25
Apr
Gotta get some new clothes!
Holly

Current Mood:Esctatic emoticon Esctatic

I’ve talked about my weight loss here quite a bit over the last few months. Although I’ve known that I had lost a nice amount of weight, it really didn’t become “obvious” to me until last weekend, when I broke out some of my warm weather clothes from last summer. See, just before I went on my trip to California, I went shopping for some decent looking summer clothes. It had been a few years since I had done any “real” clothes shopping, and at that time I was at my highest weight that I had been at in years.

Our temps here in NW Ohio are in the mid to upper 80’s for the first time since last summer and last weekend, we made it into the mid 70’s. So I broke out my warm weather clothes, only to find out that they were so big, they literally hung on me. It was a really good feeling, and it also made me realize just exactly how much weight I have lost over the last year! Today I happened upon a pair of my size 12 shorts from the summer of 2005, and I thought that I’d try them on for shits and giggles, thinking there was NO way they’d even come close to fitting me! OMG, I about died when I discovered that not only did they fit, they fit COMFORTABLY! No wonder my size 18’s and 20’s from last summer were falling off…LOL!

So this means I’m going to have to do some shopping before this really good weather is here to stay! Not major shopping, I’d just like to get myself a couple of really nice outfits that are the right size so that when I do go out to do something, I have something decent to wear! And of course, what new outfit would be complete without new shoes? Maybe I’ll pick up the cute pair of MBT shoes that I’ve had my eyes on for a while! They look so cute and comfortable! A girls gotta have shoes, right?

Category: Dieting, Guess What??, Shopping  Leave a Comment
25
Apr
What a beautiful weekend!
Holly

Oh my goodness is this weather amazing! Yesterday we had temps in the mid 80’s here in NW Ohio, which is pretty rare for late April, but I’m definitely NOT complaining! And today is going to be a repeat of yesterday! It’s one of those days where, if you were to close your eyes, you’d swear it was summer and not spring! We’ve had the windows in the house open since yesterday morning, and it is so nice to sit here this morning feeling the breeze and just listening to the birds and nature outside the window!

Honestly, on days like today, it would be so easy for me to close my eyes and reminisce about the summers of my youth! I used to grab a blanket or towel and lay out in the yard all the time. I’d look up at the sky and watch the cloud formations, trying to figure out what I thought they looked like. The combination of the summer sun and the breeze was something that I always looked forward to during those long winter months!

There were also many summer weekends spent at my family’s lake cottage that were filled with wonderful memories as well. See, my dad was a farmer, so we couldn’t even take vacations during the spring, summer and fall seasons, because those were always the busy months for farmers! As much as dad wanted to take the family away to the Outer Banks for a vacation, it just wasn’t possible during the months that the weather would have been nice enough for it.

The first really nice weather days of spring always make me think back to things like this! They’re memories that are ingrained in my brain because they were, without a doubt, the best times of my childhood!

Category: Awesomeness, Memories, Weather  Leave a Comment
25
Apr
What an awesome night!
Holly

As much as I needed to be busy and getting this house packed up for the move, I just could not turn down an opportunity that was presented to me last night! Yesterday morning I received a text message from my friend Jeni asking me if I would be interested in helping her work at a Toledo Mud Hens game last night. Her husband is the youth pastor of the church that my husband and daughter go to, and they volunteer/work at some of the Mud Hens games, and the money they make goes to the church’s Campus Crusade group. At first I was a bit reluctant to help, not because I didn’t want to, but because I knew that I have a lot of work ahead of me during the next week and I just felt that I should be here at home getting things done.

But my wonderful husband told me that I really should go help Jeni and promised that he’d take care of the packing that we planned on getting done last night. I’m SOOOOO happy that I went, I had such an awesome time and I got to see the Hens come back from being 2 points behind in the bottom of the 9th, to pull of a win in extra innings!

Anyway, here are some pictures that I took with my cell phone last night! First one is the view from the booth we were working at. We weren’t too far from being right behind first base!

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The temps yesterday were in the low 80’s and it was a PERFECT day for a ball game!

Here is a picture of me and Jeni with the beautiful Fifth Third Field behind us, I tired to brighten it up a bit so you could actually see our faces, but it’s not the best of pictures..LOL
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And finally, a picture of the field at night. Keep in mind, these pictures don’t do the field on bit of justice! It is an AMAZING ball field!
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I had a FANTASTIC time and can’t wait to help Jeni work at another game!! Thank you Jeni! I *heart* you sweetie!

