Good bye 2012

I don't know that I have ever been so glad to see a year behind us. 2012 was just not a good year, in my opinion. Work was challenging, to say the least. Had a shot at a transfer to a very desirable location, and we were actually selected. Then corporate swooped in and grabbed it out from under us. We lost Joy' s Dad. Hurricane Sandy destroyed my beloved Jersey Shore. The tragedies at Aurora and Newtown. Then we lost Joy' s nephew to a horrible accident during training. So forgive me if I don't kiss 2012 goodbye, or even wave a fond farewell to it. I would far prefer to kick it's ass out and welcome 2013 with open arms!!! xoxoxo

Giving Thanks

Wow! What a month this has been! My prayers have been with my guy Kenny, who was in a terrible car accident that shattered his hip. Poor guy. I love you, Kenny! This was also the month of the horrific pictures of the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. She made a direct hit on Jersey and destroyed so much of my beloved beaches. The pier where Joey and I shared our very first kiss was destroyed. The damage from this storm is mind boggling. I got sick this month for the first time in forever. I just couldn't seem to shake it. Finally went to the doctor after 12 days, only to be diagnosed with pneumonia. Ordered out of work for 3 days. If I am not better after that three days, I am to come back to the doctor to be admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics. Then Kenny has his car wreck. Three days off turns into 1 day off, followed by 10 days of work in a row. 112 hours in 10 days. Boy, I am wore out. Flat out. I am glad Thanksgiving is over. Very glad. We are actually celebrating our Thanksgiving tomorrow. I will be doing all the cooking. Prime Rib, turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, corn souffle, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes/turnips, pan gravy, and pumpkin cheesecake. I just love to cook!!! Okay, enough Dear Diary. I have to go to bed now. I slept 1/4 of the time I spent working yesterday. Can't remember the last time I was this exhausted. Night night. xoxoxo

This too shall pass....

This has definitely not been the best week of my life, and more specifically of my career...I have worked more hours in the last 10 days than I have worked in 7 days for several years now...It is getting rough on these old bones. Most days, I love my job. I like the normalcy of how one day flows into the next. Some things are a predictable routine that I just thrive on. But I also enjoy the fact that no two days are ever the same. This is not one of those "love my job," times. In fact, I kinda hate it right now. Started a couple weekends ago. Lost 2 full time cooks out of the blue. No big deal. We are experts in juggling the schedule around. Sure, my girl and I have to work separate some, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Then comes the week of buses. Have one late last Monday. Work from 5:30am to 8pm. Work 11 hours on Tuesday. This was after a busy weekend. Off from work. Relax a bit. Back to the grind on Friday. 11.5 hours. Saturday, more of the same. Sunday, get our butts handed to us. Just for fun, let's shut the phones down and the internet down. Thanks AT&T...Totally not a fan. Did I mention the 2 late buses? Work from 5:30am-8:30pm. Go home, iron clothes and go to bed. Get up and go to work. Still no phone. Still no internet. I should mention that this means having to call in every single credit card we run. Then enter it manually into the computer. In other words, each cc transaction takes more than 5 minutes from start to finish. Work for 12.5 hours. Go home, shower, iron. Close my eyes and get up to do it again. Work another 11.5 hours. Finally, finally...a day off. Nothing to do, right? Wrong!! How about get a text from work around 11am letting me know that the QA guy is there doing our surprise QA. Did it go well? Why, of course not! Surely you didn't think it would after the week I've had!! And this is one of those times that I have to remind myself that this too shall pass...and it will...just not quick enough!!! xoxoxo~~~cuz I need it!!!

My other babies...

