Something Funny Is In The Air

because Grandma J took an afternoon nap yesterday and ended up in a far away place. Don't ask her where because she couldn't tell you in a zillion years. But Grandma J knows it had to be pretty far away because it zapped her of all her energy. How else would you explain the fact that she woke up from her nap at two in the morning?

Since she skipped lunch, due to a late morning stop at Jack in the box, she estimated that she had now missed two full meals! Since skipping meals isn't the norm for Grandma J, she fixed herself a late dinner....then went to bed..sleeping until eight this morning.

Yesterday, Grandma J took her grandchildren and friends to a water park in another town to the east. It wasn't anything Six Flagish in size or price.....which makes it perfect!





Summer Fun Water Park in Belton, Texas, is a good place to cool off when the temperatures start leaning on the 100 degree mark. This was the end of the road for Grandma J and JJ....but next time they will take that bridge across the Leon River to see what's on the other side.

It's always so sad when JJ has to say good-bye to his big sister and brother. It's even sadder lately with Phillip Johnny Bob gone.

It was a quiet ride back home for JJ. He knows he can't get on Grandma J's lap while she's driving, unless she gives him the OK. Today she didn't do that until they were off the highway....so JJ just stared at a spill on Grandma J's shirt....calling DIBS!

He is such a sweetheart....after about an hour of playing and cuddling, Grandma J said good-bye. Do you think it was easy?

Busy Mornings of Yesterday

Every once in a while someone asks me what I do all day. Yeah, like what.....I have to be doing something every minute? Of course, in my book on living, if you're still sucking in air, technically, you ARE doing something.

Sure, now that I'm retired I have the luxury of sleeping past five in the morning.....finally! Of course ever since we set our clocks ahead last Sunday, it stays dark here in Texas until 8:30 in the morning.

My mornings are almost the same as when I used to work. The only difference is that I basically stay home and do the same exact things I used to do at work. Here's what a typical morning was like:

7:00 Arrive at work, take my smokes out of my purse, placing them next to my computer for easy access. Put purse away in locked drawer.

7:05 Mosey over to the kitchen and make a pot of coffee, because the men are lurking in the wings, waiting for one of the women to make the coffee.

7:10 Go back to my cubicle, get my cigarettes, take the elevator to the fifth floor balcony and have a smoke while the coffee brews. Chat with all the other smokers and when someone starts to tell an interesting tidbit of gossip, sit down and light a second cigarette.

7:30 Head on back to my cubicle, put my cigarettes back by my PC, walk over to the kitchen only to find an empty coffee pot. Make a second pot...this time I stay in the kitchen until it's ready.

7:40 Sit down at my desk, with my first cup of coffee. Check my emails. Delete the ones from my boss, and forward the jokes to my friends.

7:50 Check my phone messages, taking notes on calls with urgent agency issues upcoming social events.

8:00 Take down "out of office" sign from outside cubicle, as I leave to go check my mail slot. Wave "hello" to boss as I pass by.

8:10 Return to cubicle to find three staff members wanting stuff....just random stuff or questions. This can be extremely annoying.

8:20 The Fed Ex guy shows up, and I sign for the delivery, breaking a nail in the process.

8:25 Go to bosses office to see if I can borrow a nail file. Sit in bosses office and chew the fat go over the day's agenda while filing all my nails so they match the broken one.

9:00 Break time! Change my shoes, then call a few friends around the building to meet me in the lobby to walk to Starbucks.

9:15 Arrive at Starbucks, order coffee, then sit outside on the patio.

9:20 Break Officially Starts! Chit chat with friends and catch up on office gossip.

9:35 Fifteen minute break, mandated by law, is officially over.

9:45 Walk back to office, return to desk only to find my inbox full to the gills. The work never ends! Sort through paperwork, glancing over the ones marked URGENT.

10:00 Check phone message again, then my emails. Life never slows down, giving new meaning to the phrase: The faster I go the behinder I get.

10:15 Grab some work and walk it over to a co-worker's cubicle, who is filling out an Avon order. Ask her if she would mind taking some of the burden off my plate...teamwork is my middle name!

10:30 Sort through some invoices, and decide to hand carry them up to the Accounting Office....saving time on waiting for the mail room to pick then up and deliver them. Remember...."time is taxpayers' money".

10:35 I grab my smokes on the way out the door because I pass the fifth floor balcony on the way to the Accounting Office. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone.

10:50 Return to my desk, straighten up my morning work, organizing my notes in preparation for an afternoon meeting.

11:00 The lunch truck pulls up to the curb and blows it's horn, so I grab my purse out of the locked drawer, and go down to the lunch truck. I place my order, then walk a safe distance away to have a smoke with some of my friends from the building next door while I wait for my food.

11:15 I return to my cubicle, and eat at my desk while I work. Not even hunger can keep my from my responsibilities.

11:50 I call a friend to see if she wants to go to the mall at lunch time.

12:00 LUNCH TIME!

12:00 - 1:00 SHOPPING IN THE MALL.

So there you have a typical morning at work. As a retiree, my day is similar except I don't smoke anymore....I will be smoke free three years next month! Just don't ask me how much weight I've gained.

How was your work day?

Staying Focused

Before we get into the subject of staying focused, I want to back up a bit and tell you what's been going on here in my little apartment at the Compound.


I'm sure you all remember the nice card that I received from Postcard Cindy with the cute bear on it. Well, "someone has taken possession of the little bear.....



How did you guess? Yep, none other than Philip Johnny Bob. When I got in the car...there he was, grasping the little bear in his fist.

We were headed out to pick up lunch for my granddaughter, because cafeteria food, or a sack lunch doesn't cut it on game day.