Category: Awesomeness, Friends, Holly  Leave a Comment
22
Apr
Why I’ll miss this house
Holly

Current Mood:Sad emoticon Sad

I’ll be the first to admit that the house we’re living in needs a little bit more than elbow grease. But that didn’t hold us back from moving in here. We knew from the moment we walked in the door the first time that we had a lot of work ahead of us. The house had sat “empty” for over a year, empty in quotes because the owners had left their fish and turtle tanks here as well as the washer and dryer so that they could come down here and do laundry when necessary. But because of the fact that they didn’t provide proper ventilation, the moisture from the fish and turtle tanks caused the texture to come off the walls in a few areas and it also caused the wooden kitchen cabinets to swell and warp. The house was also a dirty mess and hadn’t been cleaned in a very long time!

But we came in here with cleaning supplies and paint and got it ready to move in to in a matter of a few days. It took a LOT of hard work and scrubbing, but I was proud of what we had done! And when we moved the boxes in and got everything unpacked and put in its place, we really felt at home! For me, it was the first place I had lived that brought me back to the beauty of nature like I had grown up around!

I grew up on a large farm out in the middle of nowhere. Our house was surrounded by fields and woods with a winding creek behind it. I spent many days of my childhood exploring the world around me, climbing trees, skipping rocks in the creek, watching for deer and even ice skating on the creek when it froze over in the winter. The biggest difference between this house and the house I grew up in is the fact that we currently have no hogs or cattle and don’t have to worry about having hog or cattle supplies on hand like we did when I was a kid.

I LOVE living in the midst of nature! This time of year, it’s so amazing to see the trees and other plant life come alive after a long winters nap! And it doesn’t happen little by little, it’s like there is nothing one day, then there are buds the next, then the following day you have trees filled with beautiful green leaves and flowers that are in full bloom! It’s definitely nature at it’s finest and it’s what I’m going to miss the most about my little house in the woods!

Category: Holly, In My Opinion  Leave a Comment
21
Apr
It’s just not right!
Holly

You wanna know what’s not right? I’m old enough to have gray hair. I’m old enough to be in the throws of menopause. I’m old enough to have a child that is on the verge of getting their drivers license. I’m old enough to have it be medically necessary to have my boobs smooshed to oblivion (a.k.a. mammogram). Yet for some reason or another I’m not too old to still be dealing with acne problems?

The funny thing is that when I was in my teens, acne wasn’t a problem for me. Up until a few years ago I was your basic soap and water girl. No fancy creams or acne treatments were required. But over the last few years acne has been as much of a problem for me as it has been for my teenage children. Something about that just isn’t right! I’m approaching my mid 40’s very quickly, I shouldn’t have to worry about things like this!

SIGH!! Such is life I guess! There’s really not much I can do about it. And I guess, if you think about it, having to worry about acne is much better than having to worry about many other things! So I’ll shush up now and quit my whining….LOL!

Category: Aging, Are you kidding?  Leave a Comment
21
Apr
For the next three days…
Holly

I may be absent for the next three days. I’m off from work Wednesday and Thursday, and only have truck on Friday. So I’m going to take advantage of having the time off from work and get busy getting stuff packed for our move. There’s so much here to pack and I know that I won’t get much help from everyone else, so better get it done while I can!

I’m also going to do a lot of “weeding” when I’m going through stuff and packing! We have way more stuff than we need or use, so I’m going to get rid of some of it and give it to people that can put it to good use! The kids have already gone through all of their clothes and I have several bags of their clothes that I plan on donating to some of the local homeless shelters. I’m also, finally, going to get rid of the last two non working Mr. Coffee coffee makers I still have. I’m so done with their company and their crappy products! Good bye and good riddance!

And even though there will be quite a bit of stuff to get rid of, I definitely have to do some shopping soon! We broke two more drinking glasses this week which leaves us with a total of 5 drinking glasses between 4 people and NONE of them match…LOL! I certainly won’t miss this stupid porcelain sink when we move! Funny thing is, I always thought that I wanted one, definitely learned a lesson on that one! So I’m hoping that maybe on Thursday or Friday the hubby and I can make a trip down town to the Libby Glass Outlet! I LOVE that store and could spend hours there! And it will give us a chance to get out and enjoy the nice weather! It’s supposed to be in the upper 70’s by the end of the week! Can you say w00t!

