag of "Field of Greens" lettuce mix (includes shredded carrots), I added two chopped up slices of ham, snow peas, reduced fat shredded Swiss cheese, tomatoes (of course :) and some wonton noodles for topping. After about 10 minutes of preparation, lunch! Look at all those tomatoes, yummy!
I had done a "white load" (bleached) of laundry. I retrieved it from the dryer, folded it and put it away. I did some job hunting on the computer checking all the websites I have bookmarked. There wasn't anything new out there since I looked on Tuesday (and applied to 6 jobs). I still have not received a reply from my email inquiry on a status update of the interview I had August 9th. Do I send another email? Should I wait again until Friday (3rd week)?
John was home by 3:30 and had asked about the predicted rain this afternoon. He didn't want to water the plants this evening. He said he went through a quick drizzle on his way home from work. It wasn't raining at our house. About an hour later, we started hearing thunder. It wasn't long after that, the rain came, finally. Here's our Wet back patio. No watering the plants tonight! John took tomorrow off from work. He'll probably check the rain gauge to see how much rain we actually got.
I feel good, another productive day, hope your day was a good one too.
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