I can't believe how long it has been.  The last post I see on here is from 2009 (I think).  I'm watching an old episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond."  How funny.

I almost think it might be the pilot episode.

I laugh and laugh at this silly show.  Now, I think it is time to switch channels.  There I go.  "Mom" is on.  I love this show.

Television is my hobby now.  Nothing to do.  I have my fitbit on, but I don't really feel like walking around my dining room table or living room to get the 10,000 steps in.  I might in a few minutes, after I finish this blog.

A few weeks ago, the 10,000 steps were like a mad obsession.  I HAD to get them in.  Now, if I get them in--great.  If not, it really isn't any big deal.

For dinner, I made homemade mac and cheese.  Ever since I started making this and homemade chicken nuggets I can't eat the box mix (for mac and cheese) or fast food chicken nuggets.  Homemade is SOOO much better.  The mac and cheese went really well with the piece of polish sausage, too.

Also, sitting here thinking a lot about finances.  I am literally broke.  My main account is overdrawn, my paycheck is garnished, about to be (probably) garnished again, I'm cranky, overweight, but not giving up.  Oh--and, a mouse has taken up residence in my kitchen cupboard, despite the presence of, not one, but two cats.  Last night, Sheldon, my male cat, played 'cat and mouse' with it.

I can't help it.  Mice just plain creep me out.  UGH!  Bats are the same way.  The stupid little mouse ran over to the stairs leading to my bathroom and bedrooms, sat at the bottom, while Sheldon pawed at it.  He didn't kill it, though.

Hopefully, it will go back outside where it came from.  The last thing I need is the expense of an exterminator.  I can't even afford the store bought poison for it.

Things have to change.

Ever since Steven died, I feel happy/sad.  I can't believe that, despite my situation, I am finding a lot to be happy about.

Today, I spent the day with both my kids, all of my grandkids and got some alone time, too.  I still need to change a lot of things, mainly my fiscal responsibility, but I am lucky to be in my own home.  I'm reasonably healthy.  I have a job.  And family.  And friends.

I just need to get moving. And, a decent night's sleep.

That's all for now.

Trying to eat healthier

I am trying to eat healthier. Today, I ate a blueberry muffin for breakfast, so I think I made up for it with lunch and dinner. O.K. so maybe peanut butter and jelly isn't really healthy. However, my granddaughter was here for lunch with me, so she naturally got the hotdog while I got the pb &j. However, I didn't eat anything else for lunch, so I guess calorie wise I was good. Tonight, I had polish sausage, sante fe rice, steamed asparagus, tomato, onion and cucumber salad and chocolate pudding. I guess I got at least 2 servings of veggies in with the carbs and protein.

It is still too hard to chew with my new teeth, so I am repeating a lot. If I cut things up in small pieces, I can almost swallow them whole. Not great for digestion, but it works for me. I eat slowly and I am beginning to get the hang of it.

Gotta go--shoulder starting to hurt again.

Fridays Here

TGIF! I can only say that one weekend a month, since i work weekends. This weekend, though, I am off. Every 4th weekend, we full-timers at Macy's get 3 days off. This may change soon, but it's been this way for at least the (almost) eight years I've been there. It's great, except that I usually have to work 6 days straight when I go back. Next week is Memorial Day, so I have an extra paid day off because I'm scheduled off on Monday. Yippee!

I am going to a graduation party Saturday, so that should be fun. It's a co-worker who is a great friend. To quote my favorite band "A Splendid Time is Guaranteed For All!"

Funny How cake makes you feel better

You know--Italian Cream cake is really, really good.

It is my co-worker's birthday tomorrow. Since neither of us will be there, I baked the cake and we all signed a card for her. She was really touched. Sherry is funny, makes me laugh, a great friend to all. She's the kind of friend you can laugh with and cry with and talk to and not talk to--you know a BFF.

Come to think of it, all the girls in our department are like that. There isn't really a bad one in the bunch. We all help each other through a lot of stuff--kinda like a family--but without having to live in the same house all the time.