Category: Holly, Life In General, New house/moving  Leave a Comment
19
Apr
I WANT this!!!
Holly

Current Mood:Happy emoticon Happy

If you remember back to late last spring, early last summer, you remember about the fiasco with my current printer. If you don’t remember, here’s a quick refresher for you! The stand that my computer on sat near one of the windows in the family room. Hubby decided that was the perfect window to put one of the air conditioning units in. Before he did so, I asked him if I should move my printer, but he assured me that everything would be fine. Fast forward to the next morning, after the air conditioner ran all night. I went to copy something and when I lifted the top of the printer, the glass for the copier part was covered with water. See, hubby put a support under the A/C unit, but he didn’t realize he tilted it up, so because of that, the condensation/water ran INTO the unit and onto my printer, rather than out the back of it.

We dried my printer out as best as we could, I think I turned it once a day for like a week trying to make sure that there was no water left in it, before attempting to hook it back up. It did still work, but not “right”. The printer itself does, OK, as does the fax, but when it comes to copying things, they just don’t look right. There is always some sort of color distortion or something wrong with whatever I try to copy. I’ve put off replacing it, mostly because I had just purchased XL ink cartridges for it and I didn’t want to waste them. But I’m now getting the “low ink” warning for the color cartridge, so if I’m going to replace it, I need to do it soon!

That’s where this neat little Cannon Fax JX300 printer/copier/fax with an answering machine just might come in handy!

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And at $44.99 with free shipping, the price is definitely in my ballpark! And I’ve heard really good things about cannon printers, and their ink cartridges are reasonably priced as well, which is a double bonus in my book!

It makes me feel good when I find items like this on sale at prices that are within my price range! Being strapped for money can be difficult, but not being able to afford something you need and use regularly is even more difficult. So finding a printer that is also a copier as well as a fax machine for less than $50 makes me realize that it won’t be a difficult to replace my current one as I thought it would be!

Category: Computers, Shopping, Technology  Leave a Comment
08
Apr
People amaze me
Holly

Current Mood:Angry emoticon Angry & Sad emoticon Sad

And not necessarily in a good way! We’re currently going through some “crap” with our landlord. And while we’ve never disputed things with him in the 18+ months that we’ve lived here, we’re definitely in the middle of a major dispute with him now! See, our original lease expired a little more than 6 months ago, and when it did, he refused to write a new lease, stating that we’d just keep going with the old lease on a month to month basis since they were trying to sell the house because it would be more difficult to sell it if we had a lease that had to be honored.

While we weren’t particularly happy with his decision, we knew that there wasn’t much we could do about it. Times have been tough financially and we did get behind on the rent, but he worked with us and even allowed my husband to do some work for him to work off some of the arrears. But that came to a sudden stop as soon as my husband stopped going to his church, about two months ago. Since that time we’ve gotten repeated threats of eviction and were even given the choice of signing a paper agreeing to something that they knew we could not do, or they would immediately start the formal and legal eviction process. We almost signed their agreement, but at the last minute we decided to make a few phone calls to see if someone with a little more knowledge of the law than us could give us a little bit of info. That was probably the best phone call we could have made!

After speaking with the attorney we found out that even though we are in arrears on our rent, it is completely illegal for them to “force” us to sign an agreement under the conditions they are asking us to, and that even if we did sign this agreement, because of the conditions it was signed under, it would be almost impossible for it to be legally enforced. So we wrote the landlord a short letter, letting them know what we could do and letting them know that even though the original lease has expired, we have never been notified in writing that they wanted any part of it changed, and that if they did want to make said changes, we would be glad to do so, with a 30 day written notice, what is required by law.

This has set forth a variety of different three day notices to vacate from them, each giving different dates, different amounts owed, and different information. The most recent one that was served, just a few minutes ago, shows a difference of over $700 from the original one, yet even though it was served today, it states that we have to be out today.

I don’t want to fight this man, he has been more than gracious to us the past few months. But I won’t sit here and allow him to think that he can get away with bullying us into doing something that he knows we absolutely cannot do, especially when it violates my states landlord/tenant laws! We will be moving, there’s no doubt about that! We’ve already looked at and talked to someone about another house, and that’s probably where we’ll be moving to. But I’m going to miss my little house in the woods! I’ll miss the beauty that surrounds it, I’ll miss the peace and quiet, and I’ll really miss seeing the various wild life walk across the yard!

