My Weblog

From the waist down

I do not do well with these single days off. They just do not seem to be enough to allow my body to recuperate. Yet, i don't have any say in the matter.

The situation is complicated by the fact that it has been wet, rainy, overcast and cold for days.

My least favorite head cashier had her choice of putting me or a healthy man in Lumber. I didn't get to go. As I stood at the register I hate, my back ached worse and worse. Finally, on the left, just below my waist, a muscle spasm started. This is not one of the charley-horse type that come and go in a heartbeat. Nope, this one is "real". It's the kind that builds til I can get enough meds into me to break it.

I had the usual pain, from my calves to my butt, trying to walk into the store.

And, with the wet and cold, that bone in my left ankle that was broken is very uncooperative when it comes to walking.

Mele Kalikimaka

Near the store is a fancy coffeeshop. Not a Starbucks but one of a chain of locally owned coffeeshops. Often when I'm running out of "gas", I drive over there and get me some coffee. There's a lovely Hawaiian lady who works the drive-thru window. She's a real asset to that store. I drive up and she says "Hello, my love. How are you today?" Well, I worked the day before Christmas and so did she. Sure enough, I needed some coffee. I drove up and she began singing Mele Kalikimaka, complete with hula-type hand motions. I grinned about that for hours. I guess I'm still grinning about it.............

I have the dreaded 6AM shift tomorrow morning. I wonder if I will get more than 3 hours of sleep tonight. It seems I do not sleep well when I have to work that shift. it's as though I am just waiting for the alarm clock, fearing I won't hear it.

I worked til close last night and was just totally bushed today. I spent a lot of time in bed. Now I guess I'll see what I can get done around here. I'll run Roomie.........the wire slicker dog brush is really doing a job on Roomie's roller brush. It hasn't been so clean since it was brand new.

That's about it for now. I have things to do. I hope you have had a blessed day.

Christmas Day

Mostly it was a quiet day. I did go to ex-SIL's but I only stayed about an hour. The kids were engaged in doing their own thing and didn't seem to need or want a Grandma bugging them. Besides, ex SIL's mother was there so I guess if they needed a grandmother, they had one. They sure do love their dad and his lady as well.

I work the late shift tomorrow. Don't much love that. But, I do have the next day off. The kids leave one day later so maybe I can take them out to brunch or something.

The kids do not enunciate their words and they don't speak very loud. I find it difficult to understand them most of the time. I keep telling them they're talking to their grandmother who doesn't hear very well, but one or two sentences later, the reminder is forgotten. I admit that I hear less well than I did half a century ago, but I CAN hear. It's frustrating because I want to hear and understand every word they say. Oh, well............

I have had roomie doing her thing again. This idea of using the dog's slicker brush on the roller brush is working extremely well. I've only done it twice, but the brush came out looking really clean the second time. I'm thrilled. I don't fool myself into believing that machine has much suction, so that brush is VERY important to any kind of success.

I've been pushing ahead on my inch-by-inch cleaning mission in the kitchen. I'm pretty proud of the progress I've made. I have a few beneficial ideas for the remainder of the kitchen. Mostly, the problem is too much stuff for such a tiny kitchen. However, I can't seem to find much I feel comfortable in discarding.

Well, that's it for now. I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas.

Big day, big night.............

It was the day of the cranky customer. It seems incongruous to me that as we approach Christmas Day, the day of joy and peace, people are getting meaner. But, if you really think about it, I'm sure that's how Satan has it planned. I spent today working a register with nowhere to sit in sight. They brought in food from El Pollo Loco which would have been nice, but my break was late and there was nothing but beans and rice left when I got there. As i was leaving they went to get more chicken, but I needed to hit the road. It was busy enough that I barely got a sip of water here and there, much less than my body needs to be healthy. Eating anything was pretty much out of the question.

