Stoked

I was so excited that Fox was going to start posting episodes of Bones on their site again. This morning when I went to see the new episode I saw it was a rerun. I then found out that the new episodes don't start again until September. Duh!! I have been watching this show for a while now, I should know better. Oh Well! It just means I won't be spending the morning watching Bones. This is the perfect opportunity for me to go for a walk instead.

Today is going to be a productive one over at mom & dad's. I will be helping my momma plant more garden. With any luck we will be able to finish the one next to the house and get some more done on the flat. I am so exited! Things are growing and starting to get big and bushy. YAY!!

I am also happy for what tomorrow has in store. First the Cherry Festival on Cayuga Lake, then giving a massage at FLSM, and then maybe getting to some crafting done. I am super stoked that I took this weekend off. I definitely needed these consecutive days off.

A While

It has been a while since the last time I posted; I think tonight will be just some thoughts.

I found out today just how depressed Rj is with work. He absolutely hates it. Although he has a couple friends there he hates the hours. He's been tempted to quit for a while now. I told him if he wants to quit fine but quit by getting fired or laid off so he can collect unemployment. I also started helping him fill out applications online tonight. Hopefully they will be fruitful. I feel terrible that he's depressed and miserable I just wish he could have come to me sooner. I don't know who reads this but if you can keep an ear out for any full time positions in the area that would be fantastic.

On a lighter note I got a perm on Friday. I wasn't originally intending on getting one but Becky ended up not coming down like planned and I didn't want to stiff the stylist so I took her appointment instead. I got a spiral perm and although it doesn't look bad it does take some getting used to. I am so excited that I can actually take a shower tonight and wash my hair. Yay!!!

Another happy note is that on Sunday, Tasha, Mom & I made Father's Day dinner and had my mom's side of the family come down. I wish dad's side could make it but they all live too far away for last minute get together ideas. We all had a lot of fun though. It was nice hanging out and getting to catch up with everyone. The food was fantastic now if only I could get my mom to lay off the onions. I don't mind onions but my mom puts so much in everything that onion overtakes the flavor.

Work this past week has been kind of weird. I have been called in to cover a lot of over night shifts because all the grocery people seem to be quitting. I don't mind the over night it just kinda screws up the sleep schedule. This week is a very light week for me. Because I covered the Sunday over night I didn't have to work Monday and the only other days I am scheduled to work are Tues & Thurs and I asked for the weekend off so I really only have to work 2 days this week. Although I appreciate the down time I should try to pick up more hours for a better paycheck next week. The other thing I have to do soon for work is put in for my time off next month. I need to get that done soon especially now that we are going to the new online system. I don't want to be too late to get the days off.

I think I am going to spend much of my free time this week cleaning, sorting and getting rid of things. I seem to feel really good when I can get rid of extra excess things. Things I don't need or haven't used or just haven't gotten rid of for some insane reason. Although I did get rid of a bunch of things last Thursday I know there is still more to get rid of and maybe then I can go get the rest of my things out of dad's shed. That definitely needs to be done since I think mice may have gotten into a box or two. Hopefully not though and stuff will still be in good condition. I guess if it's not it will be that much easier to get rid of.

I have not been consistently walking but I still am losing weight. I am hoping the more I keep getting out to walk the more I will want to make it a regular thing. I get the daily walking newsletter to help motivate and give you walking fitness ideas and suggestions and I like reading it but I should probably follow more of the suggestions I read. For me the hardest part is my own motivation. I am lazy and I like being lazy on the computer, knitting, crocheting, latch hooking or being lazy in some other crafty way. Though some might not find these activities lazy they are not physically straining to the point of raising the heart rate for fitness and weight loss purposes. Maybe if I could successfully walk and do one of the other pleasurable activities I wouldn't have such trouble maintaining a healthy body mass.

I am so happy I was able to type tonight. It feels like I just squeezed the excess information and stress out of this sponge of a brain I have. I need to remember that walking seems to help with that also, maybe that will help motivate as well.

BMX

So today was a generally fun and productive day. This morning I was up around 9 ish, returned a movie RJ kept forgetting to take back, parked at Price Chopper to walk around Owego, picked up a few groceries and then came back home. The walk was nice. I must have booked though because I left my house at 10:20 give or take a couple minutes and I was done returning movie, walking and grocery shopping by 11:35 and when I first started walking the same route itself took the full hour. I would say that is pretty good because that hour and 15 minutes includes drive time.