Category: Are you kidding?, Rants  Leave a Comment
03
Apr
Do you ever wish…
Holly

Do you ever wish that just for once you could be the person that happened upon the right thing at the right time? Do you ever wish that you could be the envy of your friends and family because, for once, you have something better than they have? I’m not talking about being a person that is constantly “keeping up with the Jones’”, I’m talking about being an ordinary person who simply manages to snag up a great bargain on a day other than “Black Friday”!

Well guess what? Today is your lucky day because I’m about to tell you about a great deal available from a great company! How often have you said to yourself “If I could just find a really good laptop on Sale, I’d grab it in a heart beat”? I just found this awesome HP Pavilion on sale at Buy.com for just $499.99!

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Is that a sweet laptop or what? Besides looking nice, it’s got some awesome specs as well! It has an Intel dual core processor, 3 GB of memory, a 320 GB hard drive, a 16″ display, a LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVDR/RW with Double Layer Support, Altec Lansing speakers, and your wireless connectivity is built right in! All that and the confidence that you’re buying a product from an online company that stands behind their customers! I’ve known many people who have purchased from Buy.com, most of them have been completely thrilled with their purchases. But there have been a few that have had problems, and Buy.com has stepped up to the plate to make sure that they’ve been properly taken care of!

What? What’s that you say? You’re really not in the market for a laptop right now? That’s OK! At Buy.com they have every type of product you can imagine for sale, and at REALLY great prices! They have a huge selection of books, including more than 100 about living green. And if you’d rather listen to a book than read it, they have a fantastic selection of audiobooks as well! And did you know that they also sell fragrances? I sure didn’t!

So you see, no matter what it is you’re looking for, Buy.com probably carries it! And if they don’t carry it? You probably need it in the first place! LOL So get over there and check out their great deals, and when you do, tell them Holly sent you!

Category: Great Products, Great Websites, Shopping  Leave a Comment
31
Mar
What the income tax changes mean for people like me
Holly

Recently, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, in hopes of jump starting our economy into an uphill swing. While I won’t sit here and pretend that I know everything there is to know about this act, I am going to talk about what exactly this does for people like me.

This act makes it so that you have a “few more dollars in your pocket” out of every paycheck. While that in itself is a good thing, there is something about it that isn’t so good. See, I work my butt off nearly 40 hours a week at a minimum wage job. While I’m not in any way, shape or form complaining about having a minimum wage job, that few dollars a week in my pocket now is going to totally put me in a “jam” down the road.

See, even though I do get those few extra dollars, what I don’t end up with is federal income tax taken out of my paycheck. And yes, I have my number of dependents that I’m claiming low enough so that it is being taken out, well, it was. But not any more. On my last paycheck, I had almost the maximum number of hours that I am allowed, since the company that I work for doesn’t allow over time. And while it was the biggest check I have received to date, it was also the first one that had not a single penny of Federal Income Tax taken out of it.

So what does this mean, you ask? This means, that at this rate, when it comes time to file my income taxes next year, I’ll end up “in the hole” because I won’t have paid in near enough Federal Income Tax to satisfy the IRS when I file my taxes. So this means that rather than getting any kind of refund back, I’ll end up having to pay them. And at the rate of pay I make, I struggle to pay my day to day bills, so adding a tax bill into the equation is going to put me into the poor house! Yes, the IRS will allow me to make payments on any taxes that I will owe to them, but when there isn’t hardly another $5 a week to spare, where am I going to get the money to make those payments? I’ve even had to defer my payments on my student loans simply because I can’t afford to pay the payments right now.

So Mr. President, while I appreciate the fact that you think those few extra dollars in my pocket from each paycheck are a good thing, I have to tell you that it’s probably one of the worst things that could happen to my family right now. Those few extra dollars don’t help us any, and will eventually mean the difference to us between having a roof over our heads or living on the streets. So please forgive me when I say that this was probably one of the stupidest things you’ve done since you took the oath of office almost 2 1/2 months ago!