I came home and slept for about an hour and a half and then went back out in the rain headed for my ex-son-in-law's. Yes, the kids are in town. It breaks my heart that my grandkids are growing up so far away. If I had my way, i'd see them at least once a week. As it is, it's more like 2 or 3 times a year. It was not a good night to be out and by the time I got there the kids were in their PJ's, so we all sat around and talked. I am so impressed with SIL's new lady. The kids love her--they really like being near her. I can't imagine a person with enough kindness/love in her heart to spend an evening with her guy's ex-mother-in law. And she was sweet as pie............Turns out she is former military which I did not know.

DGS2 is now a teenager. He turned 13 on the 16th. He's a good looking kid and smart as a whip. DGD is 11 and is in 4th grade. She is gonna be a beauty. She, too, is smart, very smart and she is more outgoing than her older brother. They are both such sweet kids.

The oldest DGS is in town now as well. He was out for the evening but came home just as I was leaving. He's working these days and trying to save up to fix his car. I guess he flew into town because the car is not running right now. He is 20 now! How time flies. Now that he's past all the hormonal teenage stuff, he's turning into a pretty responsible young guy and that makes me proud.

They are having a big family do on Christmas Day and invited me which was certainly nice. Sounds like quite a crowd. I am not too good with crowds. I will probably drop in for a very short time just to see what the kids got for Christmas.

So, considering, it was a pretty eventful evening for me--me who usually sits and drools on returning home from work. Such a nice change. It had to be the nap.............without that none of the rest would have been possible.

Worn to a Frazzle

Yup, I'm out of gas, so to speak. The fitted sheet is still in the dryer though my blankie is dry. And, I have 10 pints of French Onion Soup in the canner. I am using my new bulk lids and my new rack which allows me to double stack the jars. Without that rack, I could only have fit 8 in my canner. So, my investments in canning equipment are paying off. This week I've created 15 dinners that will be fast and easy--5 servings of goulash and 10 of the soup. Better for me than cookies, I think............

I'm not totally thrilled with the soup this time. Someone out there likes thyme a whole lot more than I do. I followed the recipe and the thyme was WAY too strong for me. I added another 2 quarts of broth (fortunately, I had plenty of onions) to help tame that flavor a little. I am honestly wondering if maybe I omitted the thyme entirely the last time I made this recipe. I do not recall that particular flavor note in the last batch--and I ate some of it earlier this week, so it isn't that I might have forgotten.

The hurting is worse. Has to do with multiple trips back and forth to the washer and dryer and back and forth to the kitchen. I can't walk many steps before my legs start to ache. And it feels as if my back is out of place and the things I am able to do for it here aren't working.

The kids arrived today. i am going to try to see them after work tomorrow. I just hope I get to spend the day in Lumber. Otherwise, I may be too worn out. And, I don't have another day off til Christmas day........ But, the one head cashier who has consistently arranged it that I get to go to Lumber and sit down usually works weekends so.............with enough prayer, perhaps it will happen.

Would you be surprised

if i said I hurt? Probably not. Today has been more productive than yesterday, but apparently there is a price to be paid. My hope is to can some French Onion Soup before the night ends. To this end, I have spent quite a lot of time dealing with onions. I got 6 of the biggest onions I've ever seen from the store. I'd say they were comparable to the size of grapefruit. Peeling them was no fun--they really wanted to hold onto that peel. And, because they were so large, slicing them took a LONG time, particularly because I was working in a sitting position. One has a lot more leverage if one is standing. However, had I stood, I'd have been bending over and that would never have worked. When I got done with all the peeling and chopping, I had a dutch oven filled about 3/4 full of sliced onions. So many, in fact, it was very difficult to stir them once I got them on the stove. There are cooking right now (and for almost an hour already) as I attempt to get them to the stage where they begin to carmelize. Once I get there, I can begin to add spices and liquid and it should move fairly quickly.

This will be my first time using canning lids from my bulk order. I have every reason to believe those lids will be just fine (they came highly recommended and are manufactured by a very reputable company), but I'll feel better once I prove that to myself.