Anyways, back home I did some online stuff quickly before mowing the yard. When the yard was done I had a cold meat sandwich for lunch which was simply yummy. Then I did some other outside clean up like picking up all the rope, condensing the coal bins and making it so they don't get filled with water, and cut down some of the branches which had been rubbing on the roof. After all the outdoor stuff was finished up I cleaned me up and made meatloaf. It was actually the 2nd time in 2 days but that's because I burnt the crap out of the first loaf because I forgot it was in the oven. So four hours later when I remembered/smelled it I pulled it out pretty black. Today's loaf turned out much better because I didn't forget about it.

I was going to help mom with the garden this evening but I got a notice from a friend that she was going to be in Endicott because her girls race bmx bikes there, so I went there instead. I am actually really glad I did because I needed to get some social interaction outside of work and I like watching the girls' activities. I also found out they race in Owego (two minuted from my house) and in Sayre (15 minutes from my house). I told her to call me when they go so I can meet up and watch them race. The girls are in the same class so Sierra always wins but Cheyenne is getting better and she tries really hard. Brandy's going to try and get the girls in a national race in Maryland and Massachusetts which I would love to be able to watch. Maybe I could get the time and go with them, that's if they want me to go.

Happy

Worked today at Price Chopper and then went to mom & dad's to help plant the garden. Put in 3 rows of potatoes, 2 rows of onions, 3 rows of string beans and one row of rutabagas. I am extremely excited about the rutabagas in particular. I like their taste but hate the grocery store price tag. We definitely need to keep an eye on them come harvest time so they don't get overly large and pithy. I will be back over there tomorrow to get the garden next to their house prepped for planting. Pulling weed, rototilling and things like that. I will also rototill the lower garden where the zucchini, squash, melons and tomatoes will be going. If we get all of that done and it still hasn't rained we may get the zucchini, squash, melons and tomatoes planted as well.

Another thing that happened today which I am happy about is I was able to play with my niece Suzanne. When she was a baby and even up until about 3 months ago she would scream bloody murder if anyone other than her parents even looked at her. Now she runs up to me when I get there, I can pick her up, chase her around and generally have fun with her and she enjoys it. I was extremely amused when I tapped her on the head four time saying duck every time, then the last time I said goose, ran away and she chased me all around the kitchen into the living room. Then she tagged me and expected me to chase her in return. I was just highly amused by this. I was also amused when it was time for me to leave she waved good bye and blew me a kiss on her own like it was the normal way to say good bye. I thought it was really cute. I am glad to see she is becoming more sociable even if it is only with her family so far.

Windsor

Today was nice. I worked the overnight last night so I came home and crashed for a few hours. When I got up it was about 3 pm ish. I did some online stuff, talked to RJ for a bit and got a bite to eat. After that I drove to West Windsor to look at a house. I didn't realize how far away Windsor really is until I got there. Holy Hanna!!

Anyways, the house is small and looks pretty trashy but that was expected since the online description reads "handy man's delight". I think the worst part of the house is all the garbage. It was everywhere. Bags piled inside (seen through the windows), on the back porch and in the yard. I think cleaning it up would make a world of difference. The other reason it looks not all that great is because the previous owners cut the front porch off for some reason. I mean it may have started falling apart but they definitely finished it off. The main reason I looked at the house is the acreage with a small price tag. I wish I had been dressed for hiking in the woods. from the house all I could see was the hillside behind the house and the field across the street. I don't know which went with the house but if it's the hill I see why it was so cheap.

Well after looking at the house I stopped in to see mom and dad and managed to catch them on their way downtown so we all went out to dinner at the Rice Chinese Restaurant in Owego. They are a small place and are never very busy but I would say they have the best Chinese food in town.

I know I haven't been very productive but oh well. It's bed time now.

Slacker

**WARNING** **This turned out much longer than anticipated.**

The last three days have been a blessing and a curse in my mind. I have had a wonderful time with family but I have not been super productive or persistent with my walking. I did not work Fri or Sat. and I only worked 5.5 hrs today. Not good for the pay check but fantastic for the social life.

Friday I spent quite a bit of time with my hubby. I thoroughly enjoyed that because we don't get to see each other a lot because of our day vs. night working schedules. To be honest I don't remember a whole lot of what I did Friday but I don't remember any stress, arguments or wishing I was at work either. I do remember we went to dinner at the Grand Central Restaurant in Owego and then visited his mom for a couple hours after that.