Category: Economy, Finances, Politics  Leave a Comment
28
Mar
The one bad thing about today…
Holly

While today was definitely one of the best days EVER, there was one thing about it that kind of bummed me out, for lack of a better term. See, this was only the 2nd time I’ve heard my daughter play the bass clarinet as a part of a group, since she started playing it. Yes, I do hear her here at home when she practices, but it’s just not quite the same. So I anticipated being able to take out the camera, put it on video mode, and get a video clip and some good pictures of her performing. Unfortunately, all forms of photography as well as audio and video recording were strictly prohibited during the performances. And while I’m kind of sure that I could have probably snuck in a quick video if I’d have had this spiffy Spy Camera that looks like your average pen, there’s just no way I could have gotten away snagging a video with either my camera or my cell phone! See what I mean? Check this pen out, would you know it was a video recorder if you were to see it?

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Is that the coolest thing ever, or what?

While I totally understand that they probably don’t want people taking pictures and videos of kids without their permission, I don’t see anything wrong with someone taking a discreet video of their own child performing. And it would be totally different if they offered videos of the performances for Sale to parents, but they don’t, they don’t even offer us the chance of an audio track of them. And yes, I know that this is the band geek part of me coming out, but I was darned proud of my girl today! She didn’t crack under pressure, even when she goofed up the song she was performing. She just carried on as if it was a part of the piece she was playing! Even if I weren’t a former band geek myself, I’d recognize a kid that definitely had good musical talent!

Category: Awesomeness, Kids  Leave a Comment
28
Mar
What an amazing day!
Holly

As most people, the days of the week I look forward to are the days that I have off work. It’s not that I don’t want to be at work, it’s just that I really enjoy not having to get up at 3:00 AM! Today was the first day I’ve had off work since last Saturday. More than anything, I just wanted to sleep in. But that simply wasn’t in the cards. Why, you ask? Because today was my daughters very first ever solo and ensemble competition for band. And being a former band geek myself, there was NOTHING that was going to keep me from going and seeing her play!

So, on my only day off work in a week, rather than get up at 3:00 AM, I got up at 5:00 AM so that I had more than enough time to get myself ready to go as well as my daughter and her friend who came over for the weekend. The morning went rather well, the girls were up and ready in plenty of time, and we hit the road shortly before 8:00 AM. Since I’ve never been out to the school or area that it was at, I wanted to make sure I left in plenty of time, you know, in case I got lost or something…LOL! It was quite easy to get there, the only “bad” thing was the fact that both sides of this road were lined with REALLY deep ditches, and there were no guard rails along the road, so that kind of freaked me out!

My daughter had two different pieces that she had to play today, the first was a solo and for the second one she was a part in quartet. She has practiced her songs here at home to the point of driving us completely insane…LOL! She practiced so much that she had her songs pretty much memorized, which can occasionally be a not so great thing. For her solo, she did a TOTALLY amazing job, I was so proud of her and it was really difficult for me to hold back my tears! She made one small mistake, but she didn’t let it completely mess up her performance and if you didn’t know the song well, you’d have never realized she made the mistake she did. But she was so upset with herself, even though her band director, her accompanist and myself all told her she did a great job! I knew she was angry, but I also knew that she really did do a great job, especially for her very first competition ever! And when the results were posted, neither of us could hold back our tears! She ended up scoring a I, the best score you can get! Let me tell you, I was one proud momma!

For the quartet she was the only bass clarinetist playing with three clarinets. They played a song called Clarintella, which I had never heard before. The quartet took their spots in the competition room and were announced, after which the judge proclaimed “This is my favorite song and I’m thrilled that someone is finally playing it”, which made my heart hit my stomach! See, from my personal experience, if you happen to make a song choice that is one of the judges favorite songs, you’re in BIG trouble! They will have a mind set that the song is supposed to sound one way, and if it doesn’t sound that way, well, I’m sure you can figure out the rest! And that is pretty much what happened, besides a few minor mistakes by the girls. But they didn’t “fail”, they did a wonderful job and even though they didn’t get a I, they did get a II, which still qualifies them for a pin. And thankfully, the girls aren’t too disappointed!

I had a great time with my daughter, in spite of her friend that came along, who turned out to be a little witchier than I am some days…LOL! And I finally got to put faces with the names and voices that are at the other end of my phone line frequently! So even though I didn’t get to sleep in, it was a day off work that I completely enjoyed!