I don't know about other people, but I absolutely cannot imagine my life without at least one dog in it. I love cats, too. But after losing my Smokey cat a couple years ago, I was too heartbroken to even consider another cat. These last couple of years have been the first in all of my life that I didn't have a gray cat named Smokey. But the thought of life without a dog is unthinkable to me. I love my fur babies beyond all reason. They bring so much happiness and laughter to my life. Without them, I feel like life would be so dull. My pups are alot of responsibility, and they take up alot of my day. Outside, inside, food, water, water, water, water, food, brush, play, pet, love and affection. My Max dog is getting so old. I know he has some pain, and I am doing what I can to manage it. He still has that adorable dog smile 90% of the time, though. So I do not think he is ready to leave me yet. I can't imagine my life without him. He has been the most loyal and loving friend I have had over the last 12 years...maybe ever. I love him and take care of him as tenderly as possible. I do what I can to make his life as comfortable as I can. I can't even bear to think of it... Then there is my Jake dog. Jacob Marley. Just to let you know, all of my dogs have middle names. The sole purpose of that is so they know when I mean business. You can laugh, but it is true. If they are outside or playing inside and I call to them, they can have selective hearing. If I tack their middle name to it, they know I am serious. Anyway, back to Jakey. Jake is a mutt dog that was the offspring of a litter from a dog I had that was supposed to have been fixed. Yeah, not so much. Anyway, Jakey is secrectly a genius. I truly believe that. I believe he keeps his superior intelligence a secret so that not much is expected of him. That brings me to Bella. Bella Jane. Bella is a beagle rescue. She was lost on the road and stuck between 2 concrete barriers. People were flying through the construction area, just barely missing her. She was terrified. We almost kept driving, because we didn't need another dog. But knowing we would have to drive throught the same area the next day, we couldn't bear the thought of seeing her dead in the road. We turned around a mile up the road, pulled over and got out to try to call to her. I am here to tell you that the idiots driving through the construction (it was dark) didn't slow down for me anymore than they did Bella. I was nearly run over by some fool in a hurry to get where he was going. Anyway, I was able to coax Bella over to me. We put her in the car and fed her from our dinner we were eating while driving. When we got home and examined her, she had what is called a cherry eye. It is where the muscle in the eye ruptures due to stress, strain, infection, etc. Took her to the vet, who identified her as a full blooded beagle, about a year old. He also said she had had a litter that hadn't been weaned long. The vet said that if he had to guess, he would say that her cherry eye was the result of giving birth to a litter of puppies. He said that it happens sometimes with smaller dogs, and that maybe her owners were using her for breeding purposes. In other words, she gave birth to a litter to be sold, they kept her until the pups were weaned, and then they tossed her so they didn't have to pay for the surgery to fix her eye. Grand total for the surgery: $40. People can be such assholes. Anyway, Bella is quite the diva of the house. She is prissy, but can be a little bad ass when necessary. She loves us all, but positively adores Joy. Last of all is my Lab puppy, Daisy JoAnn. Daisy for a dog we had growing up. JoAnn for my beloved mother. People might think it's strange that I named my dog after my Mom. Not anyone who knew her. I never knew a bigger animal lover than my Mom. And if it wasn't for my Mom, I wouldn't have this dog. Joy's Mom got Daisy to keep her company after her Dad passed. Four days later, she remembered that she isn't an animal person :-) Also, this dog had so much energy. She was about six months old or so, so she was already a good size. But she had no training. She was worried she would jump on her and knock her down. Quite frankly, I was worried about it, too. When she decided she couldn't keep her, she offered her to us. My immediate reaction was HELL NO. The last thing we needed was a 4th dog. The preacher is the one who offered this dog to Joy's Mom. When he called the people who had her, they were literally on the road the pound was on to drop her off. I thought about it and prayed about it. And then I thought, what would Mom do? There was my answer right there. My Mom once adopted a dog at the vet's. There was a box of puppies that said free to good home. Will be put to sleep at the end of the day. My Mom never approached the box, never looked in the box, nothing. As she was leaving the vet, she told the receptionist to pick out the ugliest one in the box and bring it out to her car. That is how we got Lucky. Lucky taught me to walk and fought off two German Shepards who tried to attack me in the back yard when I was 2. As I said, that was my answer. My Mom would never have allowed that puppy to go back to the pound and potentially be put to sleep. And neither would I. To be honest, Daisy is not the easiest dog. Think about Marley from Marley & Me. That is pretty much what life with Daisy is. But she brings me so much joy. This dog seems to sense that I am the one that saved her life. She loves absolutely everyone. But there is nothing for her like me. Right now, she is glued to my side, and that seems to be her favorite place to be. She is the wildest, most energetic dog I have ever seen. She tries so hard to behave, but it is almost like she can't contain the joy she has with the opportunity to live. I don't know what other dogs will find their way into my life to adopt me. But I do know that my life wouldn't be complete without them. Pontiff Maximus, Jacob Marley, Bella Jane, and Daisy JoAnn....I love you, you bunch of dogs!!! xoxoxo