I've carried a lot of trash to the outside bin. One bag was particularly heavy even though I'd offloaded stuff to a different bag before attempting it. I could hardly get it up onto my shoulder/back to lug it outside. But, it's done.

I ran Roomie yesterday. Considering what she faced, she did a halfway decent job. However, she got herself stuck under my desk. This afternoon, I fished her out and got her on the charger. Hopefully, I can run her again tomorrow morning.

The primary reason I am hurting is that I've stripped my bed. That part is hard enough on my back, but then I had to rotate the featherbed a quarter turn, and move the mattress back into its proper place. By the time I got that done, I had to go sit down. I hurt from the waist down all the way to my calves. I couldn't even make it to the kitchen to grab some bags to line one of the office trash cans. I wonder sometimes if there might be a time coming when I just have to sleep on the same dirty sheets for the rest of my life. I hope not.......... And, sadly, I still face the task of putting clean sheets on that bed............

So, I'm going to go try to turn my onions into a very tasty soup. Wish me luck, or better yet, ask God to lend a hand..............

 

Two days in a row

I'm off today and I also have tomorrow off. What a blessing...........I've slept and slept. Haven't accomplished much today. i went out to get the van smogged. I intended to go to Trader Joe's for a few things as well. I couldn't believe it but there was a line at the smog station. By the time the smog thing was completed, about an hour had gone by and I really needed a bathroom break. So I ended up coming home. Since then I've gotten myself fed, worked on a short grocery list for Smith's, and spent some time on kitchen clean up. I've got plenty more to do.........

I've decided to drop the temperature a couple of degrees on the thermostat. it'll save a few pennies and I think it might help me with the desire to sleep so much as well. We'll see if that works.

I've been watching a lot of WW2 movies and documentaries this past few weeks. One thing that has struck me: If Hitler had not wasted so much money on the death camps, building them, staffing them, etc., and all the other stuff connected with his "final solution" (such as blowing up the Warsaw Ghetto), we might all be speaking German these days. It took so much money, so much effort, so many men to beat the Germans as it was, how long might it have taken to win if they'd forgone all that nonsense. It's a sobering thought.

I've always wondered how Hitler knocked out the French so quickly. After all, the French had a much larger (one million men), better equipped army. I think I've finally got it figured out. The "brilliant" French Generals. First, the Generals relied on the Maginot Line, a series of concrete obstructions built along the common border. Note: static barricades don't work against a mobile force. A mobile force will simply go around a static barricade. Second, they made up their minds (apparently without testing their theory) that it would be impossible for Germany to attack through the Ardennes Forest. Finally, they decided that Germany would attack through Belgium, much like it had in WW1. Hitler flat out out-smarted them. He did a feint through Belgium and waited for the French Generals to move their forces AND the British Expeditionary Forces into Northern France/Belgium. Then he sent his army in through the "impossible" Ardennes and encircled the allies from behind. When the French tried to swing around with their tanks, the Stuka dive bombers just picked those tanks off one-by-one because there was no air cover.

Don't know how well I explained that, but for the first time, I understand it.

In the last little while, I've launched an attack on the house. I've solved a problem in the meantime. If you've been around here for any length of time, you know I am cursed with dog hair. Believe me, it's overwhelming. I have a Roomba which is much easier than the back breaking task of using a regular vacuum cleaner, but the dog hair is overwhelming for it too. I have repeatedly used the brush cleaning tool that comes with, pretty much to no avail. There seems never to be a time that roller brush isn't all filled up with hair. And once the brush is overrun with dog hair, it just can't do the job on the carpet. I got the bright idea of using the dog's slicker brush to clean Roomie's brush. It works like a charm! I'll just have to keep after it regularly. I'd like to order an extra brush or two, but that's not in the budget this month. But, whether I have one brush or more, they will still need to be cleaned and I'm so grateful I've found something that works.