Category: Kids, Music, Parenting  Leave a Comment
17
Mar
Looking for a new MP3 player?
Holly

I will never say that I’m a knowledgeable “techie” when it comes to things like MP3 players, because I’m really not! The only thing I know about MP3 players is that there are thousands of them and each one is different! We’ve owned a few, two were quiet inexpensive, but very simple, and the two others were a little more “fancy”, for lack of a better term.

The inexpensive ones that we owned first, we bought for the kids a few Christmases ago. They wanted iPod’s, but I’ve learned to start them out with something inexpensive and let them learn to take care of it first! They did a good job of taking care of them, and we did eventually replace them with MP3 players that were a little better quality! The one that we got for our son is a SanDisk and is still working well! My husband liked it so much he actually purchased this one, also made by SanDisk.

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I’ll tell you, between the two of them, they have proven to be AMAZING MP3 players! They are easy to use, tuck nicely into a pocket, and the screen is easy to read, even for those of us with not so great eyesight! Unfortunately, it’s sold out right now at Buy.com, but they still have several different colors of the 16GB iPod nano at a great price right now as well, like my favorite colored one, GREEN!
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See, that’s the cool thing about Buy.com, they have so many different items, that even if what you think you want is sold out or not available, all you have to do is take a look through their site and you’ll find something similar, maybe even something better, on Sale at a ridiculously fantastic price!

Category: Music, Shopping, Technology  Comments off
17
Mar
Days like this…
Holly

Today was one of the nicest weather days we’ve had here in NW Ohio in several months. From what I can see, our high temp today hit 71 degrees. The sun was out, there was a very light breeze and it was honestly picture perfect in my opinion! Well, I don’t mean to complain, but I guess I’d actually like it a few degrees warmer, but not too much!

As nice as it was today, it was kind of a sad day for me. One of the original managers that hired me in at the job I’m working at right now transferred to another location and today was his last day with us. He was, without a doubt, one of my favorite managers and I’m really going to miss him! None of the other managers have met the new guy yet, so we’re not sure what to expect. According to our bosses boss, he’s a great guy and should fit in well, let’s just hope that’s not an exaggeration!

This week is also the week that my oldest child is taking his OGT’s for the first time. I’d by lying if I said I wasn’t worried, these are MAJOR tests and if he doesn’t pass them, he can’t graduate from High School. He still has two more chances to pass them if he doesn’t get through them this time around, but I’d honestly rather have him pass them now and have that be one less thing he has to worry about between now and graduation! But it was neat today to get a text message from him letting me know that last week he took a “sample” test for one of the ones I’m worried about and it came back with a score that would mean he’d pass them if he scores a similar score on the actual test.

Days like today give me hope! It gives me hope that the cold, nasty winter weather is just about over for the season! It gives me hope for my childrens future. But it also makes me kind of sad because it’s strange to think of my children growing up. If all goes as it should, my oldest child will be 18 years old and a senior in two years, getting ready to graduate from High School, my youngest child will be approaching driving age, I will be going on 45, and my husband will be going on 50. I can only hope that our lives will be a little better, as well as a little more stable by then!

Category: Life In General, Thoughts  Comments off
12
Mar
Better days…
Holly

If you happened to catch me on Twitter earlier this week, you know that on Monday I wasn’t having the best of days…LOL! Actually, that is a pretty major understatement! I’ve allowed people and things at work to get to me lately, and things really came to a head Monday morning! On top of that there were a few things here at home going on and the combination totally pushed me over the top!

When I go into work to do stock truck, I prepare for work one way. But if I’m going in to work behind the counter with a cash drawer, I prepare another way. See, working stock truck is almost like a work out in my opinion, so I need to wear clothes that are a little more comfortable and loose fitting, not that that’s a problem. Also, because of the fact that I work with people that are incapable of cleaning up after themselves, stocking the cooler is a really dirty job! Not that the cooler itself is dirty, but because of the fact that no one can throw away an empty box or container, and they get sticky stuff on them from other products in the walk in. So when I do stock truck, I make sure that I wear this one specific pair of work pants that I’ve already gotten a few permanent stains on. But Monday, no amount of preparation could have prepared me for the mess that would happen while putting truck away. I should have simply blown it off and not let it get to me, but I didn’t. And then when you add the other things away from work that were going on, and you have the makings of one miserable woman!

Anyway, the days since Monday have gone better, and I’m not the angry, vile person I was on Monday, thankfully! I know that we all have our good days, as well as our bad days, but I sure hope I don’t have many more days like this past Monday, it took a lot out of me!