For the past month, that's what we've all been doing--holding each other up. Especially since things are super slow at work. Fortunately, there's usually chocolate or cake we can all share.

Love it!

Continue from other blog

What a great group I work with. Sometimes I wish I could film what's going on. I won't go into detail, but sometimes its better than a sitcom. This week, I have been paid to walk around the department, dust, look at gorgeous crystal and china, play with children of customers, browse Macy's online for customers, talk to total strangers about their family and tell stories about mine to friends.

Yesterday, my co-worker and I got a kick out of the daughter of a customer. She was adorable in her new skirt and flipflops. While her parents and older brothers were paying for their merchandise, she picked up a Godiva chocolate bar. She held it to her nose and smelled it (of course chocolate smells SOO good), closed her eyes and smiled. Her parents paid for their merchandise, but the little girl didn't put down the chocolate bar and nobody realized she even had it until they finished and walked away. As they got further away, one of her brothers looked down at her and stopped her Dad, who proceeded to take money out of his wallet to pay for the candy. The brother brought what he thought was enough money to pay, but he didn't have enough, so he went back and told the father how much it was. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough, so he had to return the candy. I wish now I had just paid for it myself. ( I know--she really didn't need candy.) Unfortunately, money is tight right now--even $3.15 is too much for a candy bar!

I hope to get a couple of credit apps today--it would at least give me a little extra. Also, it would improve our department standing creditwise. We are dead last in the store. The trouble is, we really haven't had all that many customers upstairs this week. I made my sales goal one day, but part of the sale for that day were returned, so I am probably not going to make it this week. We just don't have a good sale going on this week, so not many people are shopping. Like every place else, we can definitely see a decline due to the economy in this country.

I'm going to stop for now. This is great. Like keeping a diary in the "old days"

First Day Off in 7 Days!

Today couldn't be any better, weatherwise. The sun is shining, the temp is perfect! Time to mow the grass and sit on the patio w/the grandkids. Okay--so I did more than that. I mowed w/Paige helping me (I wish I had a camera!) and then we frosted cupcakes and cleaned up a little bit. We sat on the patio and tried to blow bubbles for awhile, but the bubbles don't work anymore--guess we need some new ones.

On my other blog, I posted a pic of Paige at her b-day party, so I will put the other pic of her, her friend Carolyn, and big sister Casi on this one. These girls are getting so big. Four years ago, Casi was almost 6 and Paige was newborn. Time just seems to fly.

Today, I made cupcakes and Paige made the frosting. We are going to have a 'teaparty' when Casi gets home. I'm going to put the cupcakes on a plate and we can all have a little snack. Yesterday, while everyone else was at Paige's party, I had to work, so that's why we're having our own party today.--just us girls.

I don't have to go to work until noon tomorrow, so I can finish any cleaning tomorrow morning or later today (If I get ambitious, that is).

Why do we constantly need a title?

Sorry--just started this blog and it came to mind that everytime I add a post it asks me for a title. Why can't I just start writing and skip the title part? A title makes it too much like highschool. Or, no, actually 8th grade. We had an English teacher who thought that a great thing to do was write a journal. The trouble is, I had a thing about people reading my journal back then. To me, a journal was more like a diary. He was always mad at me because I refused to write in my journal. It may have been just a writing exercise to him. To me--it was an infringement on my privacy.

I think the difference between writing in my journal then and blogging now (I actually have 2 going now) is that I am sharing my thoughts voluntarily with others. I don't really put extremely personal stuff on the blog (sorry--nobody is getting any "juicy details"). Also, for an adult that really wasn't a personal friend (and whom I really didn't like) to read about my innermost feelings was awful. Isn't it funny how our ideas change? Now, I think I realize that he was just trying something new with the class. He probably got tired of reading essays and poetry and book reports and grammer lessons. Or, maybe he didn't even read the entries, just checked to make sure we were writing in them.

In any case, all of our entries then had to have a title everyday, too. I made sure that he knew everyday (or, at least the days I bothered to make an entry) what I thought of his idea, too. I'm sure if he did read them, he wasn't enthused with me either.