Saturday I spent almost the entire day with my mom and sister. We went to the Rhubarb festival at the Montezuma Winery, which was at the corner of 89 & 20/5 at the north end of Cayuga Lake. Although the festival itself was a let down for us it wasn't all bad. There were some amazing classic cars there and the band was good. My sister took pictures of many of the cars so maybe I can get her to send me some. When looking at the flier for the festival we anticipated more rhubarb oriented foods, festivities, vendors etc. At the festival the only rhubarb oriented festivity was a rhubarb stalk toss and we didn't get there early enough to participate but we did get to watch it. That was kind of amusing especially seeing so many different ways to try and throw a rhubarb stalk the farthest. The food although not bad was mostly prepackages/processed foods. The only thing made on site was the rhubarb chili which wasn't bad at all and I am not nor have I ever been a chili fan. There were pies and jams but they were all factory processed. There was no place to buy fresh rhubarb which kind of surprised us. They did have their rhubarb wine at a discount and I liked that muy mucho. As far as festivals go, it's more of a fun local gathering not the kind of festival you drive for 30+ miles to attend.

I think our own experiences and expectations were the worst let down. Along the line of experiences, Mom & I drove about 45 minutes to Cortland to pick up Tasha and then 45 minutes to the festival. So that time was good for conversation but bad to stiff joints. On top of the drive time my Jeep started having issues on the way to Tasha's place so we stopped in Apalachin, called Marilyn to come get us, take us back to Mom's house, get her Jeep and start again. The car trouble was not overly bothersome to me but what was more frustrating for me was we decided to have Marilyn follow me driving my Jeep back to Mom's and the whole drive back nothing happened. None of the skipping, sputtering or noises happened the whole way back. I guess that's not necessarily bad but when you are trying to diagnose it makes it very difficult.

I guess one bonus to the weekend is that after I was home Saturday evening RJ & I burned some of the wood we had out front in a little campfire. I was nice and relaxing for me and I was super stoked because I have been wanting to burn that wood for a long time now. If it hadn't rained today I would definitely have burned more tonight. Maybe tomorrow instead if it doesn't rain.

On the walking note I originally intended on talking about, I have been such a horrible slacker! I thought about walking Friday and Saturday and just didn't do it. I was hoping to be able to walk today but it rained in the morning and I took a long nap after work. Now I just don't feel like it. I think I will get on the Wii Fit instead; I haven't done that in a long time. I will probably look like a fish out of water but it will be fun. I hope tomorrow is nice because I am looking forward to walking around Owego.

Firebird

Today has been a fairly uneventful day. I worked this morning, went for my walk, went home, had lunch, ran some errands and have been getting caught up with online stuff and things at the house.

I know last time I posted I talked about ankle issues with walking on crowned roads. I think I may have found a reasonable solution. After I work I walk from Price Chopper (that's where I work) down front street to the light closest to the railroad tracks and then go around the block to Main St and walk Main St. back to Price Chopper. I haven't driven it yet to know how far it is exactly. I think it is a little less than what I have been doing but my ankles don't hurt when I'm done and I seem to be walking faster the whole time. My ankles definitely appreciate the sidewalk. I think on my days off I will call Tara and see when she is available. Then maybe her and I can walk together. I guess I should have put that as a response to her comment. I think I am still really bad at this blogging thing...

Yesterday, on top of taking my walk I also helped my parents rake up a field of grass. I am thinking it was almost 1.5 acres. My dad mowed it the day before and then my mom wind rowed it before I got there. She and I raked the rows into piles which, in my wussiness, gave me a blister on my hand. Then my mom & dad forked the piles into the truck while I drove the truck. It was kind of fun. I hadn't done that kind of work since I was 13 or 14. It felt good to be productive and physically active at the same time. I think I better call them this afternoon to see when and what they are doing next for the garden. I also need to get my flowers planted. I bought the seeds; I better put them on the ground.

The other thing I have been thinking about lately has been my Firebird. I got it from Becky & Paul as a birthday present but I think it was convenient and got it out of their yard. Don't get me wrong it was a fabulous present because I've wanted it ever since I saw it in the jungle of a side yard. I haven't had the money to do so but I want to get it running and looking good again. I spent some time today looking up mechanical parts and interior parts. It needs the whole interior replaced because it has become that deteriorated and covered with stuff. Part of the problem is that all the seals leak and let a lot of water inside. I guess with this car I am not sure where to start first. I don't want to tear it down to the frame and start from scratch because I tend to get overwhelmed when projects start that way but it may be the best way to go in this case. Maybe I should start with a tarp because I don't have any place to keep it out of the weather and at least that would help keep it covered.