Category: Stress, UGH!  Comments off
12
Mar
Excellent coffee maker!
Holly

Current Mood:Happy emoticon Happy

If you know me well, you know that I frequently take the time to voice my opinion on my blogs about the products I use, the businesses I frequent, and other things that I come across. If you read my other blogs you know that over on Just Simply Holly I wrote an “open letter” to the parent company of Mr. Coffee regarding my opinion of their poorly made products, specifically a coffee maker that they ultimately replaced for us a total of five times. While I agree that them doing so did go above and beyond what they were required to do, the fact that a coffee maker had to be replaced a total of five times in a two year time frame is simply unacceptable!

Last month is became obvious that my husband and I had to make a decision. The fifth replacement they had sent us quit working less than four months after we received it, so we reverted back to a $5 coffee maker that we had purchased at a garage sale. We had to decide if we wanted to go through the hassle of contacting them one more time or simply throw in the towel and purchase a brand new coffee maker made by a completely different company. We opted for the latter and decided it was time to move on. I understand that Mr. Coffee coffee makers are not a top of the line product, but after

For two days we did our research, both online and off, before we made our final decision and purchased a Cuisinart DCC-1200BW. You can find a general review of the Cuisinart DCC-1200 line of coffee makers here. Let me tell you, this coffee maker is FANTASTIC, and without a doubt the best coffee maker we have ever purchased, well except maybe the Bunn that we owned for 8 years, but that wasn’t programmable, which is a feature I REALLY need with my frequent 3:00 AM wake up times!

So if you’re in the market for a new coffee maker, this is one product I highly recommend! It doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles, if anything it’s knobs and switches almost seem “old fashioned” compared to others that I’ve owned. But it brews one MEAN pot of coffee REALLY fast with no problems or hassles. And if you’re like me, and you wake up for work at 3:00 AM, that’s something you learn to appreciate!

Category: Great Products  Comments off
10
Mar
Less than two months
Holly

Wow, time is really getting away from me lately! Days run into weeks, and weeks run into months. The old saying “Time goes faster when you get older” really is true! It’s so strange to think about things like the fact that I’ve been out of High School for over 25 years now. But it’s even stranger to think that in less than two months, my husband and I will celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary!

We usually don’t do much of anything for our anniversary. Either we’re both just way too busy, or we can’t afford to do anything. ANd this year, it’s definitely the not being able to afford it part! Things are tighter for us now than they every have been! But that doesn’t keep me from wishing I could get my hubby an awesome present in honor of our anniversary!

For many years I’ve wanted to get him several different sports gifts related to his favorite sports teams! He’s been a fan of all the Detroit teams his entire life, and has gotten some pretty bad ridiculing because of it…LOL! But he takes it all in stride and doesn’t let it bother him one bit! But it would be cool to decorate the family room walls with stuff from the Lions or the Tigers of the Wings! Maybe I can just convince my mom or sister to take the kids for a night and make him a nice dinner here at home, just the two of us. Well, the two of us AND four dogs…LOL!

Category: Gifts, Hubby, Special Occasions  Comments off
10
Mar
She is running again
Holly

This week is a HUGE week for my daughter! On top of her classes and band stuff, this week is the first week of track, or actually the week that everyone is doing their best to prepare for tryouts to make the track team. See, last year my daughter was on the track team, but at a different school. The poor kid is vertically challenged, and as much as she LOVES basketball, her height is really holding her back. She has the ability and with a little more discipline, I have no doubt she’d do well. But we don’t have the proper place for her to practice like she should here at home, so the odds are just stacked against her.

But running is something she’s always done from the minute her little feet could hold her up on her own! So she decided last year to try out for track for the first time and made the team. She was so excited and I was just as excited for her. But then one of the girls on the track team decided to make my daughters life miserable. After doing a great job on sprints and relays, this girl was able to wrap the coach around her little finger and get my daughter pulled of sprints and relays and put on discus and shot put instead. I’m sorry, but putting a very petite girl with minimal upper body strength into those events just makes no sense to me, nor did it make sense to the girls who had worked very hard at doing them very well! But, her choices were to do the discus and shot put, or quit the team, and she was determined not to quit!