I've also started an inch-at-a-time attack on the kitchen. Dishes have been washed and dishes have been put away. And one small part of the kitchen is ready to be in a home decorating magazine lay out. I have much more to do, but when I'm done my kitchen will be really clean. Sadly, all of that has required a lot of time on my feet and my back is screaming.......... It'll be better tomorrow and the battle will continue.

Happy Birthday to me!

I am home today and, as always, glad of it. I'm sore from end to end, having endured 2 back-to-back shifts at the dreaded busiest register in the store. So, I am planning to baby myself a little. That is the form my celebration will take--extra rest, concentrating on a few essential tasks. No big hullabaloo. Parker is my only companion and he doesn't understand celebrations.

I am having one of those "milestone" birthdays. Six and a half years ago I was told I'd be dead in a year. I guess I outsmarted those all-knowing doctors. The truth is, no matter what they predict, only God knows when He'll call me home. They can prognosticate, administer drugs, poke and prod, but, in the end, it's all in His hands. Had the choices been mine, I surely would have painted these last years differently. Nevertheless, I'm grateful for every day I've had and for whatever days I've got coming. God is good, all the time.

Exhausted, but smiling..............

Our new head cashier was in charge tonight, and, as is her habit, she worked me at the busiest register in the store my entire shift. Several people who are in considerably better physical condition went to Lumber. Lucky them............ I try not to say too much about that--I pray beforehand and if it does not work out that I get to go to Lumber, then I tell myself that there will be folks at that busy register who need my smile and my patience and my kind attitude. (Believe me, I have to pray about both the patience and the attitude!) I cannot BE Jesus, but it's my job to do my best to ACT like Him. I take that job seriously, more seriously than any other part of what I do in that store.

Some people are ridiculous. I just hate it when they walk up to the register, hand me something, and ask me if their something is on sale. I want to laugh at them and ask them if they truly expect me to know if that something, among the many thousands of somethings in the store, is on sale. How could I possibly know unless I had filed away in my memory banks the price of every object that is for sale within that 100,000+ square feet? I'm good with numbers, but not THAT good!

I am still dumbfounded by the number of people who will come dragging a product to my register without ever checking to see if that object has a price tag on it. It wastes so much time--mine, theirs, and all the customers lined up behind them waiting their turn. If it doesn't have a UPC, an item number, or something of that sort on it, I can't do a thing with it. I am forced to call the department and ask someone there to look it up. Usually the response is that they have to come look at whatever it is. So, we all stand there and wait til they get there, then we all stand there and wait some more while they walk back, find the product on the shelves and either call my extension or walk back up with a few numbers scribbled on a tiny scrap of paper. The other day a woman arrived in front of me with a plant with no price tag on it. I had no choice but to call the department. The guy working back there was pretty slow coming forward. He took the plant and headed back. After a while, he reappeared with the same container, still no UPC or item number and gave me a price. Well, I can't ring that. There I stood, helpless. Eventually, the customer decided not to buy the plant and I ended up apologizing for something that was not my fault. And thanking the customers who had accumulated behind her for their patience..............

Oh well, at least the paycheck comes out regularly. One never knows how they will manipulate the hours, but there is some sort of a paycheck on a regular basis.

And, of course, it's all so much more difficult when the pain level rises...........

 

God has a way............

Late last night, I was going through a stack of unopened mail. Apparently I missed a payment on my auto insurance and the policy was cancelled. And, I was out yesterday trying to get my van smogged so I could renew my registration within a week. I was truly upset about it, kicking myself for hours, and sacrificing sleep in exchange for worry. What if I couldn't get the policy renewed? What if it didn't renew in time? What if they raised my rates? I had a good head of steam going, causing all the wheels in my head to spin round wildly.

Finally, I just prayed about it and asked the Lord to take care of it.

I just got off the phone with them. My policy is reinstated and I received a $20/month rate reduction after asking some questions. I'll be short on cash for a while, but this major problem is solved and I can now proceed with the registration process. Phew! NV charges hefty fines if you're late with that..........

Just to note: I have always received a card notifying me that my registration was due to be renewed. I got no card this year.................