So, I pick up my favorite guy, JJ, and head on over to the school.

This is how JJ stares, staying focused on the front door to the school...for over ten minutes.

But the bell rings....so he concentrates on the faces on the students as they pour out.

BINGO! He sees her! And heads over me to the driver's window.

And everyone is happy!

I AM WOMAN HEAR ME SNORE

or as my oldest granddaughter said, "Grandma, you scare me"

So today I was up at the crack of dawn, heading 30 miles up the road to Temple Texas...which is half way to lovely Whacko Waco Texas. I had the first appointment of the day for a consultation with a sleep specialist. Can you imagine? Specializing in sleep? I wonder what jobs like that pay because hello? I specialize in eating.

After filling out the multi-page medical history stuff, that I strongly objected to since they can get that from any number of departments within their organization. It seems redundant to me when they can make copies so everyone knows when I had hemorrhoid surgery my tonsils out.

It was determined that I should undergo a sleep study. Report at seven in the evening, after dinner, because they don't feed you, get wired, then try to sleep all night while being monitored. I hate the idea of people watching me sleep and snore, if in fact I really do, on a 42 inch Sony HDTV. I return in August for this event.

On my drive home, I have a few landmarks that I use to determine whether or not I'm making good time. Does anyone else do that? Like when you pass Jack-in-the-Box, do you look to see if it took you twelve minutes like last time? No? I try to reach this same landmark at the 20 minute point.
It's the water tower that beckons drivers to Dog Ridge, TX. Some day I will get off the highway and drive around because I'm really curious about what is there.

Then I stop at this place to pick up some groceries. Other than this place, the only other option is Wally World.
My grandkids told me H.E.B. stands for Her Enormous Butt. I wonder.

I made it home in time to go for a quick swim then go out to lunch with a friend...to the newly opened Golden Corral. Oh yum. Can life get any more exciting?

BABY MAMA


Before I retired, I could count on one hand the number of movies I saw in the theatres each year. Usually, it was some animated Disney movie that my young CA grandkids wanted to see. The worst one for me was the Pooh Heffalump movie. We found it at an out-of-the-way theatre, it was a week day and we were the only people there. For a five and three year old, it was heaven. They loved the music and when the characters danced and marched, so did we.

Now I'm retired, and living where my entertainment is non-existent basically Friday matinees. Last week it was Forgetting Sarah Marshall. This week I decided to see Baby Mama.
*Mild spoiler disclaimer...in the event you want to know nothing.

I really thought this movie would be more about surrogacy but there were two story lines. The other one, was more along the lines of The Odd Couple. Polar opposites who learn life lessons from each other leading to a middle ground. It's hilarious of course. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are at their funniest. Steve Martin as a middle aged, new-aged guru (Tina's boss) was so-so. Much funnier than Steve Martin was Romany Malco as Oscar the doorman.

On a side note...I expected to see mostly women seeing Baby Mama, but no, it was all couples except me. I highly recommend Baby Mama!

Has anyone noticed a pattern here? Despite my extremely fun filled life, I've decided to make the Friday Matinee a habit. Not that it hasn't already. I mean, I pack my own lunch and steal a napkin and straw every week. The ticket taker always nods when I take them. I guess it's common practice. This week the ticket taker handed my a straw. I'm a Friday regular. What will it be next week?

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I want to talk about me this blog. I haven't made any announcements to anyone about this blog. OK....one person, that's it. Most people who read this come from other blogs. I started reading blogs when my grandson was in treatment for leukemia. He had a Caringbridge site and it lead to following the sites of other children with leukemia.

After several years (because the typical treatment is 3+ years) some of the parents started blogs, and that led to other stuff....blah, blah, blah. You get the picture, right? So, not many people from my real life read this. In a way I feel like Sybil there are two of me. But really, it's all the same me.

Monday I will be talking about some of my friends from my real life. Just a few friends who lurk here. It's not a secret, they have all let me know that they read my blog...and my site meter lets me know too. I used to work with these friends, but they are more than former co-workers they are government slackers...civil SERVANTS like family. And I want you to meet them. If you are one of them, don't worry, no one except all your co-workers will know who you are except you and me.

Chow!

YESTERDAY'S LUNCH TODAY

I was up and about very early this morning. It seemed so strange to be driving somewhere with a purpose before seven a.m., with the sun just rising over the horizon. Driving with my headlights on. It was so mainstream, so deja vu for me. Before I retired, work started at seven, which meant I was on the road by six-thirty every morning. That was the routine for years, and today, it felt strange but good.

After my appointment I went grocery shopping. For the first time in a long time, I didn't buy any junk...well no ice cream or cookies. I decided to buy the fixings for a patty melt. For some reason, I hadn't had one since leaving CA. So, I get the rye bread, Jewish Rye...because I think it has the most flavor, and it's probably kosher. I bought some frozen, pre-shaped, ground angus....and some nice big tomatoes.

So blah, blah, blah.... I get home, put stuff away, clean up the leaky liquid dish soap and start to fix my patty melt. I try to stay away from cheese because it's binding...and I'm getting used to going without it. Just don't let the California Happy Cows know, because for them? It's the Cheese!

Yeah, OK, so I can just see you guys drooling over this. The really exciting part for me is the retro diet pepsi glass that I got at a gas station in the 80's. I just recently unpacked it. And this is what the other side says:

This picture is courtesy of E-Bay. ...uh huh!

Then, since I'm already flashed back to the 80's....I hunted down this relic from 1978 for tomorrow's coffee. It's from McDonalds.

That's how it went today.....I can't help but believe that she is the one who recently put me in this retro state of mind.

Marey, the quality is poor because the picture is old, but I thought you might like this.