This year she’s at a different school, but she’s also going up against girls who run quite a bit faster than she does. She didn’t prepare like she should have, working up to this week. She’s done some running, but nothing serious, so she’s a bit out of shape. And her pain tonight shows that! But she’s very determined, and I do think she has a pretty decent chance at making the team, she’s just got to work through this pain. Once she gets past the pain, she’ll be fine! And it is nice to see her excited about this! So she just has to get through the next couple of weeks and we’ll know if she made the team or not. Let’s just hope I can keep up with the ice she’s going through in the ice packs…LOL

Category: Awesomeness, Kids  Comments off
07
Mar
That was amazing
Holly

Current Mood:Surprised emoticon Surprised

Life for me has been so busy lately, and with everything that’s been going on, I have completely forgotten about stepping on the scales to keep track of my weight. See, one of my New Years resolutions was to at least make a decent attempt at trying to lose some of the extra weight that I’ve been carrying around for a while now and get a little healthier! I did pretty decent for the first few weeks, then hit what I guess you would call a “plateau” for a few weeks where I didn’t lose any weight. I even had one point in that time period where I discovered I had gained three pounds. But I didn’t give up and let myself get discouraged because, like anything else in life, you have your ups and your downs.

See, when I started my “diet”, I knew that it wouldn’t be one of those “weigh this, measure that, count the calories and fat grams” kind of diets. First because I just don’t have the time for that and second because I also have a family to cook for and it would have made making meals more time consuming than they already are. And with my work schedule and sleep schedule, I need every last moment I possibly can have! I also didn’t rule out the possibility of taking a weight loss pill or other diet supplements because I knew that if I needed the extra help, they’d be a good option. But I wanted to see what I could do on my own first.

So I made a few changes in my diet, completely cut out all pop, changed from whole milk to 2%, stopped snacking on junk food and high calorie snacks, stopped eating the bread butts from the loaves of bread that I cut at work and started drinking more water. Add to that the fact that I’m now doing stock truck at work two days a week and I end up with some pretty decent results for not putting forth a ton of effort.

So, without further jabber, I am THRILLED to announce that I have lost a total of 10 pounds since January 1st. This means that I’ve lost a total of 23 pounds since early October, which was very obvious with the purchase of some new pants for work a few weeks ago, which were two sizes smaller than the ones that I bought when I started my job on October 8th! I FEEL GOOD!

Category: Dieting, Holly  One Comment
06
Mar
Ever have one of “those” days?
Holly

I guess that should actually say, ever have one of those weeks? LOL It’s not that it’s been a bad week, for the most part, the week has gone fairly well. It’s just been a VERY busy week, probably one of the busiest that I’ve had in a very long time.

My work week has been INSANE! I’m used to having an average of two days off per week, but now that I’m doing stock truck two days a week, this week I only ended up with one day off, which is tomorrow. So as of the time I clocked out today, I have worked six days straight. And unlike some people, even if I have a day off work, it doesn’t mean I get to sleep and lay around for the day, I have a family and a home and four dogs, so I’m still very busy!

Today was a very frustrating day, one of the types of days where you just want to throw your hands up in the air and give up at some point! Work started out well, but just before lunch time it started going downhill, and it didn’t stop that movement until I clocked out, well over half an hour later than I was scheduled out. Now I’m not for a split second complaining about working the extra time today, that didn’t bother me one bit! What is bothering me is the feeling of some of my co-workers feeling like I’m a push over and taking advantage of me. Honestly, today, it was a pretty good thing there aren’t any loose shelving units or tv stands that were available for me to pick up and throw at work. Yes, it really did get that bad for a little while!

I don’t have any problem being willing to do my fair share of work and then some. But when you have two people that are assigned to an area to work it together and one of them only does about 1/4 of the work necessary, it gets frustrating. Then when you have that person that only did about 1/4 of the work look at you and say that they NEED you to make sure two major parts of the job are done before you leave for the day, it’s enough to push you over the edge! Thankfully I worked up the courage to tell them NO and not back down, but I’m tired of this, REALLY tired! Just because I’m the “new kid” doesn’t mean I’m the slave! And it’s not just co-workers, when I closed Tuesday night I did so for the first time with one of the managers, and he tried to push off two jobs that were his responsibility on me. I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to do it, but I AM going to talk to my boss and deal with this because I WILL NOT go through what I went through today ever again!

Category: Frustration, Holly, Work  Comments off
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