9/29/08

Surrounded by all kinds of memories today....I think it comes with my son's birthday. Anyway, time to put them to bed, as I did then, one last time...Dedicated to 9/29/08... Tomorrow by Chris Young Tomorrow...I'm gonna leave here I'm gonna let you go and walk away Like every day I said I would And tomorrow...I'm gonna listen To that voice of reason inside my head Tellin' me that we're no good But tonight I'm gonna give in One last time Rock you strong In these arms of mine Forget all the regrets That are bound to follow... We're like fire and gasoline I'm no good for you You're no good for me We only bring each other Tears and sorrow But tonight... I'm gonna love you like there's no... Tomorrow... I'll be stronger I'm not gonna break down and call you up When my heart cries out for you And tomorrow... You won't believe it But when I pass your house I won't stop No matter how bad I want to But tonight I'm gonna give in One last time Rock you strong In these arms of mine Forget all the regrets That are bound to follow We're like fire and gasoline I'm no good for you You're no good for me We only bring each other Tears and sorrow But tonight... I'm gonna love you like there's noooo Tomorrow... Well, baby when we're good Ya know we're great But there's too much bad For us to think That there's anything Worth tryin' to save... But tonight I'm gonna give in One last time Rock you strong In these arms of mine Forget all the regrets That are bound to follow We're like fire and gasoline I'm no good for you You're no good for me We only bring each other Tears and sorrow But tonight... I'm gonna love you like there's no... Tomorrow... I'm gonna leave here I'm gonna let you go And walk away Like everyday I said I would.... Good night...sleep well...

What a Week!!!

I am not usually one of those people who can't wait for something to be over. I like to savor every day. When I have something coming up that I am looking forward to, I like for the time to be drawn out. The anticipation of an event that I am looking forward to is just as satisfying to me as the event itself. I can't say the same for something I dread. With something not so great on the horizon, I think of it like bad medicine. Take it and get it down and over with and move on. That is what this week has been like. I had a visit from the new VP of Ops. She didn't come to talk about my successes. She came to point out every flaw she could possibly find. I am capable of constructive critisism. Not many people are. But when you have to spend 4 hours seeing what someone sees wrong with you and the way you do things, it gets depressing. I do the very best I can everyday. To compound the issue, the new VP doesn't really seem capable of compliments. The former VP would come in and do the same, but he also celebrated successes. Who really wants to work for someone who is all about the negative. So this was my bad medicine for the month, I guess. And it is over. I am happy to say that my Regional Manager told me that my list of flaws was much shorter than any of the other stores she has visited so far. That made me feel some better, but I wouldn't have known that had my Regional not told me. Onward and upward!!! JC

Today

Busy day today. Acquired my very first adult primary doctor. I went to her because I am pretty sure I have a heel spur. As someone who spends 10 hours a day running around, this is not a good thing. Blood work, x-rays, and need a full physical. Love the doc though. Grocery shopping, preparing to plant the beginnings of my herb garden, dinner. Now I am getting ready to watch my Devils hopefully NOT be shut out of the Stanley Cup Championship. All in all a good day. Just hoping to avoid foot surgery. Although needles in my feet on a regular basis doesn't sound appealing either.